For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello friends...been in the dentist's chair today...all went well...just the semi-annual check-up and cleaning. :-D
It is 6:30 pm here and I am SO HUNGRY! Done had 1150 cals today and trying to keep it at that...
Visited Mom 
at the nursing home today (I stopped at Walgreens after leaving the dentist's office and bought her and her roommate each a beautiful battery-powered light-up snowman that changes from color to color and took to them) who was totally on the warpath...no sooner did I get a couple of the fires put out (figure of speech only!) that she started than she'd started another one...ohhhhhhh...
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'Maria's Travels to Island 140'
Anyway...here I am still rowing...I think I'm in a plateau...so fun (NOT!)...
I'm still here on this island.
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Back at the homefront...
Hubby
and I are home again this evening...he is watching a police show on tv and I am keying this entry to you...
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Thank you for your prayers for my 2 friends (and Mom). Hopefully they will be all be better soon.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 58.2 lbs lost so far, only 6.8 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends.
I'm still here on this island.
This is what I woke up to this morning...a monkey hanging over my teepee from a tree limb.
I went outside of my teepee and told him to come down from there...he came down and was a little angry at first but then he cheered up when I told him about you all and he decided he wanted to tell you hello...
Cute little fella, isn't he?
It's easy to get attached to the little natives here on these islands as you pass through. Most of them are so friendly and helpful, too.
This is Jerry...
He has offered for me to ride his bicycle. He rides it all over the place. He is the only bear I've seen riding a bicycle here except for yesterday I saw a bear family pedal by in what looked like a golf cart with pedals.
This is Jacob, the raccoon. He told me when I told him I am on my way to Island 140.0 that when I leave this island for the next one, Island 145, he will be cheering me on and clapping, happy for me. He encouraged me to eat lots of fresh apples. 
So...I did have 'one' today. :-)
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Back at the homefront...
Hubby and I are home this evening...watching SCROOGE on tv...(the old-timey one in color, my fav)...together. Very enlightening Christmas show.
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Please pray for 2 of my friends who are in the hosptal. One was recently released to go home, only to return again and the other one is not the same one of the original 2 friends who were in the hospital before...she is another friend. Thank you for your prayers. I visited them today. Didn't go see Mom today but Mom's nurse (J for future ref) told me over the phone that my Sister 
visited Mom today, so I know Mom is happy.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 58.2 lbs lost so far, only 6.8 lbs to go!
The internet connects the whole world. I wouldn't be here if not for the internet as I met my husband on it. I was living in Tennessee....now I'm in gorgeous Scotland!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends. (Update below)
Hope you are having a wonderful day in the Lord today.
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Hubby is home today. :-) It is a beautiful, sunny, cool morning and birds are singing in the trees outside...so cheerfully...
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Scale weighed me at 146.8 this morning.
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Re: 'Maria's Travels to Island 140'.....
I arrived at Island 146 this morning.
There are lots of fruit trees and fresh vegetables on this island.
So no reason to not have some...
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Afternoon update: Hubby and I visited Mom whom was in her bed, smiling and acting happy, with her new roommate parked in her wheelchair beside her in the aisle between their beds and they were enjoying having lunch together on their trays, which were on their individual roll-tables. Hubby and I took them each a small container of watermellon and 2 bananas and also we gave 2 bananas to a family friend across the hall. We stayed about half an hour and came back home. It is warm here today (70ish F) and Hubby and I had the a/c on in his truck when we were out and about.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 58.2 lbs lost so far, only 6.8 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends.
The scale showed this morning that I am still on Island 147.
..........I am inside my teepee and I am going to rest some today....
I stayed on track real well yesterday and walked for hours and hours and kept calories at about 1100 for the day.
Though I'm going to rest a while today, I can't get too comfortable, being only 7 pounds from goal. One of the island residents here 
convinced me that I need to take a little break, as I've been over doing it.
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It is chilly here in SC this morning.
