Dieting with Obstacles - PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ... any ideas?

Was born with a physical challenge called Spina Bifeda. Anyone else out there with SB, CP, MS, PK, Lupus, Osteo, Arthritis, Rheumatism, or any other condition (whether genetic or acquired), that causes physical limitations and/or difficulties?

ALL ARE WELCOME to join us in this special thread ~ to give support and encouragement; and share ideas with each other ... Rosebud. :hug:

Man this is a hard board to figure out, how do l get to a list of all the different catagories? Took me awhile to find this catagorie, I got your meesage about it but didnt know how to post here, l need to have a tutor. :)

As you know I have CP mild on my right side only so l walk with a limp and fall down alot, fell yesterday and hurt my back, I also have sezures but thank god haven't had one since my son Eric was born almost 4 years ago. The meds l am on for that makes me gain wieght though so lossing it is very very hard.

We are planning a trip home to Ontario for April and I would like to lose about 30 lbs l am hoping l can do it.

love Mo

HEY MO: good for you! I'm so glad you didn't give up. You will figure all this out ... it took me a while too. I think it takes us all a while. I came here for over a month before I was able to figure out how to post, cuz I hadn't done that before anywhere; I only got on the net last November/ 2006.

To find DIET CENTRAL, you have to click (or double-click) on the head category "3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community" at the very top of the page. This is a trial and error kind of site; or learn as you go ... LOL! Take a look at those red-lettered STICKYS at the top of some of the forums (groups), sometimes they have info in them for NEWBIES, like us; I found a few of them very helpful.

I totally understand about all your physical challenges; for the umpteenth time, my knee gave out and if it wasn't for my cane and a quick reaction time (I have lots of practice daily), I would have been on the floor. As if Spina Bifeda wasn't enough, I had to fall down a flight of stairs, smashed up my knee; and it dislocates itself whenever it feels like it. Then I slipped on some gravel, and fractured my left calf; and it never healed properly to this day.

I could go on, but I won't bore you with more just yet; I'll save that for another time ... LOL! But sometimes, I wonder how I am standing erect; maybe an angel or two are helping me ~ hmmmmm??? Well, aren't we a pair? ... I have fallen down more times than I care to remember. I sure hope your back gets better soon cuz I surely know about that; mine's permanent ~ darn.

Gee ... we could spend hours just commiserating about our collective falls, hurts, aches, pains, weight issues, troubles, etc, etc, etc ... couldn't we? Anyways, I'm just so glad you found this thread. Come here as often as you can and post, and it will stay active for us, and any others who would like to join in with us. This is our little space, just for us; so vent away, MO ... LOL!!!

I'll come back tomorrow and post again. Do take care of that back; and talk to you soon. Your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

I just notice your ticker congrads on lossing all that weight. How do you do it without a exercise program persay? I have 3 more cans of pepsi in the house and then I ain't buying anymore, l figure that will be a good start as I need pepsi to get threw the day, I don't drink tea or coffee so pepsi gives me the energy to deal with the house and Eric. I haven't been able to figure out a excersice plan though cause of my balance, I do all the house work though and l figure thats got to count don't u think? This morning in 30 mintues l stripped both beds, remade them cleaned the big bathroom, carried the dirty laundry down 2 flights of staries and started a load, now l am taking a break and having a pepsi and writing. Do you think l have a chance of lossing this weight? I really apprecaite you talking with me, wish we could talk live though threw MSN l have mine turned on everyday. It's one of the ways l keep in connact with all my friends and family in Ontario. Only 49 days till we fly home, I can't wait to see my Mom and let her see how big Eric is getting.

Thanks again Rose for taking time to make me feel welcome.

p.s. my back feels alot better, DH gave me a back massage and it really helped. my left foot got hurt in the fall too so l am back to using my cane again till it's feeling better.

Hey Rose

I figured out how to put a family picture up so now u know what l look like.


love Mo

That's a great pic of you and your lovely family; Eric is a cuti petuti! See ~ you learned to put up a pic. Guess it's my turn; I only have one pic of myself and one of DH (not together though). My PC is a little older than yours, I think; my messenger takes up a lot of memory, so we're presently workin' on that issue.

MY EXERCISE PLAN (informal) is walking every day; plus I do handweights at least 3 times a week; and I have a mega rower that I use occasionally. When you are big, the initial weight comes off more easily; as I get down more, it will take a little longer. My goal is at least one pound per week; that may seem slow to you, but I have a lot more to lose.

Last winter, I was able to walk a lot more; this year the weather has been bad; so I am doing more indoor walking in the hallways of the building we live in. I do go outside for walks on the nicer days; and yes, the housework does count towards your exercise goals (which I do also). It all adds up; but, I am just trying to be more consistent with it.

I have only one coffee in the morning and one tea in the evening; but mostly drink bottled spring water and the odd diet pepsi. By the way (BTW), I did receive all your private messages; and all the posting is the same no matter where you are on the board (the site), Mo. You are doing fabulously ... you really are!!!

And yes, I do think that you can lose the weight; just do what you can, when you can; and focus on one-day-at-a-time. Will post again soon ~ take good care of yourself ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

RE: EXERCISE PROGRAM For Those With Physical Challenges (informal)

1) walking {12-20 mins/day 3-4 d/wk}
2) hand weights (at least 5 minutes x 3 days a week)
3) chair aerobics* (minimum 5+ mins/day)
4) upper body Rowing or Weights (3 d/wk only)
5) water aquatics & swimming (once a week/ad ?)
6) RTM's (rep therapeutic movements: stretches, toning)
7) stationary or recyprocal bicycle (if possible)

* you can use props like a pole, cane, stretchy band; includes leg-lifts, arm push-ups, tummy tucks/rolls, etc.

NOTE: you can add to this list any kind housework or activity (like gardening) that burns calories on top of your regular daily activities.

PS ~ hope these ideas are helpful to you and others, Mo. This is my informal exercise program that I have been using for about 1.5 years now ... it is very flexible. Maybe you can set up your own plan from these ideas. Rosebud. :hug:

Ladies, I'm not physically challenged but my husband is. I found a great series of Chair Aerobics tapes at our local library for him. I'm sure you could find them on line as well. Basically, it's all sitting down so you don't need to worry about falling and you really do get a good workout. Just wanted to pass that along!

Do you happen to know the names of the video's? or who did them?

Glad your husband found them helpful.

Thanks Mo

SUSAN ... Thanx for the info about the chair aerobic tapes. We'll see if we can find them somewhere.

MO ~ did something totally new today. A while back, I heard about a new activity called ... SKI-WALKING. DH and I picked up a couple pairs of really good poles at a SHS today. This afternoon, I went ski-walking and I love it. The poles really give you good balance and a sense of security that I need. I went for a total of fifty minutes; but I will probably pay with a sore back tomorrow.

When I find something that I enjoy like this, I tend to overdo it a bit. Next time, I'll go out for 2 x 20 minute sessions instead (my aunt made that suggetstion to me this evening). It is thrilling to me to find another activity that I can enjoy in the winter; I guess you could use the poles for hiking in the summer too, if you wanted to.

Anyways, we had nice sunny, weather for the last two days; but, I had to bundle up well today cuz there were some cool winds. It's supposed to get milder here this weekend; hope so. Stayed OP (on plan) well today; glad for that. Hope your foot is feeling better, MO; it's a bummer not to being able to get around (no pun intended) ~ LOL!!!

BTW, if you have any questions, MO, don't hestiate to ask me. Take care and say hi to your DH and Eric for me. :wave: Your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

I did something today I am excited about, I went and joined curves. I am hoping it will help me. the machines are easy for me to use with my leg and I want to meet other Women since l am so loney here. Wish me luck and I will keep you upto date on my progress.

BTW just with the change in my diet these last few days I have lost 3lbs.

love Mo

:wave: Wow ... that's great ... CONGRATS on losing that first 3 lbs; you're on your way ~ keep it up!!

Joining a local group or club is a great way for you to meet people, esp since you live in a large city. I was also gonna suggest joining a church there to meet other people as well. That's what I did when I went to a large, strange city to go to college.

Be sure to keep track somewhere where you start and so on. Take care and have fun ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

Hi my name is Erin. I wasn't born with a physical challange but i aquired one. I had a stroke about 5 years ago when I was 21 due to a clotting condition. I also have seizures. Although I haven't had one in almost 6 months. I was on Topamax which caused major weight loss but i went off of it in Sept. because I am trying to get pregnant and i want to be on as little medication as possible. Unfortunatly i gained back all the weight and then some.
I am weaker on my left side and my balance is messed up. ( makes step arerobic very difficult... :) )I also have some cognitive issues as well and depression with OCD like features. God i sound so whiny. Anyway.. I can totally relate to what you guys are going through. Some days i feel like no one understands me and i dont want to seem whiny. Anyway, i could use some support as well as friends. I am a great listener.

Erin

:welcome: ... ERIN ... we totally understand where you are coming from; and don't feel bad when you are just introducing yourself and explaining your present conditions. I know sometimes I don't even like to tell my family and friends my issues (which they recently admonished me for), cuz I don't want to bore them.

That's the very reason we started this thread; so that those of us who have physical challenges of any kind, whether genetic or acquired, can join others who totally understand how they feel. We are here to help and support each other, and to find new friends too. You can come here anytime; and whine, rant, or complain, whenever you want ... hehe! ;)

And who wouldn't get a little depressed when they are dealing with so many health problems; one of my main stressors is pain issues. Pain is hard on us and it takes a lot of strength to cope with it on a daily basis. After a bad fall, I ended up with a clot in my left calf and now am on blood-thinning meds; this condition also runs in my family.

Glad you found us, ERIN ~ come back and post often ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

After a bad fall, I ended up with a clot in my left calf and now am on blood-thinning meds; this condition also runs in my family


That medication sucks. I have been on coumadin since 2002 and its yucky. Now i am on lovenox which is injectable. The bruising and swelling is disgusing. I feel freakish.
Do you have a clotting condition? I have protein S and Protein C deficiency. Blood thinners for life baby. Could be worse though. I work in a mental instituition and whenever i feel sorry for myself i look at my patients and feel much better.

Hi Erin and Rosebud

Glad your both doing good, and Erin l can relate to the sezures, I haven't had one for almost 4 years now but the meds l am on make me gain weight so that sucks. My Dad was on the shot in the belly for blood thinner and his belly was all bruised, but he says it's better than dieing and l have to agree. He also had a few strokes. So please don't be so hard on your self and take it easy and slow and the weight will come off. I have lost 7lbs so far just cutting out sugars and white breads and trying to excersice the best l can with my legs.

ps Rose is there a way to save this link in a favorite folder or something? As l am still having a hard time finding it.

Thanks

:wave: ... Finally checkin' in; had some trouble with my old pc. Had to update my anti-virus and warrior programs; had some big problems. I hope I have them all solved, at least for now.

Yes MO, here's the thread address link(s):

PHYSICAL CHALLENGES ... any ideas?

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10677


And, DIETING WITH OBSTACLES Forum link is:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14

You can copy them into a file to remember them and I will PM them to you so you have a record in one of your USER CP message files for later reference.

Glad to hear you are doing well. WOW ... 7 lbs ... you're off to a great start. I eat only whole wheat breads now, but have cut the portions down; no junk foods; and eating more fruits, veggies, lean proteins, lower-fat dairy. For those like yourself, who have a smaller amount to lose (only 30-50 lbs or less), making a few changes in your eating style, and adding more regular exercise is all you need to do really.

I am focusing on healthy this time, cuz I want this to last. I have a small treat once a week (ie light popcorn), one lower-fat dessert on Sunday, and once or twice a month, we go out for dinner or lunch; but we try to have something healthy (ie lean steak, bbq spit chicken, or a turkey bunwich). This way, you still get to enjoy some of life's pleasures too. It just takes a little more planning that's all ... notta problem!

ERIN ... yes, I was on Coumadin for the first year; now my doctor has me on coated aspirin therapy (for life). I don't have side effects from the aspirin that might be from other drugs, I guess; BUT, I just have to make sure that I always take it with food to protect my stomach.

Well, gotto go for now ... both of you take care ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

l can relate to the sezures, I haven't had one for almost 4 years now but the meds l am on make me gain weight so that sucks. My Dad was on the shot in the belly for blood thinner and his belly was all bruised, but he says it's better than dieing

i am now on a shot too so i can get pregnant and i does bruise something awful. You get all lumpy too since the medicatio breaks down the fat in your stomach and makes these gross lumps. Blech..
Its great that you havent had any seizures in four years. Its been about 6 months for me. What are you taking? I was on topamax and lost a ton of weight. I gained it all back when i went off of it and here i am. I cant wait to have a baby so i can go back on it. It helps my headaches too. Ok so i whined enough. Hope you all had a fabulous day.

Erin

Hi Erin


I am on epival 500mg 2 x a day, it took awhile for it to control them but it's working great now. Yeah the bumps on your belly arn't the best but don't let it get you down, As soon as you start lossing some of this weight and you get pregnant you will be so happy. I got pregnant at age 36 buy accident as we were using the pill, As l was told not to have kids cause of my CP and eplispy but I am so glad we have our son. Even though he is autistic he is still the happist little guy l know.

Have a great day and keep eating well and excersiing the best you can.

:wave: ... Glad to see you both got your weight tickers up; and we all like butterflies cuz there so lovely, and spring is on its way soon. Was a little cooler today, but we had full sunshine. Went to town shopping today; and did a lot of walking. My legs were a bit sore, but it all counts.

My sister was on an older drug that they don't use as much today called Phenobarb (sp?); it was very strong and she hated it. Eventually, she was able to go off meds for good; that sometimes happens. She is very grateful for that cuz it affected her early schooling; she struggled, but she did graduate from high school and college. I'm glad that you have found one that works for you Mo.

I'm on a drug to lower my sugar levels called Metformin, but I have been able to cut it down drastically. My goal is to go off it completely as soon as I can, cuz I never want to have to take those nasty needles. Thankfully, I'm doing pretty good keeping my eating plan and blood sugars balanced.

Well, just wanted to drop in and say hi; felt a little better today, fighting off a stubborn little flu we had. Take care; and know that you're both in my prayers too ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

I am glad you did walking and I hope you didn't overdo it and are paying the price today with your legs.


my DH is on metaformin and both of us are working on our weight, We have started sugar busters and are both feeling the effects from it for the better, we haven't had any sugar in our diets in over a week and we both feel better. His sugar levers arn't going up and down as much as before they have leveled out and his trips to the loo have gone way donw too.

Yes l figured out the tickers just wish l could make it move faster but like you always say slow and steady wins the race. :)

I have my second appt at curves tomorrow morning and i am looking forward to it.

Today l am doing all the laundry and vacuuming and I know that will be enough of a workout for me.


Keep up the good work.

:wave: Hi Ladies ~ :irish:

How do you like Curves, Mo? Are you able to use the machines? Do you get to do individual programs or do you have to go with the group. My sis tried a club out west, but she didn't like it? They had only group sessions, but she couldn't keep with the group. Thankfully, she purchased only a couple of beginning classes for a try-out, cuz she didn't want to spend a whole pile of money and not be able to stick with it. I hope you have a better program.

The group here goes pretty fast too; I wouldn't be able to use the machines yet. We have friends that go here, but they don't weigh very much (they only have 30-50 lbs to lose); and some of them don't need to lose anything ~ they just go to KEEP in shape.

I slipped on some ice last Thursday coming home, and popped out my knee again; man it was throbbing, but I realized what was wrong, and pushed it back in, and most of the pain went away. So, this weekend, I just did my weights, RTM's, and a little indoor walking.

But, I have good news ... I met my exercise goal this week, and am now surpassing it. Next month, the challenge will be to beat this month's mark. I'm doing a lot better than I thought; but, you're right Mo, I have to be careful not to overdo it ~ I tend to get over-enthusiastic and then end up hurting myself. It's just that deep desire to get this burdensome weight off.

Yes, I must even remind myself ~ slow and steady wins the race!!! Take care and have a great week; and say hi to DH and Eric for me ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

Hi Rose

Yeah l am enjoying it l am still getting 1:1 classes as the machines take awhile to understand but once l get the right postures and stuff then l can go and come any time l want, right now l still make appts so that the trainer can help me. And you go at your own speed so there is no panic to keep up with the class which l like. I go again tomorrrow morning for my thrid class.

Sorry about your fall I hope your knee feels better today? and that your resting it. I am feeling great and wished l started this years ago, the only problem is my legs are getting bruises all over them and l don't know why, I told DH he must be kicking me in our sleep :) But l can live with bruises over fat.

What is your exercise goal you should have a ticker for it. And congrads and making it l am very proud of you.

Keep up the good work and take it slow and steady.

Dear Rose,
I have Polymyositis---and now apparently Fibromyalgia and Diabetes. I understand---and it seems like alot of other wonderful people in here understand.:) ;) :p :D Just keep on going! And "Just Want to be Healthy", you have some really good suggestions that I need to check out.

