Cattails..that sounds so awful about the coyote..your poor DS.....I think I would be traumatized.

I had an awful n ights' sleep thanks to some raccoon that was making a ruckus attacking my garbage..I don't know how to make the garbage can raccoon proof...it kep leaving and coming back....I stayed up until 12 so I can wish my BF (and I use the term loosely) a happy birthday ad then i couldn't get to sleep. So glad today is Sunday I got to sleep in a little and now i get to make a big breakfast for my sleeping teenage sons while I make myself a bowl of oatmeal and have them with some blueberries. Today is a "fast day" or should I call it a Down day....not sure how this diet is going to work for me...because yesterday was a non fast day and even at 1300 calories I gained weight.....I'm still trying...it is a miracle that i am but I am.

Taking a long walk today and I'm working out at home with my kettle bells and dumbbells.

Cattails, so sorry about the coyote....I'm sure this incident will leave a lasting impression on your son though.

Well we had indian food for dinner, enough said. tomorrow should be a horrible weigh in.

Mmm, I miss Indian food! I went to my favorite Greek place the other day and only ate a tiny piece of the pita bread. It was a sad sad day, lol!

Catching up ...

Shannon, glad you went to the doctor You were eating sugar and I was eating everything, sugar included, smh. Shannon hope you feel better today as you wanted and Happy early Birthday. I hope you use your spa gift certificate tomorrow. Great job on the scale moving for ya' Shannon "floodgate" of hunger is the correct term, oh my goodness, I need to board it up for sure. Shannon, which Greek restaurant do you go to?

Chubby, on being close to goal I need to regroup also.

Thanks Marlene good to see you

Zumba, sounds like things are coming together, glad the puppy training has gotten better, that's great. Sorry about the trainer schedule. I declare war ... I like that I like you challenge goals, you can and will do it Hope your son is feeling better Wow sorry about the raccoons. What type of cans do you have? The lids shouldn't be easy for them to remove I would think.

Cattails, on working out with your son, that's great Cattails there are a ton of volunteer positions at the libraries here, your library may have some available, check it out Thanks Cattails, I'm trying to regroup today Oh my goodness that is so scary about the coyote, I'm glad some of the hens were spared. How old is your son, is he ok? what were his thoughts?

MrsTryingAgain, I love the library also. Every time someone mentions a book on here I look it up , and the movie selection is great too Best of luck to you today.

I have a plan today and so far it is working but I am only one meal in. I have had probably four really really high calorie days, two I know for sure but the other two I didn't keep track so to me that says a lot. I have been trying to do the 5:2 up/down day meal plan and so far I have failed miserably. I started out the month weighing 159.8 and have twice weighed in at almost 10lbs higher ... 5/13 ~ 168.0 and today ~ 167.8. ok end of confession ...

Rennie, I like Greek Fiesta (there is one over by me and one in Brier Creek). They have the BEST cucumber dip! I am on their email list and just got my free birthday meal coupon....can't wait to use it!! I would eat there everyday if I could but alas, since dropping rice and bread, it is not as a great a deal for me as it used to be. Hang in there, the eating will turn around for you....I really think it's the carbs.

thanks for the quick response Shannon, I don't like that they use processed strips for their gyro. I can buy the kit at Aldi, if I want to use that. Shish Kabob is good and the Greek restaurant in South Pointe is good also. I think I like all cucumber sauce ha, any sauce Email list (free meal) makes me smile. I think I just have food on the brain. It is definitely the CARBS ... I'm going to make my lunch now ... it will be my second decent meal ...

I've never had the gyro. I get kebabs (chicken or steak) and I think they seem fresh. I love cucumber sauce but, to me, theirs is thicker, which I like. I am going there tomorrow for my (free) lunch (coupon has to be used within 24 hrs of bday) and we'll go to Moes tomorrow night (another free birthday meal from mailing list for me and kids are free on Tuesdays!). I have a bunch of other free meals I need to print and sort through. Several years ago I made it my mission to get as many free meals as possible by signing up for birthday clubs, lol!

Hi all,

Cattails, sorry about the coyote incident. We've lost ducks to them and raccoons. Never fun. Although we wish we were out of the duck business, I don't really want them to be eaten.

Rennie , it's one day. Just get back to it!

Zumba, glad the puppy is finally getting it. It just takes time & patience. Sorry about the trainer issue though.

On the job front, I hired a career coach & had her help me with my resume. So I'm looking at job listings and sending in resumes for ones that I'm interested in, and talking to recruiters. Time I would normally spend here is being spent doing that... Now that I've made that decision, I feel much better.