Sister
and I had a little outing yesterday. We went shopping at the mall. She bought me a beautiful set of leopard fleece pj's and matching furry booties for Christmas and she bought our Brother a very nice pair of shoes for his Christmas gift...Then we came back over here...
And last nite, we stayed up past midnite, talking and wrapping gifts. We exchanged gifts and she spent the nite with us (though we were both up most of the nite) and I took her back home in the next town over this morning. She wrapped my gifts and put them under the Christmas tree, warning me not to touch them til Christmas morning, though I was with her when she bought them and know what they are :-D ...she even had me to pick them out, which I did. I had made a giant gift basket for her and her Hubby and told her she could go ahead and open it cause it had some things she might like to set out (peppermint Christmas-decor electric-lighted house, and another house lit up by a battery-flame candle inside it, etc.) for Christmas, which she did and she loved it. I also gave her another gift and told her she is to wait til Christmas to open it...she doesn't know what it is...it is a beautiful necklace and earrings set (here style she likes) that I bought for her when Hubby and I were on our weekend trip to the mountains this past October.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 57.8 lbs lost so far, only 7.2 lbs to go!
Thank you Maria, I'm glad to read that all seem to be well with you as you get prepared for the holidays. Hugs to you, Selina
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends.
I rowed yesterday and I've been rowing through the nite and this morning I arrived at Island 147.
..........I set up my teepee shortly after I arrived....
It's a little chilly here on this island but not cold, so I built a campfire.
Shortly after arriving here on Island 147, I met Proprietor Arnie, a very well-educated Parrot, who is in charge of who comes and goes at this island.
He asked if I had made a reservation to stay and when I told him no, he said he would allow me to stay in my teepee during my visit here. I told him thank you. He is sort of like the Chief Police over the island here. I told him I am just passing through and don't intend to be here long. He warned me that if I gain weight, I will quickly be evicted from this island and if I lose from 147, he will expect me to leave for a lower number Island. I told him I understood and plan to abide by the Island law. He also said that although some of the native residents here don't do much exercise other than working their mouths to eat, 
he expected more out of me, a visitor. So...I will update you soon on Maria's Travels to Island 140.
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The scale weighed me at 147.2 this morning. :-)
Plan today is treadmill workout and visit Mom......Hoping for the best concerning that. Thank you for your prayers for us.
...........................................
Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 57.8 lbs lost so far, only 7.2 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends.
Yes, it's me, rowing toward Goal Island 140.0 again. Yes, I've done this a couple of times before and somehow ended back to the higher number islands instead of staying on Island 140. But nevertheless, here I am in my canoe, rowing toward that island again anyway, in hopes that I can stay there this time once I arrive.
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Have already had my morning workout on the treadmill...now having my morning coffee...
The scale weighed me at 148.4 this morning.
I turn on our new electric blanket (my side of it, that is...it has dual controls and Hubby keeps the control on his side of the bed set on off) a little while before I go to bed and when I get under it, it feels so warm and comforting that I don't even feel the need for nitetime food for comfort.
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Yesterday's visit to the nursing home was very distressing. Mom's nurse called to me in the hallway to talk with me about Mom, who has been (verbally) misbehaving AGAIN. I think she is working on getting herself thrown out of there and sad thing is we are only 4 miles apart and if she doesn't calm down and be nice, she may well have to move to another nursing home (after we find one to take her) that could be as much as 100 miles away or even more. I told her nurse I would talk with Mom again and I did...for what good it will do, I don't know. It is very upsetting to me to have to keep being called to meetings with the caregivers/administration at her nursing home regarding her angry words to others. Currently, at my request, a culture is being tested to see if she has another uti, which she has been having a uti most of the time since last year, which are treated with antibiotics and she doesn't stay clear. I told her her it is up to her and she asked me to tell her nurse she is sorry and she will control herself from now on (which I did). But I know my Mom......Though sweet and easy-going most of the time...she does have her TEMPER...and she has always been that way, only it appears her temper has gotten quite worse lately. She is also very confused again (was pretty clear minded a couple of months or so ago) and thinks people on tv are talking to her, which I told them that at the nursing home who talked to me about her. Please pray for her. Thank you so much.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 56.6 lbs lost so far, only 8.4 lbs to go!