My thanks to all of you! And my apologies---I thought I was posting on another thread, but. . . I think I'm lost.

Peace All,
the DragonLady

I found this group last week and I'm glad I did. In 2005 I was Diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma ( MM ) for short when they told me I was devasted but had to come out of it for the sake of my Family and my five year old Granddaughter. MM is uncurable but very very treatable. Right now I am Stage 1 which means I have Smouldering MM which means there are no Symptoms and my Hemotologist sees me every four months and checks my blood work. Ok enough about me.
Hello everyone I can relate to you all about falling. I am terrified about falling because my Cancer is in the Bone Marrow and it may take longer for my Bones to heal. I also cannot exercise because because I get severe Cramps in my legs but I am gonna look into Chair Aerobics and Hand Weights.
I also suffer from Coronary Heart Disease and was on Plavix and of you didnt know me you'd have thought I was beat up thats how bad I bruised. Finally after Hemmoraging from Plavix the Drs took me off it and put me on 81 mg baby aspirin.
On March 9th I joined WW weighing in at 177.8 on my first WI I was down to 176 but Im finding it harder and harder to eat my Points but Im determined to lose this weight. Thank you Ladies for letting me join you.
Kathy

Welcome Kathy

Sorry to hear about your MM but you have found the best place for encouragement. And you have the best reason to do this your wonderful Grand daughter. I am loving curves and it is doing wonders for me l have lost over 10lbs so far and when l get home from a workout l feel great. Now if spring would get here so l can go bike riding, another thing you should look into is water arobics, it's very easy on the bones and it's quite the work out.

Keep up the good work and l will put you in my prayers

Hello everyone.. Sorry i havent been around. I had the flu. I hope everyone is having a good week. I am counting the minutes till friday. It has just been a crappy week. I hope everyone is doing well.

Erin

Hi Erin


Sorry to hear about your flu, that is the worst bug to get especially at the start of spring. I am counting the mintues till friday too, cause then DH will be home to help with Eric for 2 days :) I sure need a break.

Congrads on the 5lbs keep up the good work.

Mo

:wave: Hi Everybody ... We actually had rain here today. I've been resting a bit the last couple of days myself. Between my bum knee and another bout of a really crappy flu that keeps coming back. Was talking to my Dad down south, last night; and even they have the same one and exactly the same symptoms; how weird?

:welcome: KATHY ... yes, I am also sorry to hear about your diagnosis; but, you have a great attitude. Thankfully, many of these conditions are very treatable today! We are glad you joined us; the more the merrier. When you say, you find it hard to eat your points, do you mean it's too much food? I sometimes had the same problem; cuz with Metformin, you have to make sure you eat enough, or your sugars go too low and that makes you feel sickly. Come back, KATHY, and tell us a little about yourself too!

MO ~ I'm so glad that they are giving you help and individuals at Curves; and then letting you do your own thing; that's fab! That's a good idea about the ticker; I never thought of it ~ I'll see if I can remember how to put one up. :dizzy: ;)

MRS PEEPS ~ it's OK if you peeped in and got lost; I look around in other places too (esp diabetes). I look for new ideas; and to see how others are coping with their conditions. You never know when and where you might find something useful.

ERIN ~ glad to see you pop in again. Sorry about the flu; DH and I have one that just doesn't want to go away and stay away! I've never seen anything like it before. Hope your feelin' better soon, cuz I know you have to go to work; and it's not nice to be sick at the same time. You're in my prayers.

Well, I hope you all have a great week; take care and God Bless ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

Hello, not sure if I am posting this in the right spot or not.

Although I don't have any major medical problems I do have a lot of difficulty in doing certain exercises. Walking is an issue for me as I have arthritis in both knees (my right knee is at a 45 degree angle to where it should be and doesn't bend correctly ;( ) and also I have osteochondrosis (a spinal disease). I am in constant pain daily. I also have been having a lot of problems with my left ankle of late.

Apart from swimming which makes life so much easier when you have physical problems is there anything else that people can suggest? I can sit and do stretches but to walk, run etc that is not able to happen. I do however work 3 days a week where I am on my feet and walking behind a counter all day.

Any help gratefully accepted.

Thankyou,
Jennylee

Hi Jennylee

First off welcome and I glad you joined us, Not sure if this is possable for you but how about bike ridding? I find l can ride a bike alot better than walking because of my legs, but if your balance is off maybe a stationary bike would be better for you. And of course swimming. Other than that, just chair exercises and strengthing and your job all plays a part into exercise.


Rosebud I see you got your exercise ticker up wtg Sorry to hear about the flu bug they are the worst, but now that spring has sprung, open your windows and change the air in your house and maybe that will help. Got to run now and feed Eric his lunch, keep up the good work.

Love Mo

:wave: Hi Chickies ~ How is everyone doin? Hope you're all enjoying the new spring season in some way. We have mild tempertures and even some rain.

:welcome: ~ JENNYLEE ~ everyone is welcome to join us here. There are no restrictions about what kind of physical challenges you may have; and we're here to support and share ideas with you. I understand about pain; I am in pain somewhere in this body every day as well; it's about pain management!

I use some low pain medication when I need it; and massage therapy and lotions as well; but mostly, I have to take several rest breaks all throughout the day, alternating with short walks around my home to keep my circulation working well.

If you go back to page one (1) of this thread @ #7 message, I listed several kinds of exercising that can be done with limitations; I hope this is helpful to you. MO has also added some ideas in her messages as well.

I like chair aerobics and RTM's (Repetitive Therapeutic Movements) a lot cuz they are pretty ez to do. I sit in a chair to them as I do my hand weights; I'm starting out with my green 2 lb weights (not sure I will go bigger). I made most of them up myself doing 7-12 reps (repeats) of each movement on each arm. I used to belong to a gym and a trainer taught me many ez movements that I have modified. I do some leg lifts and calf stretches, always being careful cuz of injuries that are still healing.

Also, try your local library to find videos and dvds about low impact yoga and chair aerobics, which will have some ideas in them. I have a picture book of low impact yoga, and a video of Tai Chi for seniors, that includes a lot of ez stretches and graceful movements for those with limitations. Libraries often have lots of resources available.

KATHY ~ It seems most of us here have so many health challenges to deal with each day; but we can support each other. I hope you are feeling well today.

MO ~ thanks for the well wishes and prayers cuz this morning I awoke feeling much better; the pain in my knee from the fall was all but gone, and the flu is easing off some too. I have some friends in Christian Encouragers who are also praying for me; I'll take all the help I can get. ;)

Hope all you chickies have a great week; talk to you again soon ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

My name is Joanne. My physical challenge was also acquired. I have what's called 'Cauda Equina Syndrome'..caused by a 'catastrophic' disc rupture at the L4-5 level. My right leg is partially paralyzed..weak from the knee to the ankle, and completely paralyzed from the ankle down. To top that off, I fractured my ankle in a fall and developed complications. I'm waiting for a foot ulcer to heal so I can see my specialist and find out if my ankle is salvageable. Right now, a fusion surgery or amputation are the only 2 options I have :( . I can do chair exercises..I have a pair of hand weights. Getting motivated is my challenge. I know I have to exercise. I'm on WW, but my weight loss is very slow. Sorry to go on so long about my problems :o . I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you :)

Ladies, I just wanted to say how pleased I am to see this thread growing! I am glad you can all help each other. Its awesome!


Joanne: Where are you in SE Ga? My husband is from Moultrie, and we live outside Atlanta.

Thankyou ladies for the tips. Because I am on my feet all day at work the last thing I want to do is go for a walk at night. I hadn't thought of doing chair exercises, my daughter has hand weights so I should go and rumage through her room and borrow them.

I have thought about buying a bike but have worried about what it's maximum weight capacity would be. :( I would hate for it to break under my weight. Also I think I have been a little worried about what I would look like on a bike, I think the bike would be swallowed up by my MASSIVE frame. I am going to get my daughter one and if I am ok on that then I will also get myself one. I always loved to bike ride and swim.

Thanks again,
Jennylee

Hi Joanne

Welcome to this great site, Sorry to hear about your medical problems and I hope the right option is picked for you, It truly is hard to get exercise in when you can’t walk far or jump on your feet, but like we suggested chair exercises are great and so is laying on a flat surface and just trying to bring your legs up to your chest and hold it for a few second and repeat, That helps your belly and your legs get stronger. Remember to hold your belly in though to tighten those muscles.

If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask.

Hi Monet

Great to see you in here too, l will be working my way over to SB to post soon.

Hi Jenny lee

Don’t worry about Bikes, my brother is almost 350lbs and his bike holds him and my other brother on the handlebars and he weights over 200 so l am sure there is a bike out there for you. If your really worried get a stationary one they go up to 500lbs.


Rosebud

My Dear how are you feeling today? Glad my prayers along with your friends helped.
I am having a great day went to curves and had my final one to one workout and now can go on my own so starting next week hoping to go M W F in the mornings while Eric is at school. Eric and I went for a walk around our neighborhood
Hood this afternoon it was nice l just followed his lead as he loves to touch garage door handles so we went up and down everyones driveway, Hope my neighbors understand.

Well that’s all for now bye friends.

How is everyone doing? :?: :)

Hi Everyone

We had a nice weekend, we finally found a respite worker for Eric, so DH and I had a nice break from him for 5 hours on Sat. We went out for lunch and then bowling, and then hit the casino. I won 55 dollars and DH loss 30, but all in all it was nice getting away from dealing with diapers and a child that dosen't want to eat, it can get very frusterating. For all you new people my Son is almost 4 and is autistic so he is non verbal and we have to do everything for him.
Sunday I woke up with a terrable cold and we just stayed in and rested.
.But l did lose another lb over the weekend so that was great/

Today l am taking Eric to school and then going to curves for another workout.

Hope you all had a great weekend and that you have a wonderful week.

:wave: ~ Hi Everybody ...

Just wanted to check in; so sorry that I've been MIA for a few days, cuz I was sick over the weekend, but I'm starting to feel better now. We've had unbelievable weather here; warm temps and even had our first rainstorm for the year, melting half the snow. Don't know if this is gonna last 'til April, but sure hope it's a sign for a good summer!

My knee is much better and I can walk on it now, so I can get some exercise in; been going outside as much as I can (just in shorter stints). I hope you are all doing well with your plans; and you are feeling well.

:welcome: again JOANNE ~ I actually just met you over in the Christian Encouragers thread last week. Thanks for dropping by; I had wondered if you knew about this thread; it's fairly new. We (Mo and I) started it cuz we have a lot of physical challenges; and we really understand how each other feels. Many people care and are compassionate, but we do live a unique experience every day. Have you thought of doing the weights and arm movements & stretches to music or while watching TV??? I am happy that you finally found us here!

JENNYLEE ~ so glad you find the info helpful; I hope others do as well.

MONET ~ is the moderator for the Obstacles section, Mo; Thanks for the well wishes Monet, maybe someday, we can make it a permanent sticky.

MO ~ hope you find lots of info in the Sugar Busters thread; I may lurk over there a little myself to see what ideas they may have. Thanks so much for your prayers, support, and uplifting words; it means so much to me. And, thanks for picking up the slack for me when I was sick; you're are doing so well posting now. I have my good days and my bad ones, Mo; but I try not to mull too much. I actually tried to post Saturday night but my pc was acting up again; so I turned it off last night, and today it's better (this is because it's an older machine, like I mentioned before). I'm so happy for you for your progress at curves; keep it up, girl!!!

Plus, I am so happy about all the help you are getting with Eric, the respite worker and that he is going to school three days a week; how nice for you and DH. So glad you had a fun weekend alone together; and here's to many more. :hat:

HI TO ERIN and to KATHY ~ I hope you are both doing well; drop in and post whenever the mood strikes you.

Take care ladies; God bless, and keep on keepin'on ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug: PS ~ you're all in my prayers!

Hey, where's all our chickies this week??? :?: I had a feeling that as soon as spring arrived that we'd all take to the roads; and guess I was right. No-one has posted in here since I last did ~ last Monday!!!

So, I'm gonna post again anyways, just like Gary did in the Christian Encouragers thread until more of us showed up. I think I'll have to pray more for all of you guys not to be so shy as well.

MO, I know that you have your hands full; and I'm just so happy for you for all the good changes that are taking place in your life right now; God Bless.

ERIN, KATHY, JOANNE, and JENNYLEE ~ you can come in here and just journal your thoughts anytime you want to; there are no rules or restrictions; just chat about your general life, how you are feeling, and/or what you are doing each day; once or twice a week is fine too. I know that some of you have to work and that takes up a lot of your time.

Have you all decided on any kind of eating or exercise plans that you would like to try??? Have you any questions??? Tell us a little more about yourselves ~ like, do you have families? What kind of work do you do? Do you like it? What are your hobbies or favorite past-times? How do you spend your free time? Am I too nosey ~ LOL???

We are having fabulous weather here; almost all our snow and ice are gone, so I can go out and walk again; and my leg is hanging in there, but I'll be careful not to overdo it for now. We are going away tomorrow for the day on our weekly shopping excursion and having lunch out.

MOSTLY, I just hope that you are all well and happy; have a great Friday and take care; keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

Hi All

Sorry l haven't been here in awhile, I have been sick all week with a terrriable cold which has moved into my chest now so breathing is hard. To top it off Eric has been sick the last 2 days too so what little energy l do have l have to use looking after him. I haven't worked out all week and l miss it, I am hoping by Monday l will feel up to going to curves.

We have a appt this morning for Eric to try and get him into a Autism preschool here for Sept. Pray for us as they have a waitlist so l am hoping today might be our lucky day. If he gets in he will get thraphy to help him learn life skills and speech(either words or pecs or sign laungwhich) I don't care as long as he can tell us how he is feeling. It will be 30 hours a week for 11 months out of the year l really want to qualify.

Rosebud, I am happy your back to walking again l know how you enjoy it.

Thats all the time l have to post now as we have to leave in 5 minutes.

Take care all

:wave: Hey Ladies ~ what a beautiful day we had today; we have been really blessed lately; however the weather guys are calling for spring rains for the next few days! That will likely melt all the remaining snow for sure!

MO ~ I'm so sorry that you have been so sick; that almost sounds like the same flu we've had out here. It appears like a little cold in the beginning, but goes into your lungs pretty quickly; notta cold, sweetie; but, a sneaky flu that is mimicking cold-like symptoms. And, it appears to go away, then comes back.

Will be praying for both you and Eric; I hate that yucky feeling of not being able to breathe clearly (the worst part, to me). Take extreme good care of yourself and don't worry about the exercise; getting and being healthy is far more important right now, MO.

HI TO THE REST OF OUR CHICKIES ~ hope you are all well; hope to hear from you again sometime soon.

Keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

HAPPY APRIL ALL MY FREINDS

I am still getting over this terriable bug, and now Eric has caught it l beleive as he had a terriable night sleeping, lots of coughing and crying, so that means Mommy didnt sleep well either. We are both coughing this morning and l am tried, he dosen't seem to be though, which means no nap for us.

I am hoping it clears up for both of us by the 21 as we are flying home to Ontario for the first time in a plane for Eric and I, We drove out here when we moved cause l was chicken to fly, but l am missing my family alot so l figured l have to get over my fear and fly home and see my Mom. I am so looking forward to 2 weeks of having family and friends around. Living in a strange city makes it very hard.

Even with out exercising at curves these last 2 weeks l am still loosing pounds just doing housework and chasing Eric around.

Hope all of you are doing good and that your enjoying your weather around you. We got snow right now but by this weekend soppose to get into the low 20 (70) I can't wait.

Talk to you all soon.

HI MO ~ :wave:

WOW ... you are doing so great MO! No surprise to me that you are still losing weight just by eating healthy, doing housework, and chasing after a busy, little boy ~ LOL! KEEP IT UP GIRL!!!

We've had a doozy of a snow storm for the last three days, so we've been stayin' indoors and watching my flocks of beautiful birdies from my kitchen window ... what a sight! We have more now than ever before; I guess God decided to send me a little gift, to make me feel better.

Just been catching up on my housework, as I'm still trying to fight off one of the stubbornest flus we've ever had. I've been going around the house with disinfectant, spraying everything in sight, just to get rid of all those nasty germies ~ LOL!

MO ~ I am praying for good health for both you and Eric. To all the rest of our MIA chickies; I sure hope you are all well! Do take care; and keep on keepin'on ~ your fellow encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

Hi Rosebud

Just want to say keep up the good work, your almost under 300 and when you get there it will feel like your walking on air. Yes we have had snow for the last 5 days out here in Calgary and l am sick of it. Only 20 more days till we fly home to Ontario to see my family and l can't wait. I am hoping to be at 180 or lower when we leave that is my goal.

All the other ladies l hope your all doing good and the weight is coming off slowly.

And yes Rosebud this flu/cold is terriable and l wish it would just leave.

I have been lurking on this whole site for a while now but for some reason only recently found the dieting with obstacles link. I decided to sign up and start posting as you have all inspired me with your challenges.