Oh, and my husband hired an organizer to help in out home office... That's going fairly well, today was the first day I was working from home when she was here. She found an old photo of us with the in-laws. Ummm... I am embarrassed of how heavy I was in the one. They were both bad, a few years apart, but the one was definitely the most I ever weighed... Incentive to keep it off!

Marlene, good to see you! The new career search sounds exciting! I'm sure you'll find a good fit for you. Raising ducks, how interesting; what do you raise them for? The ducklings at the feed store are so darn cute and my DS always wants to get some, but not until we have a big secure area they can live in! Too many predators between the coyotes, foxes, raccoons, hawks, and occasional mountain lion. Such is life in the country.

Rennie, my youngest is 14, well, he'll be 15 in two months. He was really upset; these chickens are his babies, they fly up onto his shoulders and follow him all over the yard. I told him the coyotes are only doing what coyotes do, but he's got a grudge against them now. The two injured chickens seem to be recovering okay, thank goodness. Are you going to stay with the 5:2 plan for now? It seems to work well for a lot of folks - and other methods for other folks.

Shannon, Free meals are especially good on your birthday, aren't they?! Live it up!

Zumba! Mm, I love chicken tikka masala - I should make some this week!

I am totally lagging on the exercise front, having trouble making myself go for walks or do a routine. Weight is staying around 118-119, I wonder if this is where I'll be for a while? Hoping to catch the exercise bug really, really soon.

good morning all...well I did the 5:2 yesterday and lost over two lbs....was happy to see a little swoosh today. So it definitely does work. Its a tiny start, I have a ways to go...but its good to know that it does work if you follow it. I didn't even do the 500 calories, I was up around 700 and still lost. Getting through the day wasn't so bad but when dinner came I was starving. A salad was NOT going to cut it....

So overall I am pleased.

I wrote long personals to everyone and then it wouldn't save, some kind of server issues...grrrrrrrr......

Shannon Have a blessed, joyous and wonderful day ... The kabobs are fresh. I love the thicker cucumber sauces also with extra feta I'd like to get on a mailing list for Rissa and me. My oldest daughter told me that Red Robin gives you a free burger during your birthday month you just show your ID. Of course she didn't tell me until May

Marlene, it was several days actually when I look back it was most of May,so not good. I honestly believe that when I see a new low it scared me in some way. A Post-er on another thread she believes that when her scale has a new low her body runs away from it like it has touched something hot (she said something to that effect) and it seems the same for me. I surely didn't think after seeing 159 for 3 days straight I would go back into the high 160's, smh. Good for you on the career coach and on the organizer nothing like an old picture to put things into better perspective. I need to print the ones of me as a reminder

Cattails, give your son a hug for me, I'm sorry he had to experience that I remember when I was a youth chickens following us in my Auntie and Uncle's yard, it think it was because we had their biddy's but it was fun and funny until a rooster came after one of my cousins. I am going to try to stick with the 5:2 diet. I have been trying for weeks now and keep falling off the wagon, so one day at a time is all I can say I need to get back to exercising also. Good job on maintaining, though I know 115-116 is where you prefer to be

Zumba way to go Keep up the good work

I did pretty ok yesterday, calories higher than I wanted but I was satisfied for most of the day, until around 9:30-10ish ... my husband sat beside me with a bag of chips and I definitely could have ate a handful or more but I didn't. I'm down 2lbs of the bloat and I actually expected more since I ate about a third of what I had been eating this past week or so. I think some of this may actually be a few pounds of real weight gain since I ate so poorly. Hopefully I can get out of the 160's by the end of May/beginning of June.

Rennie & Cattails, thanks for the wishes on the job search. It's easy to get discouraged, and I'm just starting. Completely different from the last time I was looking. Everything is online now.

Cattails, I hear you on living in the country. We have all of the same sort of predators hear, except bobcats instead of mountain lions, but almost the same. On the ducks, we started with one, then got a couple more ducklings, one died, got some more, another died, got 2 more... Then my husband bought a mated adult pair. Then they had ducklings for us. At one point we had 30. We have 12 now. At least one flew away. Coyotes got some, raccoons got some (we kill the raccoons if we catch), snakes got some ducklings and the last batch of eggs one of the hens worked on last year. Decided to not allow them to hatch any now. I take the eggs to work & give away for eating.

HI ladies...I'm still here trying my best. Today was supposed to be a down day but i had bread at dinner time, i'm wondering how much that is going to effect me. Took a nice walk at the beach today , and worked with my trainer this evening.....it feels so good to be working out with a trainer again.....I haven't had a binge and I haven't had junk food. Still, my eating isn't totally clean given I had a garlic knot and some bread this evening (we ordered out from the pizza place).