I also love your island imagery. At least you are paddling, and going in the right direction.
I just add whatever fruit I have around, this time was 2 mashed bananas, a handful of pecans and some cinnamon. Even if you use regular sugar (I know you can't do stevia) they're still very low cal.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends.
It is a beautiful, chilly (mid-30's F) , sunny morning here this morning.
I was SO HUNGRY last nite and really wanted to give in and EAT but I didn't...so I got under the new electric blanket that I bought for Hubby and me yesterday and it felt SO WARM!!!! and comforting that it wasn't long I was asleep in snoozeland.
Plan today is to go spend some time with Mom at the nursing home and see if she has calmed down some...I sure hope so...and find out if they did a test to send off to see if she has another uti (which she's been having them more on that off since last year)...which can affect the elderly's minds when they get one (she has been very verbally angry-acting there)...
Also, yesterday when I got home from shopping, hoping to take my mind off being upset regarding what I shared in yesterday's entry, there was the returned, unopened Christmas card
in the mailbox with "Return to Sender" written on it.....
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Also, in case you didn't read it, here is yesterday's evening update that I added to yesterday's entry... (Hope you have a good day)...
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Tuesday's ( 11-29-11) evening update: Went to the next town over and got a lot accomplished...bought Mom and me look-a-like nitegowns, 
cotton and warm for the winter...she will get hers for Christmas...also I bought Hubby and me a dual-control, blue (to match thriftstore bedspread I recently bought), electric blanket (will save on the heating bill)...and I found Mom an identical watch to the one we bought for her in Kentucky a couple of years ago that she wears and loves and says it's the most beautiful watch she's ever had...there was only one for sale and it was on sale, so she will be getting a new identical watch to the one she loves (cause I don't know how much longer the one she wears will be good)...also I bought a new shower curtain (blue/aqua/white/light brown colors) in seashells design (we love the beach) with matching liner, rug and towels for the guest bathroom. Hubby helped me put up the new bathroom curtains tonite. I bought KFC for Hubby's and my supper on the way home. I was very mindful today and did well with eating. Now it is nitetime and my temptation time to eat for comfort/entertainment/hunger but I am busy doing things in the house tonite, so I don't plan to give in to nite-eating.
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Okay...it is after 8 pm...I AM SO HUNGRY!!!!!...(tummy is GROWLING, too)...okay...got that out of the way...no, she is not giving in!
Stay warm...
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 56.6 lbs lost so far, only 8.4 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends. (See Evening Update below.)
It is a beautiful, chilly, sunny morning here in SC...birds are happily singing in the trees outside and I can hear their songs as I key to you.
I've decided to make a weight goal for Christmas...which is be down to 141.8 that I weighed on Christmas Day last year. It isn't 140.0 goalweight but I think it is doable as well as manageable. It is only around 2 pounds per week, so that should be doable. I've been giving in to comfort-eating at nite. Got 3 very stressful calls yesterday and didn't give in last nite but thought about it. One was to tell me that someone we helped a lot is against us (to put it nicely), the 2nd call was Mom's nursing home wanting me to come up there and calm very angry Mom down and have a talk with her that either she is going to act nice or else (may have to be moved)...so I had to run up there like a Mother to her Daughter's school when the principle has called home that my child has been misbehaving...so I did (very stressful)...then 3rd call was to inform me that a card I sent to someone in the family was on its way back to me with 'return to sender' written on it because the other day when she received it, she was in a bad mood and believed what the person whom we helped (whom she is now helping) whom has turned against us was saying but she has since then changed her mind about us and wants me to save the unopened card for her (a beautiful Christmas card) and I go pick her up one day this week and we have an outing together (so looking forward to it...)...but still I didn't give in to comfort-eating last nite...so now I have a new goal. I am going to try to do fruit and coffee for breakast, which is what I was doing last year around this time, instead of the usual heavier 350 cals breakfast of high-sodium processed food I've been having frequently for breakfasts here lately. For lunch I plan to do salad or soup and light s/w. Supper to be one serving of meat and a veggie and another fruit. Snacks to be 2 a day at 100 cals each a day or 1 snack at 200 cals...and can be anything, including chocolate as long as it is not a high-sodium (as in popcorn) treat. When I resist the comfort-eating temptation at nite, I will either have saved one of my snacks for eating then or I will work on a project (probably care baskets 
to give to the elderly shut-ins, which is one of my hobbies). That is my plan, Lord willing.