I was born with several challenges, one being having Central Core Disease. This is a degenerative muscles disease that belongs somewhere in the muscular dystrophy family. I have the challenge that if I over use my muscles I will damage them but of course if I don't use them they will just atrophy. A few weeks ago I went to my doctor because of my knee, I've had knee problems on and off all my life. I really need surgury on it but the recovery time will lead to more muscles loss in the rest of my leg. So my surgeon said that he wants a second opinion. Oh, I also have osetoarthritis in the knee. I know exercise and dieting is needed to lose weight but I am really scared to do more damage. I am really at a loss what to do because I know losing weight will also help my body. Anyone else have a simular quandry?

Hi Silver star and welcome

I don't know much about that disease but you have found a good place to vent and get insperation. Can you do water exercise? it's very easy on the muscles and joints but you still get a good workout.

We all have problems too but l am doing real good lossing weight by doing the sugar busters diet, we took all white flour and sugar out of our diets and l am lossing weight. I have lost 25lbs in 5 weeks.

Were abouts in Alberta are you? I am in Calgary, just moved here from the Toronto area.

Feel free to ask any questions you have.

HI LADIES ~ :wave: Hope you all had a HAPPY EASTER WEEK!

We had a huge snow storm here all last week; but the snow finally ended this morning, and we have a little sunshine this afternoon! Had a wee accident; crushed my finger taking my turkey out of the freezer; hoping it's not broken; we'll see if the swelling goes down by tomorrow or it's off to the hospital. Ya, I'm a real CALAMITY JANE ~ alright!

:welcome: ~ SILVERSTAR ~ glad you found us; please come back again as we'd luv to get to know you. We all have some challenges and have to work around them on a daily basis. I really like MO's water aquatics idea; and the chair aerobics we listed on page one, message #7 are good too.

Eating healthy and losing weight will help us all feel better ~ that's why we're here; but, we just have to be more careful about our physical limitations!

MO ~ Thanx so much for your encouragement; I just recently found out I have lost more than I thought. A friend told me the max on the scale I was first weighed on; I was over, so I had to guess. Have lost more than 73 lbs. Yes, I'm so close to the twonieland numbers ~ can't wait. I am ordering a hydraulic scale so I can weigh myself at home; and I'll have an update then; sure hope I've lost some.

Anyways, hope you all have a great week; take care and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

WOW Rosebud thats great news about a bigger loss than you thought, that must of made you happy.

Yeah the weather out here is terriable right now but soppose to warm up by this weekend. Sorry to hear about your finger l hope it's not broke. Just remember to take it easy and don't over do it.

We had a quiet Easter, just the 3 of us, the easter bunny brought Eric a singing dancing bunny and some new jammies, no candy cause he don't eat it and we (DH and I ) don't need it. :)

I have been working on toilet traning Eric today so every 30 minutes l have been taking him into the bathroom, so far nothing but he loves washing his hands afterwards so thats a bonus.

Hope you have a good night and a better day tomorrow.

All the other special ladies I hope your doing good and that your doing the best you can on the exercise front.

Hi all:
Thanks for the warm welcome. I was so amazed to find this thread, it feels good knowing that others have the same struggles.

I live in Ponoka, which is a small town. Classes for water aerobics happen while I am at work. I may go one day during lane swim and see if I can get an empty lane. Water does make exercising easier, almost too easy. I have to learn how to pace myself so I don't overdo it in the pool.

I am intersted in the chair aerobics, I downloaded a chair yoga routine the other day, I have yet to try it.

Hi Silver since you said small town l guess your not in Calgary :) We just moved here from Ontario. Yes water is easy but it is easy to over do it. Just start off will small steps till your body lets you know it's ready to accept more.

All the other friends I hope your doing good and enjoying spring like weather finally. Today is the nicest day we have had so far out here.

Rosebud, you haven't posted in awhile l hope your not over doing it and that your feeling ok? I am thinking of you and hope all is well.

I am hoping to lose these 6 more pounds before we fly home to Ontario in 9 days wish me luck.

Hi MO ~ :wave: I'm hangin' in there MO. I posted last Monday; Tuesday went out shopping twice; maybe did overdo it, cuz Wednesday, I was sick all day with a flu bug again (my immune was down with this hand thing). Spent most of the afternoon in bed.

My pc was on the fritz Wednesday night ~ finally got it all fixed up today (had to reboot and all). My sis in Manitoba made a suggestion that I'm gonna try to get this 'ole pc to work a little better for me.

That was funny about the candy, MO. Canadians do have a great sense of humor. I hope you make your goal, before you go on your trip home. You are doing so well, I think that you will certainly come very close.

HI SILVERSTAR ~ glad you found the chair yoga program; I've also added Ladies low-impact sit-ups and leg-lifts (do them on a bed or couch) to give me more minutes each day. I use my imagination to create new moves; anything counts that burns energy for any length of time.

One trainer said that it's the total minutes that you are engaged in any kind of movement that really counts. I'm going for 20-30 minutes a day of walking and miscellaneous exercises. I find listening to music and/or TV really makes the time pass by more quickly.

As for the swimming, put a time limit on it, say 20-30 minutes, and increase it in little increments (ie 10 minutes), depending on how you feel afterwards. For me, how I feel the next day is always the best measure of whether I overdid it or not. I did with ski-walking ~ had to knock it down to 10-20 minutes at a time ~ LOL!!!

Had snow all day today, so stayed inside and watched all my lovely birdies. This year, we've had more different kinds of birds than ever before ~ like Woodpeckers, Starlings, Finches, Grossbeaks, Snowbirds, Junkos, Doves or Partidges (not sure), Chickadees, yellow/mint green like grossbeaks, two kinds of blackbirds, Winter Wrens, and Squirrels.

It's kind of like ~ build it and they will come; only it's put out food, and they will come; BUT, it's so nice of GOD to bring them our way; they lift our spirits with their funny antics.

HI TO ALL OUR OTHER FRIENDS ~ like ERIN, KATHY, JOANNE, and JENNYLEE. Hope you are all well; God Bless, and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hey MO ~ :wave: ~ you must be getting really excited about your trip home this weekend; only five days to go. I bet you are busy packing and getting last-minute things ready. I know that you are going to have a fab time; and for two whole weeks!!!

Just wanted to pop in and say HI to everyone; we had a lovely weekend and a beautiful sunny day today. Just did laundry and small chores today. My hand is getting better; still black, but not as swollen and starting to fade; and it doesn't hurt like before either. DH was a sweety and did the dishes for me all week.

Hope all our other past visitors are doing OK. I take it from your extended absence, that you are all well; and I'm happy for that! Have a great week and take care; and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hello ladies-I was not born with anything but I have had fibro for about 25 years. I have a grandaughter-17-and she has spinal bifida and is confined to a wheelchair and the floor for getting around, She has had a bit of a weight problem but she has a hand driven wheelchair and she goes to the gym for strengthening, She is so strong!! She can swim, play the piano and she wants to be a drama teacher, One of the nicest young ladies I have ever met-of course I am not prejudiced. So I wish you all the best and I guess you can thank God for what you are able to do-Mima

:wave: HI EVERYONE ~ what a beautiful weekend we had; went to a nearby lake and even managed to walk a little too. It was lovely, even if all the ice wasn't melted yet. I was raised near water, so I am drawn to it all the time. We have lakes in and around our town, so we make many visits to them regularly from early spring until late fall.

HI MIMA ~ glad to hear your grand-daughter is doing so well; and she sounds like she has a wonderful attitude; really that is what it's all about! Accepting our limitations, but not letting them stop us from enjoying our lives and trying new things. We are all very grateful for our blessings and to be able to do what we can ~ that's just one of the reasons why I am trying so hard to get healthier.

Pain is a big issue for many SPINA patients (as with FIBRO). We suffer terribly at times, but with GOD's GRACE, we can push through and even overcome! Growing up, I had two friends with spina bifida ~ both confined to wheelchairs. Some people are able to rise above the chair, but sadly some aren't. I'm so glad your grand-daughter has!

DEAR MO ~ don't know if you can check in while in Ontario, but I so extend my best wishes for you, Eric, and your DH during your visit home. Hope you have a fabulous time with your family and friends. Miss your lovely spirit; will be so glad when I hear from you again!

TO ALL OUR OTHER FRIENDS ~ we sure hope you all are happy and well; and that everything in your lives are improving, esp with your health. You are all in my prayers ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Sounds like you are a Christian-so am I-please pray for Alison. Thanks Mima

HELLO MIMA ~ :wave: ~ no problem; actually, I already have prayed for your grand-daughter, Alison. I asked GOD if He would help her dreams to come true; I know He hears, so now we just have to wait for the preparation and opportunities to come to fruition for her at the right time.

Yes, I'm sure it's always obvious that I am a Christian; my faith in GOD and His beautiful Son (JESUS) is what has carried me thru my whole life. My DH is reading over my shoulder and sends his best wishes for your grand-daughter as well. We think "the skies the limit" for her; and that she just has to "go-for-it" that's all!

To all our other friends, and MO ~ hope you are all well and MAY GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY TODAY! Your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hello ladies - can I play?:^:

I just found this thread and it looks pretty cool! :carrot:

I have a few "issues" - osteoarthritis in lower back, sacro-iliac joint, maybe hips and knees too. Sciatica on both sides at different times (if they ever gang up on me I;m staying in bed that day!!). Slipped disk that showed itself a month or two ago. Sore feet for 6+ years and NOTHING has helped (custom orthotics, homoepathy, physiotherapy). Possible fibromyalgia or some other musculo-skeletal thing - haven't gotten a definite dx from a "real" medical doc but naturopath suggested it. CHRONIC PAIN and fatigue from all of the above... :(

And guess what? I'm an emotional eater. Which is why I find myself on a board called 3fatchicks. But I love the name.

ALL the docs tell me to lose weight but all of the above and genetics are against me.

I try to exercise but end up in pain again. Haven't had much real help in avoiding injury etc whilst exercising... hope to try again next month though. I had surgery in April (unrelated to all the above) and am waiting for the doc to clear me for exercise.

I'm interested in some of the videos etc mentioned... must look for them in the library when I finally get there. When I am well I do go to the gym (and do very basic stuff), swimming once a week, and I like walking...

Hi All I am back and gonna start exercising again cause l gained 3lb's on my trip. But it was worth it cause l got to visist everyone and not watch what l was eating. Today l just spent doing laundry and all the unpacking. Tomorrow l am back at curves. We got the best news today Eric has gotten picked up for in home ABA Theraphy so finally we can learn new ways to communicate with him we are so excited.

Rosebud thanks for thinking of me while l was gone it was nice to see your messages. I hope your hand is feeling better.

Got to run now and eat dinner so l will try and post more when l have more time, Keep up the good work friends and remember to smile everyday and that will make you feel like a million dollars.

Hi to all our new members l will talk with you all soon.

Welcome back, Mo! You were missed! How exciting about the therapy for Eric! I hope it goes really well! Three pounds will be easy to drop again! Good for you getting right back at it at Curves! :cp:

Great news about Eric's therapy (I read the thread whilst you were away :) ). I hope it all goes well.

Thanks Monet, and Catsnhorses

We are excited to see Eric's full potential shine now, we are just waiting for the call to tell us when it will start, they said a few weeks.

Catsnhorses where abouts in Canada are u? I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, but now live in Calgary.

HI EVERYBODY :wave: ~ it's late, but I just want to pop in quickly and say Hi!

HEY MO ~ So glad you are back; I was counting the days off on my calender even; and sounds like you had a great time! What fantastic news ~ that Eric was accepted for in-home therapy; we are all so happy for you! I agree with MONET ~ 3 lbs is just peanuts: they will come back off in no time. I'm glad Curves is helping you out so much as well.

My hand is almost totally healed now; just can't quite get a perfect grip yet, but, my sis says that will take a little more time (she broke fingers in the past). I don't have to wear the metal brace anymore and I can type easier this week as well, so I have been posting more too.

:welcome: CATS ~ glad to have you join us; looks like you are a returnee??? Sorry you have suffered so much; good for you for not giving up! Swimming and walking may be the best choices for you; they are for me (plus the hand-weights and chair aerobics).

HI MONET ~ so nice to see you pop in again!

Well, hope all our other visitors are well; take care and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi and thanks for the welcomes... I'm in Ontario (GTA). I'm sort of a returnee, I had found this site before, somehow forgot about it, then was told about it again and didn;t realize i had signed on before but not posted. I get kind of distracted sometimes :o Anyways I am here now and looking for info on diet/exercise/nutrition and support.

Hope to start walking soon... swimming is harder, I can only go once a week.

BTW I did curves before and enjoyed it... till I moved house and the local curves is soooo unfriendly it just depressed me, i couldn;t face going any more. (I met another lady who said the same so at least it wasn;t just me!) i lost a lot on their low carb diet too but it turned out it caused other problems for me so i stopped. and i think you can guess the rest.

anyways, GTG

take care

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the good luck vibes for Eric, I will keep you all updated. Catshorses we just got back from visiting in the GTA area, before we moved here we lived in Oakville,Burlington, and then Whitby so we had lots of people to visit and my SIL lives in TO.

I know what u mean about curves my place is so friendly so that makes it easier to go, if it was different l would'nt enjoy it as much.

Rosebud, I am glad your hand is healing nice, and your sister is right it takes time so don't over doit or else you will have a set back, I can't wait to go home next year now that Eric is getting theraphy he will be a different boy.

Got to take Eric to school see ya all later

I have scleroderma and associated conditions like Sjogren's Syndrome and Raynaud's Phenomenon, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia, and have had great success with an elliptical trainer. I was able to start out really slowly, barely able to go for a few minutes before my muscles started screaming at me, but it improved over a few weeks. I also use a heart rate monitor and stay within a range my doc recommended. Not only is this a good exercise on its own, it has improved my ability to ride a bike, so now I can add that to walking and the elliptical.

I've never been one to believe the adage about exercise improving the fatigue associated with autoimmune diseases and fibromyalgia, but it's working. For the first time in many, many years, I haven't had a major fatigue "attack" for a year (knocking on wood...)

wow congrads Amie

On not having a attack in a year that is great news. I am also glad you found a way to exercise and feel good about yourself. You made a good point, nobody should do any exercise untill they talk with there doctor to make sure you don't do any damamge.
Your doing great and now that your starting to lose weight you will feel even better.

Rosebud How are you doing? haven't seen a post from you in awhile? How's the hand? been overdoing it? I am doing great lost 6.5 more inches and 7lb's in 2 weeks. Everyone at curves is so happy for me.

Well got to go and take Eric to school so everyone have a great day!!!

HI EVERYONE ~ :wave: ~ I tried to come in to post yesterday, but kept getting DATABASE ERROR MESSAGES; apparently, I wasn't the only one. Seems there was a problem for a while, but they seem to have it all fixed it up today.

And sometimes, this old PC gives me some trouble, as you already know; so I don't get to post as much as I would like. So, my DEAR SIS is sending me up another PC with more memory at the end of May via my Dad; what a sweetie she is; GOD bless her!

MO ~ that is such a beautiful picture of ERIC; what a handsome little guy he is; I'm so happy that he's getting to go to school to learn some way to communicate (just sorry he had to wait so long). We live in a very rich country; you know there are a group of lawyers fighting in Ontario right now for the rights of the disabled; and they are winning, MO! I am personally seeing the benefits of their efforts; and I hope this will spread to children like ERIC real soon!!!

CONGRATS on the NSV (non-scale victories); I also have lost six single sizes plus several inches too; my weight has plateaued, so I'm gonna have to watch a little more carefully and increase my walking a little to improve things. I know I can do better; I was going over my plan and I see some places where there is room for improvement.

Thanks MO ~ My hand is much better; and you're right ~ if I overdo it, it throbs; but it looks totally normal now (no swelling or color). I just have to remember that the inside needs to heal longer than the outside.

:welcome: AMIE ~ I'm glad that you have found a way to exercise that helps you; I have been having some trouble. I'll have to go look up what an elliptical trainer looks like; can't remember ~ LOL! I get that tingly problem in my hands sometimes too, Amie (Reynauld's Syndrome); I did have bad frostbite on my hands when I was a child; if they get cold now, I get those weird tinglies; but my circulation problems were inherited.

HI TO ALL OUR OTHER FRIENDS ~ I hope you are all well and progressing with your goals; take good care of yourselves and keep on, keepin' on! Your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD! :hug:

I am not certain whether i am posting in the correct section sorry if it is in the wrong spot. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999 but i have notice that in the past eighteen months my mobility has deteriorated and i now have a tendency to drag my right leg. Fatigue is the biggest enemy to exercise when you do a few minutes and all you want to do afterwards is go to bed and sleep not exactly conductive to weight loss. Most of my exercise is done later in the day when it is cooler and i seem to achieve more.

thanks for listen

purpleorc :)

Hi Purpleorc and welcome

You found the right spot and hopefully we can help you with ideas. The way l look at it is any exercise no matter how small counts so don't get discouraged if you can only do a few minutes at a time. Remember to listen to your body it knows best so if you need to take a break after a few minutes do so, and when your stronger again do a few more minutes. I know how hard MS can be, my best friend has it. Just do your best and take care of your self. If you just want to post about struggles or even good things in your life please do and someone will answer you.