Just made an appointment to get my teeth cleaned next week, semi-annual cleaning...and plan for today is to get a little Christmas shopping done in the next town over (we live in a small town and not as many stores here as over there).
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Evening update: Went to the next town over and got a lot accomplished...bought Mom and me look-a-like nitegowns, cotton and warm for the winter...she will get hers for Christmas...also I bought Hubby and me a dual-control, blue (to match thriftstore bedspread I recently bought), electric blanket (will save on the heating bill)...and I found Mom an identical watch to the one we bought for her in Kentucky a couple of years ago that she wears and loves and says it's the most beautiful watch she's ever had...there was only one for sale and it was on sale, so she will be getting a new identical watch to the one she loves (cause I don't know how much longer the one she wears will be good)...also I bought a new shower curtain (blue/aqua/white/light brown colors) in seashells design (we love the beach) with matching liner, rug and towels for the guest bathroom. Hubby helped me put up the new bathroom curtains tonite. I bought KFC for Hubby's and my supper on the way home. I was very mindful today and did well with eating. Now it is nitetime and my temptation time to eat for comfort/entertainment/hunger but I am busy doing things in the house tonite, so I don't plan to give in to nite-eating.
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Okay...it is after 8 pm...I AM SO HUNGRY!!!!!...(tummy is GROWLING, too)...okay...got that out of the way...no, she is not giving in!
Stay warm...
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 56.6 lbs lost so far, only 8.4 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends. (Update below)
Thank you for your prayers for my 2 friends who were in the hospital. After the first one went home, the second one was to go home yesterday, she told me. Both are feeling better.
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As for me, I'm not feeling too good this morning. Ate some breakfast that hasn't agreed with me (grits and eggs).
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Plan to visit Mom this morning at the nursing home (stay near a bathroom) instead of go to church.
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Afternoon Update: Visited Mom this morning, who was up in her wheelchair, dressed and looking well although her mind was definitely not clear...she was telling me that the man (a preacher who was preaching) on tv was after her (wanting her to be his girlfriend), and asked if I could tell how old he was, to which I told her I'm not good at guessing people's ages anymore...so after that show went off and another tv show came on, I switched the channel to the cooking channel, which she usually likes and she told me that is the channel the man is on who likes her (and she doesn't feel the same way toward him), so I put the channel on a Christmas movie instead. All of this is going on while I am taking down the autumn decorations and putting them into a big bag to bring home to store and then decorating her half of the room for Christmas, putting up her little Christmas tree, decorating her mirror with pretty red bows and setting out pretty Christmasy items around the little tree that was place on her chest of drawers in front of the mirror. Her CNA (Nurse's Aid) was in the room and was overwhelmed with so many tasks (getting Mom and her roommate up into their wheelchairs and cleaned and dressed for the day and taking care of so many other people (I think she said she is responsible for 10 people today plus dining room chores as well...please pray for her) and Mom asked her to put her back in her bed. Mom had already made the request earlier...Mom said she'd been up for 2 hours in her wheelchair and her back was hurting her...the CNA told her it was too soon to put her back in her bed and Mom became very angry and I tried to reason with Mom and tell her that the caregivers there at the nursing home don't want Mom to get bedsores (from being in her bed so much of the time), to which she quickly replied she hasn't gotten any yet...