I have CP and fine bike riding and swimming is the best for me as walking is hard on my hips.

Rose bud How are you doing? besides computer problems that is. Glad your doing better and that your enjoying our nice weather finally. Enjoy your long weekend and remember to drink as much water as your body will let you, as it will make you feel great.

Well l got to go and pick Eric up from school so have a great weekend everyone.

Thanks ericsmommy for the welcome to the thread.

I have never let multiple sclerosis rule my life I am its master. But it has taken me a long while to come to terms with its limitations. I do not beat myself up if today I can not exercise tomorrow is another day and that might be a good day.

When I have read through this thread with other people with varying syndromes etc. I realise how lucky I am and that I am really blessed that I have a wonderful DH who looks after me (he has given up so much to care for me but never complains and always puts me first) Plus I have a caring loving family who help me as much as possible.

With all the support I receive from people here on 3fc and my family and friends I know I am going to get to my goal.

purpleorc :)

Right on, purpleorc! You will make your goal!

Good Morning all

I am going out this morning with my only girlfriend here in Calgary, we are gonna hit the used kids stores (she is looking for costumes) I want to see if l can find one of those bike trailers to hook to my bike so I can go bike riding with Eric, I have the seat on my bike but he is getting too big for it and is no where ready to learn to ride a bike so this way I can enjoy my favorite pass time bike riding with him.

Then we are going out for lunch, I am so excited haven't been out for lunch since we moved here. Then when I get home DH and I are gonna move his computer out of the spare bedroom to get it ready for Eric's theraphy room. I am so excited that he is finally gonna get the help he needs. And to top off this great day I lost another 1lb so everything is great.

Hope you all have a great weekend (long weekend here in Canada) and enjoy something beautiful each day to bring a smile to your face.

Mo, sounds like a lovely weekend. Enjoy!

HI EVERYONE ~ :wave: ~ You wouldn't believe it unless I told ya; IT SNOWED HERE TODAY ~ ya, really! DH and I worked hard yesterday (more DH than me) tilling the garden; then we planted three big rows of potatoes and I planted my salad garden while refereeing between DH and three very small munchkins who kept running all thru his garden (one was 2; one 4; one 5); and they wouldn't listen until DH got really annoyed after fixing the rows five times; then they all scattered like bugs. It was hilarious, but taxing; I kept thinking of Mr. Wilson and Dennis the Menace x 3 ~ LOL!

ANYWAYS, we survived the day; and the (unchaperoned) kiddies had a blast annoying Gramma and Grampa next door (that's what they call us); but Gramma's got lots more patience, however thin ~ hehe! We're gonna make them their own sandbox to play in next week; cuz they'll need it for the summer; or DH may end up in the HOME FOR THE BEWILDERED!

ANYHOW, as for me; I'm really starting to feel better; the flu seems to be gone for sure, FINALLY! Unfortuneately, my legs have been giving me lots of trouble (pain); my knee has been collapsing more this week, maybe I strained it too much. Other than that, things are going great for us; I got all my housework done today; and baked some Apricot-Oat & Bran Muffins today and we had a lovely steak dinner.

:welcome: PURPLEORC ~ glad you stopped by; we have three friends that have MS; one is in a mobile chair, and he's doin' fab; and two ladies who are very early on (one is doing well in every respect; the other one struggles with anxiety, but who can really blame her). Fatigue is a major problem for many of us; we have to rest when we can and do when we can.

HELLO AMIE ~ nice to see you pop in; your posts are short and sweet ~ LOL!

MO ~ that's so wonderful you have a good friend to go shopping with and out to lunch; all my closest friends have moved away. Most of my family live down south, so I really empathize with you.

My aunt & uncle came to visit me the other day; and my Dad and step-mother are coming next week all the way from down south (they come twice a year). Now that my health is getting better, DH and I will be able to make some trips too; before I got sick we used to travel a lot. Our biggest dream is to own our own home, and to travel more!

Well, I hope all of our friends are in good health, and staying OP as best you can. Take good care of yourselves; and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow
encourager ... Rosebud. :hug:

LOL at Rosebud

I knew Ontario got hit with snow but it's still funny to read about. My day was nice we hit all the used stores, my friend got alot of cowboy clothes for her twins b-day party it's going to be a dressup cowboy party and she wants clothes for all the kids to wear. I didnt find what l was looking for so l will just keep looking. But it was still nice to get out for a few hours, l am so glad my DH cares about me enough to watch Eric so l can have some time to myself, my friends DH won't watch there kids she had to get a sitter. Her twins are the same age as Eric and her little boy is also autistic, we meet at a parents support group back in Ontario, and now she has moved out here to Calgary.

Amie thanks for your little notes it's nice to read them.

Purple l am glad you have a wonderful DH that is there for you and a great support family around you, l know that really helps when your not feeling the best.

Have a great Sunday all and keep doing the best you can.

My DH wants us both to go to the gym to help tone up plus exercise to boot. But I managed to put him off for a short while. I am nervous in nature and as you can see by my ticker i am not the slimmest chick on the block. I have very little confidence due to my weight so that is the main reason i am afraid to enter the gym for fear of what people will say. I put my DH of saying that i would go when i was no longer morbidly obese but that time is fast approaching now as I am only about 4lbs away from that so no longer can use that excuse. My DH knows how i feel about going because of my weight but all he can say is really positive things to me about myself but I am nervous nevertheless.

Anyone had the same feelings as me whilst entering the gym, maybe i have preconceived ideas that everyone is like super toned in there and very slender. Also that users of the gym will be looking at me and thinking what is she doing in here? I would be grateful for some advise how to get me through the door without kicking and screaming so to speak lol

Hi Purple

I would hold my head up high and go in, cause l have been members of alot of gyms over the years and everyone l have gone into there is always people there who were my size or bigger, and they all were the friendlist people there. So l would go with my DH and be proud that he wants you to go with him, If people don't like you for who you truly are then it's there tough luck cause you are doing changes in your life now for the better, and a gym will help you get to your goal even faster.

Hope this makes sense and that you feel great.

Thanks for your reply ericsmommy, sometimes i just need a kick up the proverbal to push me in the right direction and see common sense. I now see that I must be proud that i am making the changes to my life and that my DH wants to support me in doing this. For those who do not take me for who I am and can not see past the weight issue. Then it is their loss that they are narrow minded.

Changing the subject slightly, Thanks to Justwant2Bhealthy for the warm welcome to the thread it is nice to be on this site it does not make you feel so isolated with issues you may have. There is alway someone with some words of wisdom that pick you up or point you in the right direction.

Thanks for listening.

your very much welcome Purple and (((((((((HUGS))))))))) for being yourself and for being proud of yourself for wanting to lose the weight. I have never judge people for what they look like, but only for who they are on the inside and to me your a beautiful woman inside and out.

HI EVERYONE ~ :wave: We have had lovely weather here, so we have been really busy lately. We planted our potatoes last Friday; and today, we finished our main garden with carrots, peas, summer & winter turnips, onions, romaine lettuce, and Marigolds. We have devised so many quick methods that we had it done in one day. We'll plant our yellow & green beans in June when the weather is better. I so love growing my own veggies; have to pick up some tomato plants this week too.

MO ~ You are truly a wonderful person in every respect! Like you, I care about everyone irregardless of who they are or what they look like. It does sadden sometimes when I see the low self-esteem of so many people on this site; it seems to be a common thread/issue (no pun intended). We hurt ourselves with negative vernacular; and this is something I would like to see change for us all!

We have weight issues on both sides of my family; and I love each and every one of my relatives just the way they are. Actually, I usually don't even notice their size at all! I kind of look at the human body like a shell; and I am trying to make my shell a little healthier right now, so that I can feel good and enjoy my life to the fullest.

PURPLEORC ~ MO always has some wise and kind words to share; and we love her for that!

Tomorrow morning, we are going to put our leftover seed in the extra empty rows just to use them up. We give any extra produce away to neighbours who appreciate home grown and free veggies. It's supposed to be really warm the next too days; probably have to put on the air conditioner.

We'll be busy over the next while as my Dad came up early; they arrived today, but only to find the hydro in their cottage isn't working. Now, that's a drag, but he says they rough it when they camp just the same. We're just so glad that they are here, as he's 74 y/o now and still going strong! He overcame a battle with colon cancer and his dear wife has just come thru bladder cancer and the removal of an ovarian tumor ~ now that's something! We are all very grateful to GOD for this victory!

My DH is also very supportive of me as well, MO; we are indeed blessed to have such loving and caring spouses. Well, I hope all our friends are doing well; take good care of yourselves; and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

ERICSMOMMY:~ Thanks for those kind words. Yes like yourself i never judge people by how they look it is the person has as a whole that is important.

For many years I did a specialist type of nursing in psychiatry called forensic psychiatry. There you could never judge anyone because my clients had committed crimes that were punishable by a prison sentence but because their mental state was found to be unstable. Then they came to us a medium secure locked unit. The clients were not there because they had stolen smarties but much more serious crimes such as murder, rape and sex offenses against children. So judging my clients was not something you could do else you were unable to help them with their mental health issues and coming to term with the crime that they had committed.


JUSTWANT2BEHEALTHY:~ Gosh your father and his wife have both been through the mill with cancer. But both have been blessed and now are cancer survivors. Someone must be watching over them a special angel.

Hmm air conditioning now that sounds bliss, it is starting to get humid and warm here in the UK. I know it is nothing by other countries they get much hotter days than us. Unfortunately very few homes have air conditioning hence installing it here cost an air and a leg. But i know i should not envy you and the air conditioning but I would love it. My ms does not react well to heat i am like a limp lettuce lol. Home grown vegetables are wonderful they taste so much better than shop bought ones. I was brought up on they my parents had a large garden and we bought very little in the line of vegetables. I sure do miss them. I can understand that your neighbours really appreciating any fruits or vegetables that you give to them as they taste wonderful.

Yikes what a long post :D

Hi guys

Your welcome for the words but thats just who l am, I have never judged anyone by there looks and l never will.

Purple l didnt realize you were in the UK how exciting, what's it like over there? for example are schools all year long or do you have summers off? health care, is it free like Canada or more like the US? I hear you about air conditioning, we had it in Ontario and loved it, out here in Calgary not too many have it and since we are only reanting this house l am worried how the summer will go, heat and I don't get along. Hope you and DH enjoy the gym let us know how it goes and remember keep your head up and be proud of yourself.

Rose Wow your parents have been threw alot but they are lucky to have you as a daughter. My Dad just passed away in Oct and l still miss him like crazy. Your neighbours are lucky to have you for offering them fresh grown veggies, what a sweet thing to do, I just hope you take it easy when you were planting everything, bending alot is really hard.

I didnt go to curves today as it was Eric's class trip to the zoo, and l went along to help, thank god l took Eric's buggy, it was alot of walking and when l have the buggy it makes it so much easier on my hip. So l got my excersie in for the day.

Well thats all for now have a great day everyone and keep chunging along in your workouts.

HI LADIES ~ :wave: ~ Was just posting in another thread and came over to check this one out too, since my PC is working well today. The weather here is 87F and that's with clouds, but so far it stayed 75F inside.

PURPLEORC ~ when I was 46, I started peri-menopause and with night sweats and hot flashes, and the 95F temps in our place; I just had to get an air conditioner. I got a new one through SEARS ORDER CATALOGUE for only about $169.00 + tax (a small 5000 BTU's); I used some of my personal savings cuz I just couldn't stand it anymore. I have a niece who's living in England with her family and teaching college there (her DH is from England) and I know things there are very expensive. Canada is trying very hard to catch up to ya ~ LOL!

Almost all of our relatives are from Europe ~ Wales and Ireland mostly. I thought you were from the US too. PURPLEORC, you can just call me ROSEBUD, as my moniker is quite long to type; I notice that every time I log in ~ LOL!

MO ~ you could order an air condtioner out there thru SEARS; the prices have come down drastically; even CANADIAN TIRE has small ones on for as low as $100.00 since two summers ago. MO, sorry about your Dad passing; my mother passed away in 1993; my Dad's new wife was one of my mother's friends; and we have known them since I was a young child. Her first husband (my Dad's friend) had passed away two year's earlier; life is very interesting, isn't it?

Our entire family (including my mom) have battled cancer; some are survivors and some went home and are now our Special Angels!

ANYWAYS, just wanted to pop in and say hello; have a great week ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

PS ~ MO ~ As a Spina Bifida person, we avoid bending whenever possible. We have devised quick & VERY EASY new methods of planting so that we don't hurt as much. We scatter plant the seeds and use a homemade tamper tool to push them into the soil; cover them with more soil and tamp again. It is so easy it is unbelievable!

If I do have to bend; I stay down as long as possible to take the stress off. We had to find these ways as DH is turning 60 on May 24 and I'm 48 y/o with a very bad back, as you well know. I thought I would be sore the next day, but thanx to these new methods of gardening, I wasn't sore at all! THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN! Luv ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

ERICSMOMMY:~ You were asking what it is like in the UK well I live in England. For one it is very expensive for example petrol (gas) it is like $1.99 Canadian dollar or $1.85 US dollars. I hope your not as expensive as the UK as it really hits you in the pocket. It is a blessing that health care is free from the cradle to the grave so to speak. The education system maybe different also. You start school at 5 years old but some schools will take you at 4 years old if you only have a few months to go till your 5. You go to primary school from the age of 5 until 11. Then secondary school from the age of 11 until 16 but a law has now been past and it will shortly be until your 18 years old. This is compulsory education. But you then can go onto further education to college or university to get other qualifications. But further education is voluntary and of your own choice. Now holidays are worked out like this approximately every 6 week there is a holiday called 1/2 term and that is for a week. Then in 6 weeks time there is another which is for 2 weeks or slightly more. This signifies the end of one term. There are 3 terms to one school year. Summer holidays is 6 weeks running from the very end of July all of August and commencing back at school in the first week of September. I really feel for you and the heat I know the heat will be far worse for you. We do not get many days ever above 30c sorry not sure of the Fahrenheit but there again we do not get temperates much below 8c which i can only remember once. So the weather is more of an even keel really. I hope you do not suffer too badly.

ROSEBUD:~ Yikes that sounds horrid the symptoms of peri-menopause I can understand you spending your savings on a air conditioning unit. I have this delight :cry: to come in the next few years no doubt at present I am 42. My mum did not suffer too badly lets hope that I follow in her footsteps but i take after my Dad side of the family in looks. so who knows which path I will take.

bye for now
purpleorc:)

Thanks for the answers Purple, sounds very interesting. I just turned 40 so l am hoping l have a few more years before l have to think about mentopause.

Rosebud I am glad you found a way to garden without bending, but what do you do when you get weeds? I have a friend in Minnasota who has SB and so does her husband and they both do things that amaze me. It just goes to show you that people will all disabilitys come up with new and fun ways to get the job done. Keep up the good work. It's not that we can't afford to get a air conditioner it's that this is a new home with plastic window ledges and window aircondtions will break them. Our lease even says no window aircondtioners allowed, on the bright side everyone who lives here says it gets cooler in the evenings for sleeping so l will just have to wait and see.

To all our other friends on this site, have a great day and l hope your all well.

take care and keep smiling friends.

HI LADIES ~ :wave: ~ I actually posted last Saturday night, but it seems to have disappeared; there was some techie work started that night too, so I think my post ended up in la-la-land!

ANYWAYS ~ looks like they got things back up and running again. We are having fabulous weather here right now, but the mosquitos and blackflies have made their debut as well; yuck! I don't mind bugs to feed the birdies and such, but why do they have to chomp on us and suck our blood???

DH had to build a fence around our garden to save it from total destruction; he was fit-2-B-tied when he caught the munchkins stomping all over our newly planted beds once again! Well, it took him all of Saturday and part of Sunday morning, but it has done the job.

PURPLEORC ~ MP symptoms are genetically-based. In January, I increased my vitamin intake, and my health is improving and some problems have cleared up totally; what a pleasant surprise. My father and sister and I were all diagnosed with vitamin deficiencies in the past, so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. Some symptoms mimick other conditions, so it can get kinda confusing (like low sugar and vitamin deficiencies).

MO ~ poor you that you have a clause for no installed A/C; but you can now get portable ones for a decent price; no installation is necessary, just an air out-take vent like for your dryer (but that may not be allowed either???) Maybe your basement would be cooler with a good fan or two.

We've had an eventful week, but I hope now things calm down for a little while; stress and I don't do well together cuz then I eat too much!!! No surprise there ~ LOL!

ANYHOW ~ I hope you are all doing well; guess everybody's very busy these days! Take good care of yourselves and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

HI LADIES ~ :wave: ~ well our great weather has turned to a week of rainshowers, but I'm not complaining cuz we needed it badly. Our grass was wheat-colored, but now is a beautiful emerald green, thanks to a few days of showers; the transformation is truly amazing!

HEY MO ~ You haven't posted in a week ~ are you OK? I hope so; I bet you are busy now that you're back at home and Eric is going to school! How's he doing, by the way? Did you get back to Curves?

DH and I think that people like us who are born with or acquire limitations always try harder to find ways to do things that others take for granted. I think that's because we want to be able to do things like everyone else; so I find it very upseting when I see someone who is in perfect health who won't try ~ say, to go for a short walk or get a job, for instance; or a young person who wants to give up on life before it's even started!

Sometimes, I really have to refrain myself from saying something to them ~ because I think that they are passing up so many opportunities that I would like to have; and, that they can't seem to see; why is that?

RE GARDEN QUESTION ~ We don't have to do much weeding because we always mulch our garden (in the aisles right up to the veggies); and we plant the beds really densely and close with extra seed, so the plants actually shade the weeds out. This year we bought black paper mulch for a great deal (it will last for at least ten years, they say); we also have some large sandpaper rolls from the local mill for the edges/aisles, so that should cover the whole garden. THERE'S NO WEEDING CUZ THERE'S NO WEEDS ~ LOL!!!

PURPLEORC ~ hope things are going well for you too! Ontario has been thinking of making some changes to their school year; now I see where they have been getting the ideas from ~ England. I actually think those ideas aren't so bad; but I wish they would make gym and health classes manditory all the way thru school since our health is as or more important as learning how to manage money in our society (and they could well stand to learn more about that too)!

ANYHOW ~ we're off to our weekly shopping trip in town tomorrow; so it will be a busy, but fun-filled day; we'll eat out, then come home and flop from total exhaustion ~ LOL!

WELL, TO ALL OUR FORMER FRIENDS ~ too bad we haven't heard from you for so long; but we hope that you are all doing well. I'm off to bed now, so take good care of yourselves; and keep on, keepin' on ~ your fellow encourager ... ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Rosebud and Purpleorc and all the rest of the ladies

Sorry l haven't been posting just been super busy with Eric, he has picked up a few new stems and they are tirersom to try and break him off. I won't go into details but lets just say they are messy and stinky. So l have been stickying to him like glue so l can prevent him from doing it so l haven't been on the computer much.

Yes Rosebud l have been going to curves l go again tomorrow morning, let me tell you my 5 mornings a week while Eric is in school have become priceless to me lately. I am so tired in the evenings from dealing with him all afternoon that l am usually in bed sleeping by 9pm. Which isn't helping our marriage life.

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary and l had a sitter come in at lunch so l could pick DH up at work and take him out for lunch it was very nice and relaxing. And Saturday morning we are heading to Montana for the night to buy our bike trailer and spend a night in a nice hotel l am so looking forward to it. We are also going out for dinner tomorrow night (our sitter wasn't available tonight) so this weekend is gonna be great.

Rosebud, I am glad you got a system to prevent weeds WGT. And l agree with you about young people not realizing what they have it makes me mad too, but then l am thankful for the things l can do and try not to let the things l can't bother me. I am glad your grass has bounced back. WE have had 2 very hot days here but surprisingly it's not a hot sticky heat like you get in Ontario it's bearable and in the evenings it gets real nice for sleeping, so so far when l have heard about the weather out here is true.

Purple l hope your doing well and have you gone to the gym yet with your DH? And if so are you enjoying it?

Well l have to go now and give Eric his bath so everyone have a great evening and keep drinking water it's good for you.

Hi All

Sorry I have not posted for a few days here but my niece has been staying with us for a few days. She is 13 years old and we have been going out and about doing different things. Went shopping to Meadow Hall which is in Sheffield which is a big shopping centre. Walked my legs off and I am now paying for my pleasure they ache like mad plus have not much control over my legs today not walking so good. But it was worth it as we all had enjoyable day.
Bought several new clothes as with my weight loss so far my clothes are looking kinda baggy really nice feeling when your buying several dresses sizes smaller than before. You see that your change in diet and exercise has really paid dividends :D Now the weather is getting warmer I am starting to scratch like a dog with fleas lol Well I have eczema and during the summer months I have a constant battle of keep my skin moisturised to stop the scratching. DH bought me a portable air conditioning united a few days (lucky me smiling like a Cheshire cat since he bought if for me) but not really used it since he bought it as it has been rainy and over cast lol

ROSEBUD ~ Sounds like DH has had a job and an half putting up the garden fence never an enviable task. Phew but at least it has done now. Not sure what MP means when you refer to MP symptoms. We seldom abbreviate words when 20 will do the job lol But what I can glean from your post is that your sister and Dad both have vitamin deficiencies geeze sure does run in the family. Yes physical education lessons or PE is compulsory until you are 14 then it is an option for you to choose. As the last 2 years at secondary school you choose the subjects you which to take. But some still remain compulsory such as Maths and English. When you are younger for example in primary school you do health eduction such are explaining which foods are health and how to read the food labels which have the traffic light colour system. This as they get old and enter into secondary school they do sex education within health classes. But how much of health education is work is now being brought up now as we are getting more obese children and also we have a very high teenage pregnancy rate. They are wondering whether to follow the Netherlands where sex education is done from a very early age. They have the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe so they seem to be doing something right.

MO ~ Afraid I have not had time to go to the gym as yet been busy walking the Length and breadth of England lol well it seems like I have walked that much with my niece here. Well certainly had plenty of exercise during the past few days. Congratulations on your 4th wedding anniversary I hope your having a wonderful weekend with DH to recharge your batteries. Plus have some quality time with DH which is priceless and well deserved.

Take care

purpleorc.

HI LADIES ~ :wave: ~ We spent Thursday shopping and running errands; and we also walked our feet off; mine were terribly sore, so we went to bed early. We didn't get to eat out cuz our favorite place was closed up; with all the new places opening up, it cut too much into her business; but she didn't tell anyone. So, on Friday, we went to the garden nurseries to pick up tomato plants and some flowers; then we picked up a spit-BBQ chicken for dinner, instead.

MO ~ Hope you and DH have a wonderful weekend trip for your anniversary; our 18th anniversary is on June 14. Last year, we rented a cottage for a week, but so far we don't have any plans yet. Your plans sound fab; I guess you can just drive down to Montana as Calgary is on the lower end of Alberta???

Sorry, you've been having problems with Eric; I realize Autistic children have some very unique issues; but, you are learning patience and earning your ANGEL WINGS at the same time, MO ~ LOL! So, hang in there, kiddo!

PURPLEORC ~ MP stands for menopause; sorry for the shortforms, but everyone is using them now (I'll try to be more concise). Glad your having fun with your niece; and all that walking does count, as you know!

ANYHOW, DH just got home, so gotta go do the dinner thing; take care all ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hello all

Still in recovery mode since my nieces visit and sleeping lots pity that does not count as exercise ;) Been catching up on housework too, been ironing lots which I hate with a passion will do any other house hold chore but ironing has always been my bug bear :cry: Yesterday afternoon it was extremely humid so for the first time used the air condition unit it was bliss it worked a treat.

ROSEBUD ~ Thanks for letting me know what MP stands for so I have learnt something today. Here in England MP means member of parliament so one of the government members. So I know it did not mean that lol

Must go I have afternoon tea to prepare, making a fresh fruit salad so quite of bit of preparation for starters on that dish.

catch you soon

purpleorc

PURPLEORC ~ MP also stands for Minister of Parliament here too; as well as Mounted Police (as in RCMP). But on this site, I see it used for that specific health issue ~ LOL!

YUCK ~ don't envy the ironing thing; don't do that anymore; we have mostly perma-press clothes/linens here. Only time I iron is on the rare occasion that something precious gets wrinkled and needs a quick pressing.

Glad you got your air conditioner; knew you would love it. We had to use ours the other night for humidity as well. Makes it nicer for sleeping too.

HI MO ~ hope your doing well; know you are busy with Eric. TTYL ...

ANYWAYS ~ want to get to bed before midnight tonight; am very tired and my bedtime ritual takes too much time. Take care ladies ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Good afternoon everyone.

Still remains on the warm side but today at least there is a breeze so with doors and windows open actually not so bad. After writing this post I am going to do that wonderful task which my dog Rizzie hate with a passion because it contains water lol That is the infamous shower. As soon as the collar comes of he does his Oscar nomination for acting :D that is he sits and shacks and gives you the saddest eyes. He makes me feel mean for bathing him but the water is always nice and warm and I take great care for it not to go in his eyes or face. But I have to bathe him as he pongs to high heavens as he is that bone idle that he does not cock his leg up so hence he squats slightly and his aim is hopeless its over his feet every time. So he has to have frequent baths to keep him sweet smelling. But we still love him to bits :hug:.

My weigh day today I really did not think it was a good week but when I checked my records I found that I had lost 4lbs I had thought I was different weigh when I had hopped on the scales so nice surprise. Plus I have reach my own first mini goal which I set which was to get my BMI below 40 so that I would no longer be classed as morbidly obese. So very happy today with this achievement. Now I have to think of another goal to get too but not sure what that will be as yet :D

ROSEBUD:~ Oh for those perma press clothes you talk about never heard of those they would be great maybe they will travel the big water to here one day. Have you managed to plant the tomato plants that you bought from the nurseries? Home grow produce always taste so good. Do you grow the tomatoes outside or in a green house? Most here are grown in greenhouses as the weather is not consistent enough really for outdoor tomatoes. But I can see a change in the weather so with this global warming I think we will grow more outside. Many gardens now are being set with what are know collectively as potting plants. Such plants as busy lizzies, petunias and marigolds. So in a few weeks time some of the gardens will be a blaze of colour. Not got to many potting plants in my garden but I do have a large hanging basket with just busy lizzies that my dad had made for me. Hope the barbecue was nice with the spit chicken. Weather permitting might be having one Wednesday at my brother in laws in the evening.
MO I agree with Rosebud regarding you earning your angel wings. Children with special need such as Eric's but extra demand on your time and relationships. I have a slight insight into your situation as I have nursed adults with learning difficulties who then had a greater need with their mental health welfare at the time so were cared for in a psychiatric environment. So with caring for the families I understand just a tiny bit what a special parent you are to care for a son with unique problems. With speaking with the mums and dad you have glimpse into the world of the day to day issues that you cope with on a 24 hour basis. Where I could shut the door so to speak and leave it on the doorstep. You or parents like yourself do not have that luxury. So your one special angel in this world :)

Bye for now. No more reprieve has Rizzie got the water is a coming and it has got his name on it. Catch you all soon.xxx

Hi Rosebud and Purpleorc

Thanks for the thoughts, and your both right it has been very busy here and yes Eric is alot of work but l wouldn't change him for anything, he is such a joy in our lives, I am finally feeling better, was real sick onour trip away to Montana, we like it was food poisning, as it hit me real hard and fast, spent a long 7 hours in the van driving home and getting sick, but once l was home and back in bed took just 24 hours for it to clear up. My DH stayed home and watched Eric so that was a blessing. But l am feeling great now, went to curves yesterday and going again tomorrow. been eating real good and the scales prove it I am at 172 now and since March1 have lost 40lbs l am so excited.I have my weight in at curves on weds and l am hoping my BMI will be down to my goal of 30, last month l was at 31 so l am hoping.

Purple congrads on meeting your mini goal and having a lower BMI is more inportant that just lossing weight so pat yourself on the back.

Rosebud
I hope your storms your soppose to get don't hurt your garden, do you have any plans to get away this summer for a holiday? WE are hoping to go to Edmonton for a few days and do the big mall (purple it's the biggest mall in Canada) Staying in the hotel right in the mall and hanging out at the waterpark cause Eric loves water.

Well l got to go and feed Eric now so have a great day ladies and thanks for your thoughts, it sure is nice knowing l have friends out in the world.

HI EVERYONE ~ :wave: ~ We've have a busy week. We went up to visit DH and my Dad at the building project; I can't believe how much they got done in just 2.5 weeks. DH says he's the gopher and nail hammer; while Dad's the real builder; but he says he's really learning a lot from the experience. (They are building a new small cottage for my Dad and step-mother, Gracie).

We bought a lot there first, but we think we'll try to put a small one-room cabin with a screen-in porch just as a get away place. It's a dream for us; sure hope it comes true someday. We've had a plan, but you have to save a long time for something like that.

MO ~ so sorry your trip was hampered by food poisoning (poor dear); that's something you always must watch for when eating away. So glad you are feeling well now; and CONGRATS on your WL achievements ~ you are doing so fabulously! Last night we bought chicken dinner and took it to my Dad's as that was their last night here (they returned home today).

I envy that trip to the Edmonton Mall; we should plan something, but we are having terrible trouble with our car's radiator right now. We have to pick up some stuff tomorrow to see if it helps; ^praying^ it works.

GARDEN UPDATE ~ We had the storms, including one today (our hydro went out for about 1.5 hours); but everything is A-OK in the garden. Everything is up except the potatoes, which we buried deeply. TODAY, we planted the green and yellow beans inbetween the double carrot, turnip, and onion set rows. We had lots of seed, so we just filled in spaces everywhere.

AND, we transplanted those TOMATO PLANTS into a GREEN HOUSE that DH built for me last spring; I put in 16 plants in all (8-Early Girl, 4-Lunch Box, and 4-Tiny Tims). The Lunch Box are a trial this year. They vary in sizes from cherry to medium; we had good success last year with our tomato plants.

PURPLE ~ It's so cold here that you have to put tomato and cuke plants in a greenhouse; I even delayed a bit this year cuz of funny weather. I never heard of busy lizzies; but I have marigolds, and red geraniums that I wintered over. Petunias and pansies are wonderful too.

CONGRATS on your WL-V's as well; but, I am very puzzled why some people call themselves morbidly obese, when that term only pertains to poor dears who are deathly ill from complications of extreme obesity, according to my book on NATURAL HEALING AND REMEDIES.

On this site, I even see people who only weigh in the 200's calling themselves that, which I don't believe is accurate at all. We need to find nicer ways to view ourselves and build up our self-esteem. I believe a good self-image gives people the strength they need to achieve their goals and dreams!

My furry babies don't like the idea of baths/showers, but once they are in there; they actually enjoy it. Hope you had some fun with it, none-the-less. I trim their hair twice a year, and that helps a lot to keep them cleaner, but they are both girls and like to be clean.

ANYHOW, that's all the news for now. Have a great weekend and take good care of yourselves ~ your fellow encourager ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Good evening everyone

I think I have caught the gardening bug from Rosebud well not quite ;) but been helping DH mow the lawn sweep a path or two. Watered the hanging basket that is about as far as my gardening skills go. Not very good at keeping things alive that are vegetable or flowers just don't seems to have the knack :dizzy:

With the weather being nice was able to dry the laundry outside. Plus have our lunch time meal outside under the umbrella so a nice treat. Been a nice day spent pottering in the garden but I bet I find some muscles I didn't know I had :D.

Rizzie is all bathed, well showered as we don't have a bath in the bungalow was not in the least impressed by the water. He hates it even when he is in but needs musts. Fortunately he does fight me but does my DH so hence I bath him mostly. So clever animals are he realises he can not be boisterous with me else he makes me fall over. He is so powerful with being a Staffordshire bull terrier they are all muscle they may not look too big I would class them as a medium sized dog. But you sure know how heavy he is when you have to pick him up they say muscle weighs more than fat.

MO:~ Really nice to hear from you. So sorry that you was struck down with food poisoning sounds absolutely terrible. Sound like you have a wonderful DH who looked after Eric for you till you recovered. See you go to curves, what is curves I see it must be some form of exercise but I am sure that you could enlighten me with more details. Congratulations on the 40lbs weight lost you have done so well. Hope you achieve your BMI of 30.

ROSEBUD:~ Sound like your having a very busy week. I hope your safe from the storms. We are very fortunate here in England that we do not have such storms.

Yes I understand what you mean about the term morbidly obese it sounds awful. But I come from a medical background as you know so it was a term that I have been deeply ingrained in me. But I so wish that the terminology is changed.

Yes self image is very important part, I went on self destruction when I was diagnosed. I was overweight but after the diagnosis I did not care about myself I was so angry my body had let me down. I don't know why but I felt I should not be ill, I was a nurse I cared for others not the other way round. So that for me was a bitter pill to swallow to come to terms with letting others care for me and do things for me. Even ask when I could not do something was harder. So my weight balloon to the heaviest I have ever been I made one half heart attempt to lose weight I did lose some weight but I cheated with food. If people did not see me eat it then it did not count. But this time I was so ready to take the journey my self image was high and I found this site and I have not looked back. It helps that my DH takes this journey with me and we encourage each other if we have low moments We have both nearly lost 3 stone each. oops lol having a dizzy moment here was working in stones which we use here. Will translate about 42lbs each.