(but she has come close recently with her back that she lays on most of the time turning red and staying that way for a while) and then when she couldn't persuade the CNA to put her back into her bed, she loudly and angrily told the CNA that if she didn't put her in her bed she was going to get in a "BAD MOOD!" for the rest of the day. The CNA, in a hurry to attend to other responsibilities just finished getting up the towels that had been used to clean Mom or her roommate (tmi on that) and hurried out the room with Mom telling her to bring her some iced water now, that she was very thirsty. When that didn't happen, I went and got some and brought it back to Mom, who was determined, as usual and typical of her, to have her way to get back into her bed that she preferrs to LIVE in, started on me to go tell them to put her in her bed NOW. I tried to distract her with a pretty box of Christmas cards I brought to her for her to write to her friends on and I mail them and asking her opinion on the Christmas tree and decorations I'd put up on her side of the room (was quite a bit of work, may I add) and her mind was SET on gettting back into her bed. The CNA had told Mom that her nurse had the final say so about Mom being allowed back into her bed, so I told Mom I'd go see if I could find her nurse for Mom to talk to and then that I was going home as I wasn't feeling well (and I wasn't). I made my rounds and didn't see the nurse, so I went and told Mom that and I gave Mom a kiss and she kissed me on my face back and I told her I was going home. When she realized I wasn't going to stay any longer (I'd been there about an hour or so) because of her insistance on being put into her bed immediately, she told me to stay and she wouldn't say anything else about it but I told her I needed to go home and that I loved her and I left.
So...I'm back home now and the caller ID on the phone is showing an unfamiliar number with no name as the phone is ringing over and over and I am so NOT in rescue mode (which is the usual reason for calls coming in) so I am so NOT answering it....
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 56.6 lbs lost so far, only 8.4 lbs to go!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
........................................................
Hello, Friends.
Today has been a busy day. Hope you've been having a nice day. Daughter 
and I spent some Mother/Daughter time together going to yard sales and thrift stores, something we both love to do. She found a nice pair of Sketchers shoes that I got for her at a thrift store and I found a beautiful multi-colored (yellow, pink, green flowers and leaves on a blue background) chenille bedspread at another thrift store we visited that I got for Hubby and me. Both items were in like-new condition and only $5.00 each.
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Hubby and I decorated our Christmas tree last nite...what a job, as it is a very large, tall tree...whew...what a relief that it is done. Our neighbors across the road decorated their front yard for Christmas today and the lights and decorations over there look very pretty.
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Sister usually visits our Mom on Saturdays, so i had the 'day off' today and spent time with Daughter.
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It has been a beautiful, warm, sunny day...
I am fixing to go beddy-bye...(getting sleepy). This evening I cooked Hubby a nice steak and fries supper and also washed the used bedspread that I bought and dried it and put it on our bed. It looks very pretty. Hubby helped me with taking down the autumn-decor curtains and putting up matching curtains in their place to go with the 'new' bedspread.
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Hope you are having a good day.
Love, Maria
Progress as of today: 56.6 lbs lost so far, only 8.4 lbs to go!
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You had quite the day Maria, I hope for a nice relaxing evening for you :)
just42day on 12/06/2011:
More prayers being sent your way. How nice of you to get some xmas decorations for your mom and the other resident. I'm sure they'll both enjoy them and think of you fondly every time they see the colors change. :)
hollybelle on 12/07/2011:
Oh, oh, hope there's not too many fires to put out in the future. Ah, goodness! Praying for mom to stay peaceful and stay put in the facility where she is!
biscottibody59 on 12/07/2011:
Good dental visit--always nice to get it out of the way!
Hope today's a good one for you!
Umpqua on 12/07/2011:
I'm sure you'll break the plateau soon Maria, I know you're persistent. Have a good one!
grannyannie on 12/07/2011:
You could try what I did when I hit a plateau. The ladies here suggested varying my calories and workouts. So I had my usual 1300 cals on one day, 1500 the next, etc. Added some routines to my workouts. Lost my last 4 pounds and hit goal!