Must go it is getting late here. Catch you soon.

Hi Guys

Hope everyone is having a good Monday, I am feeling great today, going to curves this morning, (purpleroc, curves is a exercise place only for woman, and it is set up in a circle with about 18 machines and you do 30sec on each machine but go around twice, there is a speaker that tells you when to change machines and every 10 minutes you check your pulse, takes 30 minutes to do the workout and that includes strenghtes. It's a hard but fast workout and when l leave l feel great that l did it. cost me 40 dollars a month and they recomend you do it 3 times a week for the best results,)

We went up to the Rockie mountains on the weekend and it was beautiful, very relaxing, we only live 60 mintues from banff,

I am hoping tomorrow we might hear when Eric's theraphy will be starting so l am excited and scared at the same time. I will keep you posted. I am also organzing Eric's 4th birthday party, going to hold it in a jungle gym and then a party room, have 6 autistic little boys coming so it should be very interesting. His birthday is the 24 so l have 2 more weeks to get it all done wish me luck.

Well ladies l have to go and take Eric to school so have a great day and keep smiling.

Rosebud l hope your dream of a 1 room getaway happens sooner than you hope, it will be nice for both you and DH.

Hi Everyone
Getting quite late here but I thought I'd pop in and browse around. Been on a very long journey today about 300 miles in total went to accompany my DH as he did a favour for his brother. His brother runs a business mainly making bean bags of various shapes and sizes. My DH and I occasionally help him by doing very large deliveries or deliveries which contain leather. (mainly because leather goods are very costly so instead of relying on the couriers we step up and help him.) Today we went to Thurrock which is very near our capital of London. We were delivering 26 large bean bag chairs for a cinema which was opening on Friday. It was in a huge complex of shops and was very difficult to find with it being new the postal code (zip code) did not yet exist in our sat nav. Normally we can drive straight there but today we could just go to the town and ask for directions. Apart from the difficulty finding it was a good journey there and back. But it has been a long day and I am quite tired. Our dog always comes along on our journeys we do frequent toilet stops for him. I take some chilled water along which i keep chilled in a freezer bag with ice blocks in. He is as good as gold he sleeps most of the journey only popping his head up if we go into towns. We go in vans to these trips so there are 3 seats at the front and he has a spot right there in-between my DH and I.

Unfortunately I think I maybe coming down with a cold. Saturday night I could not get warm despite the weather being warm. Then yesterday I notice that my throat was getting very sore. Today the sore throat continues and I have now developed a cough. I have been so fortunate I have not suffered many colds. I think I built some form of immunity after being in nursing. When I first started I use to catch every bug going they all seemed to have my name on for infecting me :D But after about 6 months things settled down. I now have my flu vaccination every year and this year for the first time I was recommended to have the pneumonia jab as well for good measure.

MO:~ Nice to hear from you. Thanks for letting me know what curves are. Would loved to be able to do that but I am not sure that that fast pace is something I could keep up with. Fatigue sets in very quickly (especially if I am warm) and it is like hitting a walk and the body runs out a fuel and can see to get going. Glad that you feel good afterwards and that you are feeling the benefits as well.

My fingers are crossed and I hope that your DS Eric is able to start his therapy very soon. I can understand that you have many emotion regarding his therapy varying from excited to scared, I think this is only normal and I am sure that many parents like yourself must have the same feeling as you. I wish you and your DH and Eric of course all the best and I hope that he gets a lot out of the therapy.

Sounds like your are going to be very busy organising a birthday party for Eric's 4th birthday. Your going to have your hands full with all the children attending the party. But I am sure that they will love it. I will be thinking of you.

It sound bliss to me being able to go up to the Rockie Mountains for me it conjures up absolutely breath taking scenary. Which in turn gives peace and tranquility and the ability to recharge the batteries. If only for a short time. I may have a rose coloured image of the Rockies but it is nice to dream of far away places. Where I live it is quite flat and I visit my parents regularly and they live in a very flat county called Lincolnshire. If you want mountains then you have to really look to Wales or Scotland I suppose for those. But even thoughs are not that high compared with other mountains around the world.

Night All catch you all again soon.

Hi Everyone

Just got home from curves and wanted to share my results with you.

My BMI which on March 13 was 34.90 is now at 27.60
my weight which was 206.5 is now at 169
total inches loss is 30.50
total weight loss 37.5
total body fat pounds is 25.42

I am so excited that l had to share,
between sugar busters and curves l am doing and feeling great.

HI LADIES ~ :wave: ~ Sorry to be late posting this week ~ but, we've been hit with a terrible heat wave; today it was 92F in the shade and it hit 40C (over 103+F) in the sun. We went to town early in the morning, but had to return by noon cuz of the heat. Thankfully, some clouds and a little breeze showed up in the evening to cool things down.

One of our fuses blew; turns out our air conditioner, my computer, and our freezer were all on the same line and we didn't know it; so it was overloaded and blew a fuse. I have to turn the PC off when I'm not using it now, cuz we needed the air conditioner so badly this week; I did recall that the A/C's manual did say it had to be on it's own plug-in, but not it's own line.

MO ~ I'm so glad you are doing so well; and I'm so proud of you that you have been able to keep up with the Curves program, cuz it can be a little difficult (my sis had trouble with it). I have been checking out the Sugar-Buster's thread and their online site as well. My own plan was based on the Diabetes and Heart Associations' Plans and is very similar. SB is just a little stricter, so I cut out one ww/bread for BF for now to see if it helps.

I went for my 30-minute walk in the village yesterday; and store-walking today for probably and hour or more; store or mall-walking is great cuz you almost don't even notice you are doing it for exercise, so it has become a favorite of mine. The outdoor walking seems to take more effort; why that is so, is beyond me (maybe the store floors are smoother and I'm distracted by all the stuff).

I sure hope Eric gets his therapy and that all goes how you hope for him. You know that once he starts talking or communicating, that he may talk a lot like in the HELEN KELLER movie; did you see that one, MO? Best wishes for the birthday party; WOW, you are brave taking on a party with seven Autistic kiddies; are their parents going to be there too??? But, you never know, everything may go better than you expect!

PURPLE ~ glad you had a successful trip with the chairs and your pooch; when we go on trips, we always take our little darlings (wouldn't leave home without them). DH is working on our Marquis now; going to put it on the road. It has an air conditioner in it and it's a nice size car. So far the BARS LEAK worked on the rad, but there's some other things that are concerning us now; so I told DH that IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE from the older one ~ LOL!

Just when I told you we had over a week of rain and then storms, we get the worst heatwave I have ever seen in my life; even the one we had a couple of years back wasn't this hot. I sure hope this doesn't last or it will totally ruin our summer here. It's funny that other places are not getting such hot temps and we live in the north ??? Puzzling or what???

ANYWAYS, I just wanted to get in here and post so you won't wonder what happened to me. It's getting hot in here cuz the freezer's in this room and it heats the whole room (it's the spare room where my PC is). WELL, off to bed I go; will talk you all soon; take care ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hello All

Sorry I have been not been on the boards for nigh on a week now. But unfortunately my sore throat turned into a upper respiratory infection so knocked me for six. But I am up and about now but not firing on all cylinders yet but i am heaps better than i was. But I have been very generous I have shared it with my DH :o has he has started to come down with it in the past couple of days. Last night he was waking up frequently and changing from hot to cold. So a bit of TLC is in order for my DH until he is feeling much better as we ladies all know with past experience that when they get a cold they act as if they are "dying" :D

MO:~ :congrat: on your achievements with curves and the change in your eating habits. They have really paid dividends I am really pleased for your. A big pat on the back is deserved for you. You have done so well, I wish you all the best for getting to your goals. Yes i agree with Rosebud that you have done remarkably well with sticking with the exercise programme of curves because your explanation of the programme seemed very hard to me. So to manage that regime is no mean feat and shows your dedication. Looking forward to hearing about how Eric's birthday party went on when you have a little time i your very busy life to spend a moment on the boards. Have been thinking of you and how your going on.

ROSEBUD:~ Gosh I do not envy you with the heat wave we never get temperatures hitting 40C we think it is hot when we hit 30C the hottest I have every experienced here in the UK is 34C and that was a few summers back. I am pleased that you have had the breeze and cloud roll in that evening to cool things down. I do not realise how lucky I am to have a much more temperate climate. Shame about the overload with the PC and the air conditioner. Fortunately I can run both off the same line.

Yes I do not realise how far I am walking if I am window shopping. I am able to walk a little further when I do that rather than just go out for a walk. I think it is because my mind is preoccupied with looking in the shop windows rather that just having to concentrate on the walking

We changed our car last June and in 2 years time will change it again. Here in the UK we have a scheme which is for people with mobility problems. If you qualify on your problems with your mobility then your able to join a scheme. It is not means tested( by that I mean by how much money you earn or by how much savings you may have.) it is just to help people get from A to B. There are many cars to choose from but you must have one to suit your needs. We always must select one with enough room for a wheelchair as with my condition it is likely that I may need one in the future and so you must think of things like that. Your able to change your car every 3 years. Road tax is paid for and RAC (which is a break down scheme here in the UK which rescues you or helps you get going depending on the problem) Also services are paid for (this is where the car is checked over and certain things are check or tightened to may sure your car runs at its most optimum) . You pay a set price every week for this it is the same price for every car. But some cars at the end of 3 years you will get a lump sum back. When selecting a car you may need to put a deposit down but that varies from model to model. We have been very happy with the scheme and it has helped me with my mobility when days for me are not very good it stops me from being house bound.


Had an eye test a few weeks ago an found that my eyes had deteriorated which was of no great surprise to me as I was struggling to read. I wear varifocal lens at the minute. So I have now just picked up my new glasses which are still varifocals. But geesh they are expensive soon will need a mortgage to buy glasses :D I have worn glasses now for over 20 years and I could not see to read or see properly in the distance. So i need them full stop.

Must run going out very shortly and guess what I am not in the least ready. So I better get my skates on and get myself ready. Going out to play cards tonight and meeting a group of others who do the same thing. It is called a drive and you play for prizes. Do not play for much but on the other hand it is cheap to play. Plus at most places that includes a cup of coffee or tea and biscuits. (not exactly good for my figure :D but i do not eat them now)

bye take care

purpleorc

HI LADIES ~ Well, it's a brand new week and we have wonderful new weather to go with it; rainshowers intermittant with sunshine and nice moderate temperatures ~ now that's a nice summer.

GARDEN UPDATE ~ our garden is doing great; the beans are now about 4 or 5 inches tall with all these rains and some of the salad onions are almost ready to eat. The potatoes are up and we even have a few tomatoes already; on the Tiny Tims, but they are still green yet.

We went to the lake after church last Sunday; DH caught one PIKE, but released it cuz they have too many bones. While he did that, I gave my furry babies a bath in the nice, warm water; we walked in on the shallow end. They loved it cuz they can just walk in on their own just til the water is up to their backs; and they like this way much better than the tub!

PURPLE ~ nice to hear from you; I noticed that as the summer has come, everyone's posting is slower on the board. We have been very busy also and I know that MO is very busy with ERIC, Curves, her home, and of course, she has to keep her personal relationship up with her DH. I agree with you also, that she is doing superbly!!!

That car plan you have in the UK sounds great; we don't have one like it here although it sounds a lot like leasing a car, but you have better conditions than us. We were very surprised by those high temps last week; never seen that before in my life; hope we never do again ~ LOL!

That card game with the prizes sounds neeto; I think we only have bingo here, but the Legion (Canadian Veteran's Support Org) sometimes has dart games and card tournies. We play a game with cards that's like Aggravation with marbles, but they move around with cards instead of dice; we call it CHASE (or as my sis calls it ~ EXTREME CHASE). DH makes the boards with nice pieces of wood, which we sometimes give away as gifts.

My eyes are doing the same as yours; started out only needing reading glasses, but over that last year or so, my regular sight is going down. It's very unsettling when your dinner looks blurry; I found it a little hard adjusting to it all at first; and I think it makes me a little dizzy sometimes too ~ LOL!

MO ~ hope you are doing well; and your family too. Keep up the good work; you are doin' fantabulously ~ LOL! Say hi to your family for us.

Well, that's all the news for now; not much else going on here right now; will be going to town for a wee bit of shopping and pick up some car parts. Hope you are all well; take good care ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Good Afternoon everyone.

I am feeling much better than I was just about up to par. But DH has had a horrid cold but today seems to be the first day of his recovery he says he feels much better than he did.

Here in England the weather has been very bad, "flaming June" as it is called. We have had very heavy rainfall. Some places getting what is normally a months rain in about a couple of hours. With this amount of rain places are not equipped to handle it. So there has been much flooding and even one death when a soldier was washed away. My garden is very soggy and water logged. But compared to some parts of England we have been very fortunate and that is something to count your blessing for.

Went out Monday for a meal with my DH side of the family. There were 13 family members and 2 friends of my brother in law. So a fairly large party we went to a local pub for tea as the meal was booked for 4pm. The meal was because my DH auntie and Uncle were due to fly out to Cyprus were they now live. They had been in this country for 1 month having a holiday catching up with family and friends. They have lived out there for approximately 2 years. The next day my DH and I took them to the local airport to catch their flight back to Cyprus. Really enjoyed the meal and the family get together has been a while since we have all been together. This is due to my brother in laws hobby and job. My brother in law was in the parachute regiment and he has left that now but still does sky diving on a regular basis. At the moment he is supervising a sky diving centre after they had a fatality due to some lax practises which had started at this centre. My brother in law is an instructor and also part of the team if there is a fatality in the UK caused by sky diving but I am not sure what this job title comes until though.

ROSEBUD:~ Sounds as though you and your DH had a lovely time up at the lakes. Just a pity that you he could not catch a fish that you could eat. We also have bingo here. but I have never heard of the card game you call chase. Although it sounds really good, love to play games such as these. From a young child both my sister and I were encouraged to play games of all sorts. The love of these games still remains today. Your DH makes wonder gifts for card games. We have a pegging board or cribbage board that is used in cribbage a card game. My grandfather made one of these boards many years ago and my parents still have the board. Yikes you talk of picking up car parts hope that they are not so costly as they are in the UK. Mind you everything is very expensive here mainly I think due to importing most goods into the country and the heavy tax that we have on nearly everything. Cigarettes and fuel are heavily taxed along with alcohol. Only just over a week here till every where in England becomes no smoking so much publicity about this at the moment. But Scotland, Ireland and Wales already are non smoking. So we are the last part of the United Kingdom to do so.

Must run and rescue something out of the oven before we have burnt offerings for tea.

bye
purpleorc

HI LADIES ~ boy this thread is getting pretty thin these days; we've been so busy here ourselves and I haven't been on the net as much. I kinda figured that would happen for all of us ~ gotta take advantage of those beautiful days when we can.

Today, it is too hot to go outside (89F in the shade) :yikes: I came on and found over 30 emails waiting to be answered. :yikes: It took me almost 2 hours to read and organize them all; later on, I'll go back an answer some of them as well. And, I wanted to get in here to post; I tried last night, but my PC was acting up again, but got that fixed up.

GARDEN UPDATE: everything is growing well; we had to put plastic on our garden as we had a couple of frosts; only our potatoes got a bit of a nip, but they should be OK as the tubers will grow underground. They're expecting another frost this Friday, so we'll cover them too (as we found our other three rolls of plastic). We'll put the rest of the mulch paper down later in the week as it's supposed to be cooler then.

PURPLE ~ Ontario already has a Public non-smoking ban in place; not sure about every province though; I guess it was just a matter of time, eh? BOY, the weather is sure off-kilter this year; almost like the seasons are out-of-line, or something ~ LOL! Well, we'll have to work around it, that's all.

So far we haven't had anything too drastic happen; just can't get too much done outside. I can't believe DH going out there to put new parts on our Marquis; he just came in cuz the heat was getting to him. Car parts are expensive here; but I know that everything is much higher in England.

We are just buying what we need as we go, and paying cash, so there's no debt. We hope to have it ready by the fall but, DH thinks he'll have all the mechanical stuff done by July, so that's not too bad.

MO ~ you haven't posted in a while either; hope things are going well for you and your family. You have done so well with your health goals; you don't have much further to go. I bet you feel really better now. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your eating plan with us, so that we could get some idea of how you are doing so well. I would appreciate a general daily menu thing (what you have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Thanx in advance. I could do the same for you and we could compare.

MY HEALTH UPDATE ~ I am going to stick to my plan; balanced and healthy eating for life. It's very similar to Sugarbusters, but with a few personal differences. I'll keep tweaking it until I am satisfied with it; this weight thing will have to budge eventually. I am fine-tuning the carb/fat/sugar amounts as well, but I won't resort to drastic measures as that never worked for me in the past (for the long-haul I mean).

I'm still doing my walking and other exercises; I can really notice that my legs are getting stronger. What took me 30+ minutes before takes only about 20 minutes now, so that's an improvement for sure. I'll put my weight marker up again as soon as I lose some more weight. Someone here says that you are STALLED if your loss stops for a few weeks, but you are in a PLATEAU, if you stop losing for a few months or more (and I think that's me).

HOWEVER ~ I'm still happy with my plan as I can stick to it pretty well. I have a friend in town that I compare notes with each week; she has just cut margarine out of her diet for good. I have cut mine down drastically (1 tsp per serving only); but, I find toast so dry without something on it. Someone suggested switching to butter if you only use a little anyways (but it costs more). Some people avoid eating much bread for the same reason.

ANYWAYS, that's about all the news here for now; hope you are all keeping well. Take good care of yourselves ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Girls

Sorry l haven't posted in awhile, been busy planning the party and finishing up Eric's school year. Tomorrow is his last day!!!

His party was a hugh sucess, He seemed to really enjoy running around in the jungle gym with his friends and this was the first year he seemed really interested in his cake, was looking at it smiling while we all sang happy birthday, my friend Stacy took a great picture of him smiling at it.

Wed we have our intake meeting for his in home theraphy so that will be starting in the next week or so YAH!!! So he will have theraphy 9-12am then again 1-4pm 5 days a week I am so excited.

Yes Alberta has just started the smoke free zone here on Jan 1 so it is so nice going to resturants now.

Boy both your gardens are doing wonderful WTG girls.

Rosebud here is a sample day of eatting.

breakfast 730am

1 egg and half a WW bagle with tiny bit of margarine ( your right it needs a bit)

10am
a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts
1230pm

soup or a sandwhich and a salad

2pm
nuts or fruit (depending on what l had in the morning)


5pm

some kind of lean meat (pork chop, steak, chicken)
steamed veggies
and either steamed sweet potatoes or a serving of WW rice.


8pm
if l got the munchies we usually have a piece of fruit or rice cakes

I also drink 8 glasses of water a day threwout the day.

I hope this helps as you can see l eat every few hours and l feel that really helps.

If you have any more questions ask away, as you can see from my ticker l still haven't stop loosing, my DH said the other day when we were in bed and he was rubbing my belly he says Mo someone broke in and stoled your belly and left a flat one in his place, I was laughing and said that someone has been working hard to get rid of it but l am glad your noticed.
Now if only it stayed gone when l stand up :)

So l am feeling great about how l look but better still l feel great about how l feel.

Take care ladies and keep drinking water and do the best you can in the exercise part of our new lives.

Love Mo xoxoxoxxo

MO ~ Thanx for the daily menu plan; it's sounds really great. How do you only eat a handful of nuts? I love them as a snack too, but I have to work really hard not to eat too many! What kind do you prefer? I find that if I eat sunflower seeds or youth mix (mixed nuts/seeds with raisins) that I can discipline myself to eat less at a time much better.

For lunch, do you have a sandwich and soup; or sandwich and salad; or a salad by itself? My plan calls for soup and sandwich; or a salad plate with a slice of w/w bread. I can have salad with both lunch and dinner; I try to have a minimum of two or more veggies with dinner (sometimes my plate is three-quarters veggies).

I have egg and toast every other day; having whole cereals like All-bran bran flakes or shreddies or oatmeal in between. One day a week I have toast with peanut butter (on Saturdays). Dinner is the same as for you; lean meat with veggies and/or salad and one serving of rice, pasta, new potato w/skin, kniblet corn, or sweet potatoes. (MONET says SB cuts the corn)

When my cousin Shelby was pregnant with her first baby, she didn't want to gain too much weight, so she put a fruit bowl of five (5) different fruits on her countertop each day. If she got hungry, she had to eat all five of those fruits first before she could have anything else; plus she could have a glass of milk three times a day as well.

ANYWAYS, it really worked for her; today she is trim and svelt (and gorgeous too). I have been thinking of trying it for myself to help me in my plan. I am already trying for three (3) fruits a day, but mostly I only eat two; depends what I have available sometimes. I am having trouble finding good quality fruits here at times (esp pears are at times bitter; dunno why).

I guess I could try one or two apples, an orange, a pear, a peach or nectarine, and a banana (but quality and availability is a problem for us up here sometimes). I'll take a good look this week to see what else I could sub for the missing ones.

That was sooo sweet of your DH; and he also sounds very proud of your accomplishments. I am so happy for you about ERIC's therapy (lots of time covered there); sure hope he likes it! I know how much this means to you all; have fun with it!

WELL, it's getting late and I just wanted to thank you for sharing. Take good care of yourselves, and talk to you again soon; your friend ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hello All

Well since I last posted I am kind of reeling that a friend whom I grew up with from the age of 4 has lost her son of 17 years old. Since she got married and moved away to the countryside to live on a farm we did not have that close relationship that we once did. I mentioned in my last post that a soldier had been drown due to the flooding here in the UK. Well that soldier ended up being my friends son he was only 17. Such a shame in the prime of life just going into adulthood and taking on a whole new phase of your life. Today he was buried with full military honours.

The weather still remains very rainy. Places here still remain on high alert. Fortunately we have not been flooded. But our river which is the river Trent is at least 3 miles from my home. But it must be dreadful for anyone who has had their home flooded all the upheaval and loss of possessions that can just not be replaced.

My sister this weekend and her husband plus 4 girls are going to Ireland for a family wedding. Everyone is looking forward to it and my nieces are excited as for most of them it is the first time that they have flown there. Normally they drive and sail there. We is a long journey but much cheaper on the pocket. My brother in law has a big family as he is one of 12 children and many of his brothers and sisters have large families as well. So a big family gathering. It will be nice for my nieces to see their other grandparents as they do not get to see them very often. They speak on the telephone but it is not the same. My brother in laws parents are now getting quite elderly but is mother is getting quite frail so I think for everyone the time will be precious.

We were doing a job for my brother in law so he had hired a van for us. It was big one with a tail gate. Husband backed it into our drive well car port to be exact. This was so that we could sheet to protect the chairs from our furry friend. Plus stock up with drinks and food bag. When he came out of the drive he hit the post with the tail gate and it broke it.:yikes: It snapped it clean in half. So husband was none to pleased and language was :censored:. We have just had the drive way done and gates put in. The hinge of the tail gate just sticks out marginally and that is why we caught the gate post. Today brother in law and hubby are fixing it. Brother in law Dave said that this is a common accident he works for a company that delivers bread and that can happen to many of the drivers it catches you out as you think you are clear.

MO :~ Lovely to hear from you as I know time is very limited and precious come to that. Glad to see that the the party was a success, Plus your friend Stacy managed to get a lovely photograph of Eric with his birthday cake. So very pleased that Eric's home therapy is just about to start and I can understand how excite you and your husband must be.

Was nice to see a sample of your meal plan that you use. I use something very similar. I have at least 3 pieces of fruit per day. I would say 99% of that is fresh fruit if I do have to have tinned then it is in natural juices. I have a lot of vegetables normally with lean piece of meat. I restrict my bread intake to 1 or at most 2 slice per day. I seldom have marg or butter as I prefer without and have done for years. One thing I have to have in my diet is flax seed to aid digestion my medication plays havoc and I really did not want to relie on laxative medication so have found a healthy alternative.
I am in the process of trying to add more glasses of water to my diet. But I am not very fond of it so it is a up hill struggle on that one. But my tea and coffee are both taken without milk, They are also both decaffeinated. I find that with eating very regularly every 3 hours or 4 at most I tend not to be every hungry. If I am then I have a tiny portion of unsalted nuts or another piece of fruit. I have to have something like a low sugar/fat yogurt per day to help with my calcium intake as I can quite easily omit dairy as I am not very keen on it. So far this plan seems to be working for me. But will have to adjust it maybe or seek advice from the forum if I do not lose weight for a period of time. Oh I bet you must have been over the moon when your husband commented on how flat your tummy was. It must have made your feel a million dollars. Glad to see that all your hard work has paid dividends.

ROSEBUD:~ I am glad that you have gained some more strength in your legs. Plus you can now walk quicker. It is great news to see the benefits and I bet you are pleased with the results. I use walking as my main exercise as I love walking (well I did when I was well) I find it much harder now to do. Even with the difficulties with dragging my leg and the pain that it can give I still derive pleasure from it. It is nice to see places change throughout the seasons, I think autumn is my favourite due to all the pretty colours on the leaves. It is also a time to go blackberry picking and that is something I have done since a child. I bet your garden is looking really good now that the crops are all taking shape and even able to harvest a few like the early potatoes. There is a small garden which I frequently pass on my walks and it has many different varieties of vegetables mixed in with garden flowers to encourage pollination. It makes me think of you and how your garden must be growing.

It must be frustrating when the scales just don't move. Fingers crossed it has not happened to me. I seem to have one week I lose weight and one week I do. Strange pattern. Not that I do anything different the week I lose weight. I have kept a written record of my weight loss and it seems in the past 14-16 weeks nearly every other week on weigh day I have not lost any. Oh well that must be how my body work but the scales in general are going the right way. Keep up the good work because you have come so far you have done brilliantly well.

Catch up with you all soon.

HI LADIES ~ We have had lovely weather the last few days; sunny but cool, which is ideal for me. Had to go to the docs today; and we also went to the lake to view all the beautiful birds on the water, as we had some extra time to waste. Then we picked up some fruit and healthy snacks like peaches, oranges, and bananas.

PURPLE ~ thanks for the encouragement; and I am so sorry to hear about your friend's son. Gee, I think in Canada you have to be an adult to be in the army (I guess 18 or 19 y/o). Anyways, the family will have a rough time for awhile dealing with their shock and grief, I'm sure; sending ^prayers^ up for them right now. Boy, not a good week for you right now with the vehicle accident; glad they can fix the damage themselves.

Our car is really giving us a hard time again; today the rad over-heated again (almost every other time we go anywhere). DH is really frustrated with it, as seems we were given some bum advice. He is trying to get another car on (which we already have, but needs a little work too). He's been working on it all week. I truly hope this car will last longer than the one we have now (only 2 years), as it is tiring and costly to have to keep changing vehicles all the time.

Yes, it is interesting to compare and see what each others' plans are like. I noticed that you both eat less bread than me (always whole wheat). So, the last couple of days, I have only one at breakfast; a sandwich at lunch, and some other carb for supper. That will bring it to about 3 breads a day only which may help me (my sugar numbers were lower today; bonus).

Doctor is very pleased with how well I'm doing too; my tests results have been very good ~ cholesterol is good; sugar's are back in the normal range, and my blood pressure is down; but today it was a tad higher than last time. I have to learn not to stress-out; our hydro company made an error and undercharged us by accident, so this month's bill was more double what it should have been :yikes: ~ wasn't expecting that!

WELL, we'll bite the bullet; and pull the belt in this month that's all ~ LOL! We all have our up and downs, it seems; life likes to throw curves at us all every now and then, eh??? Other than these minor annoyances, all is well with us; and I am very, very grateful for that.

ANYWAYS, I just wanted to touch base and I had to re-do this message as it erased itself for some unknown reason; so, I'll get this posted before I lose it too. Take care Ladies ~ your friend, ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Ladies

Well guess what the weather in July still continues in the same vein as June, Rain and lots of it. June was apparently the wettest since 1914.

Happy 4th of July to our American friends, hope you have a lovely day.


ROSEBUD:~ Sound like your car is giving you some grief. It is horrid when they don't go correctly. With our mobility being impaired they are an essential part of us keep our independence and stop us from being so isolated. So when they are playing up it really does hamper your day to day activities. I hope the other car which needs a little work doing to it will be a good runner as they say.

Here in the UK you can join the forces when you are 16 years old but you can apply to join the force as early as 15 and 1/2 months. But you will not commence your training until you are 16 years old. So very young virtually still children. Thanks for your kind words and prayers regarding my friends family.

Like yourself I take some health snacks when going out for the day. Your time by the lake to view the birds sound idyllic it is nice to go to a lovely spot as you describe if you have some free time.

No wonder your doctor is very pleased with you and your test results that is excellent news. Keep up the good work, because what your doing right now has had real good effects on your health which can be only a good thing. But no wonder your blood pressure was a little higher with the shock of the bill from the hydro company. Yep as you say will have to tighten the belt financially for a few weeks we have had to do the same when my PC graphic card finally gave in and a good new one cost £90 which is about $192 Canadian dollars and $181 US dollars. So not exactly cheap but to keep my PC up and running we had to get one. So tightening up those money reins for a few weeks.


Nice to catch up with you again. Well the gate post is now fixed, brother in law helped with that one really kind of him. Wouldn't know that it had been done now only that the gate is slightly stiffer than before.

Been today and done the weekly shopping for food normally go to the market as well but we did not have time or will not have time this week.

My bank has been taken over by another bank company so now I have been given a new account number and sort code (this tells the person paying you which branch you belong too). So I have a whole heap of people to phone to let them know of the changes. So that includes monies going in and monies going out. Not looking forward to this. Inevitably I miss someone.

Just paid for our holidays which we are going in very early September for one week to a log cabin in the countryside. This is our 5th or 6th I think in a log cabin but in various locations around the UK. Been to Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire twice and Norfolk. It is excellent for us as we can take our dog sometimes free or for a small charge. Nothing really to do on the site but we go out during the day and play card games or such like at night.

Must run going out shortly to play cards but I thought I would see if anyone had posted lately.

Bye catch up with you soon.

HI LADIES ~ We had a lovely morning and a mini rainstorm this afternoon; but the temps are nice and mild (about 70F). Supposed to be the same all week; but I'd rather have this than those hot, hot 100+F days.

Tomorrow we may go into town for a bit of shopping and errands; got all the bills out and paid today (including that whopping hydro bill ~ LOL). Good to get those things out of our hair; so, we can see our way clear 'til the end of the month.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY for all our American friends. We went to an anniversary party (with a potluck dinner) on Saturday night; and out to the CANADA DAY fireworks on Sunday night.

MO ~ I hope you and your family did some celebrating this weekend too. How are ya doin' girl? Hope all is well with you and yours! Try to come in and post at least once a week; it's good for you to keep in touch with your friends here, and we always miss you when you are away too long.

PURPLE ~ glad to hear that gate got fixed up quickly with the help of friends; that's what good ones do; they help us when we really need it. We're trying to keep the old car going just until the Marquis is ready; it's bigger, newer, and has an air conditioner, which we sure hope still works well. We have no transit here (we live in the country); so, we need a reliable vehicle.

I just did my usual housework today; and set up my newer PC, but couldn't quite figure out how to connect it to the internet. It's not the same as this one; it took almost all afternoon with no luck. Put in a call to my sis; so we'll see what happens. I quickly hooked back up on this PC, as I know how it works, even if it is a little slower.

ANYWAYS, there's not much else going on around here; our garden is doing great (now we're just waiting for the results). Take care everyone ~ from your friend, ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi there ladies. I am so glad to find a thread dealing with health issues. I am 47 yrs old, married 29 yrs, one daughter and 2 granddaughters. I have osteo and rhematoid arthritis. Bad knees, ankles are going, and hip is already gone. Doc says ride out the pain long as possible, because no insurance and young for hip replacement. I hear you all when you talk about falling and losing balance. I have been on weight watchers about 3 months now, started at 150, now weigh 130 and have another 20 lbs to lose. I have cut out beef, most sugar and very little fat. I can tell some difference in my arthritis inflammation since following this diet. Ok, enough rambling from me, so glad to meet you all. Hope to post later. Love ya, Kelsmamaw

Hi Guys

Sorry l have been MIA our interent was down for a week but shaw came today and replaced the main cable so hopefully it will stay running. I had 132 pieces of email waiting for me which took almost 2 hours to go threw and answer the ones that needed it and the others to delete.

We are doing good here l went to my nuroligist yesterday for my 6 month check up and she was happy to see my weight loss and was impressed with my blood work for my meds so l don't have to see her for a year now, then in the afternoon l went to a gyno to get a IUD put in but he didn't do it, he talked me into have my tubes tied instead, so that is booked for Aug 31. So 6 more weeks of using protection and then l can relax.

Eric has started some of his theraphy not the everyday stuff as the company is still hiring and training staff but the speech therapist has come to the house twice now and his program director comes on Monday mornings 'to work with him till staff is set up. So far it is just following Eric's lead and seeing what toys interest him. The B12 shots are going good so far he dosen't seem to mind getting them in the bum and he is making alot more sounds since he has been on them. The other day he counted to 10 and l was in shock, l grabbed the video camera and caught it on video, so Daddy was so happy to see it when he got home from work. No idea where it came from but he did it about 5 times since then. Was really wierd to head him say words.

The Calgary Stampede started today and runs for the next 10 days so my DH has taken next week off as holidays so we are going to the stampede one day and then to Edmonton for a couple of days. Rosebud l know you know what the stampede is but Purple in case your wondering it is like a rodeo and a country fair all rolled into one.

Rosebud I hope your car problems are behind you and the hot sticky weather too, and that you get to just sit and enjoy your garden.

Purple Your holiday plans sound lovely and getting to take the family dog is great so he can enjoy his mom and dad on holidays too.

Kelsmamaw Welcome to our group, and congrads on the 30 you have lost and good luck on the other 20. We have also cut out all suger and white flour from our diets and l have lost alot but better than that l feel so much more healther. Congrads on 29 years, l have only 4 under my belt but have been with my DH for the last 7 years. I have a 4 year old little boy who is autistic and we are just getting his theraphy underway so hopefully he learns to talk soon.

Everyone else hope your all doing good and enjoying your summer. Keep smiling and drinking alot of water.

Hi Ericsmommy,
Thank you so much for the welcome. Congrats on finding the help for Eric. Sounds like he is already doing better. I will be praying for more leaps and bounds for the little fellow. Keep on loving and helping him and all will be fine. Have a good night. Love, Kelsmamaw

Thanks for the prayers Kelsmamaw

Had a hard day today, I fell walking with my DH and Eric, and ended up scraping my hand up and hurting my bad hip, So l am real sore and bummed out cause we have a sitter set up for tomorrow to have a break from Eric we were gonna go and do go carts and putt putt, but l don't think my hip can handle that now so we have changed our plans, going to go out for lunch and then a movie and then maybe hit the casino if my hip is up to it.

Hope all of my friends are doing good and enjoying there weekend.

Hi everyone.

Been lovely weather here for the past 2 days not to hot and not raining. But I had a walk across the lawn today and it is so wet still. Plus we have a slight dip in the lawn and all the water has accumulated down there so we have a small pond at the minute. Some people pay a fortune for a pond in their garden and I get one for free :D Been to friends last night for dinner and she cooked a Chinese meal. She knows that I am on health eating and so are her and here DH so that made things easier. So she did the meal as healthy as possible. Like making her own sauce for the lemon chicken and steaming the chicken. She is a wonderful cook and produces some absolutely stunning meals. Plus she makes it all seem effortless which I know it is not.

KELSMAMAW :~ Welcome to the thread lovely to hear from you. :congrat: on losing 20 lbs that is really good achievement and one to be very proud of because as we know on here that to try and exercise with health issues is more difficult. In my eating plan I do not follow anything like weight watcher but I suppose I have some of there principle's. I have very little red meat, I have mainly white meat and even that I have cut down on. I have more vegetarian meals incorporated into my diet. I limit the bread I eat per date and have swapped to wholemeal bread pasta and brown rice. I have very little sugar in my diet and if I must have something to sweeten the dish then it is a sweetener. Keep up your excellent work and I am sure that you will reach your goal. Look forward to hearing from you again.

MO:~ Hi there Mo nice to hear from you. I can fully sympathise with you and your PC not working correctly. For the past week or longer mind as been playing up. Firstly replace the graphics card and now I have to replace the power pack as it keeps freezing and switching off on it own accord. At times I could have gladly thrown it if I could have picked the blessed thing up ;) Yikes 132 emails to sort out I didn't envy you. It is surprising how they build up when you are not around to answer them. Then as you say you have to take time to reply to emails which all eats into your time.

I bet you was on cloud 9 when your neurologist said they were pleased with your weight loss makes all the hard work some how worth it. Great that you have not got to see them for 12 months now. They must be really pleased with how things are going to leave it for that long. My sister was sterilised about 2 years ago as she had 4 children and for her that was enough. But my DH has had the snip so I am lucky I did not have to have the procedure done. I don't have any children of my own but I have 2 grown up step children who like now tower over me. I am not exactly short but I they make me feel positively small.

Oh what a beautiful moment with Eric and his counting to 10. I can see why you put it on video recorder for your DH. I bet you are so proud. It seems that Eric's speech therapy and other therapy is starting to pay dividends. I am so pleased for you and your DH.

Hope you and your DH have a lovely 10 holiday together with Eric. Thanks for explaining the stampede would not have really known what you were on about. Don't exactly get stampedes in the UK the most you get is the farmer moving his herd of cows (maybe 30 or 40) across the road to be milked. Not really the same thing ;)

Sorry to here that you have fallen with Eric. It is horrid when you lose your balance and fall over. It does not half shake you up and that does not include all the bumps, lumps, cuts, grazes that you get also. I can fully understand what it is like I have had a few falls in my time. Hope you :getwell: and it does not spoil too much of your holiday time. Pity about you will be too sore with your hip to be able to go carting and putt putt.

ROSEBUD:~ See your purse is a lots lighter now after paying the bills especially the hydro bill :faint: Hope you had a lovely time at your friends anniversary dinner. What is a pot luck dinner lol to me that is you get what ever i have in the cupboard sort of scenario. Yes I agree it is wonderful to have great friends and family who rally round. For me my family and my DH have been great can not fault them. Plus I have some lovely friends who also have been good to me over the years.

I would not know how to put the PC wires in never mind a Internet connection. But my DH is very technically minded that way so I am very lucky. But I can reformat my own PC which I have learn from my DH. But I can do things like graphic on a PC and a little bit of coded used for web pages etc. which my husband would not know where to start. So we are a good team together.



Must run my throat feels so parched time for a drink I think.

Catch you all soon.

HI LADIES ~ well this has sure been a busy week for us; a little stressful, but we made it thru alright. First, the weather is gorgeous ~ a nice mix of rain and sunshine with more moderate temps. The garden is doing well thanks to all the rain.

I kept working on this newer PC and finally realized that it didn't have a regular modem/card in it (only the ethernet card); hence, the reason why we couldn't get the intenet hook-up to work -- dahhh! So, we took a modem card out a 2000 IBM hard-drive, and just had to clip it in (first figuring out which slot it was supposed to be in); and voila ~ it worked!!!

Then I spent an couple of days setting things up and sorting files and so on; and of course, playing with it (trying things out too). Still a few minor kinks to iron out but that shouldn't take long. I especially love how fast this one works; it has double the memory capacity, and an extra hard-drive for storage. I really notice that when I'm on the net, there's no more freezing up like before; and everything works much quicker as well.

DH wants to go to an AUTOWRECKERS to see if we can find another rad for our car; so it will last longer while we work on the Marquis. I had to go to the city today for test (CAT scan) to make sure I have no clots in my body; a good test wasn't done before; I got great news right away; THERE ARE NO CLOTS IN MY BODY AT ALL ~ YEAH!!! I'm so happy cuz that's what my mom and gramma passed away from; and my auntie had one that left her in a home for special care. It's a huge load off my mind.

PURPLE ~ sorry you are having PC problems too; don't throw it out. Trust me, at some point we all consider tossing our PC's out the winda ~ LOL! DH and I are learning that patience is a virtue when it comes to PC's; the thing is not to panic and stay calm. As DH's dad always said, "If man made it ~ man can fix it!" In this case "WO-man" , of course.

POT-LUCK is where each guest brings one homemade dish/item to the dinner; my designation was Chinese Rice with veggies. They also had two salads (romaine & broccoli); a bean pot; two meat dishes (S&S meatballs & BBQ'd Sausages in chunks); veggie plate with dip; and dessert (cake & vanilla ice cream). Pretty good; bring one dish; get a buffet meal. The house supplied coffee, tea, and a fruity punch bowl.

HEY MO ~ so glad to hear from ya; sorry that you had a bad fall again. Give it time to heal; you can go cart racing and mini-putting again sometime after your injury heals. I'm so thrilled to hear that ERIC has already learned to count some numbers; WOW, that's quick results!!! He'll be yacking up a storm in no time ~ at that rate! Glad you got that on video so DH wouldn't miss it.

Tough personal decision/choice to make there MO; but honestly, it crossed my mind when you mentioned that topic before. Hope all goes well for you, dear. As for the PC, I think if we own a PC; we must expect trouble and repairs for said PC; just like it is for a car. But I've been so blessed so far; the PC hasn't cost me anything; saving old parts was worth it.

:welcome: KELSMAMAW ~ nice to have someone else join our small group here. Where are you from? Which country? CONGRATS on your success for far; only twenty to go ~ awe, that's nuttin'; keep it up; you are doin' great!

WELL, we've had a long, tiring day; so I'm gonna go and get some sleep to make up for all we lost the last couple of days. Now I can come in and post without all the PC trouble I had before. Take care all; your friend ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

hey ros
Thank you for the warm welcome. Sounds like this is gonna be a great group. Im not one to post alot, but Im always reading.
Sorry, I didnt even think to tell you, Im from Indiana.
Praise God for great report on your test. Hope you had a good day. Until later, God bless and keep on losing those pounds. Love ya, Kelsmamaw

HI EVERYONE ~ seems everyone is sooo busy this summer; we have had a good week and weekend. Actually, we are trying to keep busy on purpose; trying to burn as much energy as possible. We've had a nice mix of sun and rain lately; and today was gorgeous, with a double rainbow after a late shower.

We went fishing (and did some walking); got a sunburn on my nose though. Didn't catch any; one young one tried and missed, but I saw him; I know ~ that doesn't count ~ LOL! Then we had a little picnic after (chicken and salad). It was a nice way to while away a beautiful Sunday afternoon though; all that fresh air by a lake with a lovely breeze to keep all the buggies away ~ simply perfect, I think!

HEY MO AND PURPLE ~ haven't heard from you gals for awhile; hope all is well. Drop by and say HI when you can. Pretty soon, I'll be holding up this thread by myself ~ but I've been cruizing around and posting here and there when something interesting catches my eye.

We went shopping on Friday and we also picked up a set of horseshoes (the game kit, I mean). DH and I used to play that a lot; we plan to pick back up on some of the games we used to play. I think we'll get a bocce and crochet set sometime too. We're looking at trying to find a place where more people like us live; that we can socialize with, I mean. We are kinda isolated here where we live; so we're lookin' to change that. We are investigating some options for the future.

ANYHOW, things are going great here ~ I sure hope you are all keepin well; take care ~ your friend ~ ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Ladies

Finally I have enough time to post a proper reply. I have been roving all over the past week. I have been to Wales and to our capital London. Plus over to see my sister and my parents. So we have clocked up a lot of miles the past week. With travelling so much it is has made me quite tired. But I have been good. There has been only one day that I did not do a walk as I was absolutely shattered. So I am quite proud of my achievements.

We have a had 2 thunderstorms this week which frightens my dog poor thing. You feel helpless as you can not explain to them what is going on. So the garden still remains water logged.

ROSEBUD :~Sorry for leaving you holding the fort. Glad you have got your PC up and running. You seem to be enjoying the faster PC, they are great when running smoothly. Plus you have notice a significant upgrade in you PC which is nice. Finally she says with fingers crossed my PC seems fixed which is a relief.

Great news about the scan results. I am really pleased for you, must be relieved now you have the results and you have the all clear. Not nice having health issues hanging over you. I know what that is like as I had a biopsy a few years back they were testing for oral cancer. Fortunately I was given the all clear for that but was diagnosed with lichen planus.

Thanks for explaining what pot luck meals are. Would like to have something like that here. Does help the hostess or host share the work load with everyone doing a little of something towards the meal.

KELSMAMAW :~ Nice to meet someone from the States as I am from the UK. It is always nice to see how many countries there are on this site and we are all helping and supporting each other to lose weight. It is great to have another perspective. Glad you dropped by.


Going to have a little rest now getting quite tired but it has sure been nice to catch up with you ladies.

Hi Guys

I have tried to post for the past few days but it ends up in cyberspace and l get tired of typing it all in, lets hope this one shows up.

We had a busy weekend, Sat we went to a petting farm and Eric loved it, he milked a goat, with daddys help and then went on a pony and then a hay ride. But boy was it hot around 35 degree's.
Sunday we went to a birthday party for a little boy from his class, it was nice but very hot, they had one of this swinging 2 seater loveseat swings and he loved just swinging on it for 2 hours. But the mom understood and was just glad that we came.

I had my monthly measurments done at curves on friday and they are so impressed with how well l am doing lost another 1 point on my BMI and my waist is now 31.5 inches. I lost all over a total of 6 inches gone, so that was nice, going to go tomorrow morning for the first time this week, now that Eric isn't in preschool it's harder to find the time, but i get up at 630am and get there for 7am and l am back home by 745am so my DH can go to work. So l am doing that twice a week for the summer, till Eric is back in school, then l will go back to 3 times a week. Took Eric for a haircut today and that is always a surprise on how he will do, but today he was great, sat by himself in a jeep, (found a haircut place just for kids and the seats are cars) so l didnt have to get covered with hair. He won't wear the cape and l can't wear one either so we usally get covered. But today he sat in the jeep and played with the sterring wheel and l got to just stand beside him so he got covered in hair but l didnt. The lady was really fast and good so that really helped. I will definalty go back there.

Rosebud sounds like you had a nice sunday afternoon, sry you didnt catch the big one or the little one for that matter but the best part is you got exercise and quaility time with DH, we love horsehoes too. my DH and I have started playing crib in the evenings after Eric is in bed and we are both enjoying it.

Purple

I hope your doing ok and just busy in the yard to post.

Everyone else have a great week and I will talk with you all soon.

Love Mo

Hi Ladies

Just popped in to see all the posts on 3fc great way to make me sit down and rest. Sometimes I find it hard to relax I am like a cat on a hot tin roof. So popping in here and an ms forum that I belong to is an excellent way of taking the time to have some proper rest before starting the next round of jobs. My DH says at times I am my own worse enemy, I think I take after my Dad he is exactly the same.

My DH embarked on the healthy eating programme along side me which is great for moral support and motivation. He is also doing extremely well, but I have to try and be inventive to get fresh fruit down him. He will eat a banana at a push but that is about it. The other fresh fruit he does like it providing I put it with something like a low sugar/fat yogurt or ice cream. Then to him it is like a pudding and he will eat it no complaints. He has an extremely sweet tooth. But from going from sugar to sweetener to nothing on fresh fruit I am proud of his achievements never thought I'd see the day.

MO:~ Happy to here from you. Yes I can understand that when posts end up in cyberspace it is annoying as it is tiring typing. I always copy and paste my posts before sending on to a word pad now in case they do not post correctly to save me doing the long job of replying all over again. As when I do post they do tend to rattle on a bit :D

Sound wonderful the patting farm you went to with Eric they are excellent opportunity to introduce children to farm animals that they would never get the chance to do otherwise. So happy that Eric really enjoyed his time there. Wow it seems very hot to me as we rarely get temperatures above 30.

Well done on your achievements ate curves you have done so well. I hope you are proud of your achievements. Especially as it is very difficult to fit it into your schedule at the minute with no preschool for Eric.

That sounds an excellent barbers/hairdressers for Eric to have his hair cut. It sound to me that they cater for children brilliantly not every child will sit to have there haircut. But making things child friendly and to occupy their mind whilst haircutting is going has got to be a good thing.

I hope you are ok now after your fall you took a few weeks back and that you are now on the mend.

Right must get on got the hoovering to do. (vacuuming I think it is called in the states)

bye friends will catch you all soon

HI LADIES ~ We're having a lovely week weather-wise; nice and sunny today with just enough cloud to keep the temps in the 70's F range. This week I have been doin' my regular house chores; plus outdoor walking; and I have started increasing my indoor activities to give me over an hour of daily exercise. I hope this helps; it sure can't hurt as long as I don't overdo it and hurt myself.

PURPLE ~ nice to hear from ya; I'm glad that you got to tour around England for your holidays; some of my family were from Wales, England, and Ireland; and as I probably mentioned before, I have a niece over there somewhere (not sure exactly what area she lives in yet).

My DH won't eat fruit unless in a pie; and he's not a salad fan either; so I go it alone on that stuff, but he loves skim milk puddings,vanilla ice cream, and muffins. BUT, as for the main meals, he eats similar to me so that makes it easier for me; only exception is he has pork chop instead of steak cuz of his teeth problems.

HEY MO ~ glad to hear from you too; I agree with PURPLE ~ I now save all my posts in NOTEPAD or WORDPAD; then you just copy them into the reply box and you won't lose them anymore. That's how I stopped losing them; now the only time I lose them is when I forget to copy them. Just gotta remember to save them that's all.

That's a great hairdresser you have there for kids; smart lady. That petting farm/zoo sounds great for kids too; boy ERIC is getting to do some real fun stuff. He loves that swings so much; maybe you guys should consider getting him one; and when he's in bed, you and DH can use it too. The motion of swings and rocking chairs has always soothed people, both big and small. You may have stumbled onto a very useful tool in that swing.

I'm glad that you have met so many nice folks out there that you can socialize with so much in common; that is so important. Happy you are doing better after that fall. Sounds like you have that terribly hot weather we had in June; sure hope that doesn't come back here again, but sure hope you get some relief soon.

We're gonna pick up some sand to make the horseshoe beds; some will probably end up as sand boxes by the kiddies; but we'll get extra. My salad garden is fantastic; having lettuce almost daily on sandwiches and salads. The main garden is finally coming along, but some odd wildflower is coming up in with the veggies this year; DH thinks becuz of so much rain this month. The buggies have made a comeback, so you have to pick the best times to go outside; gotta keep movin' or they will carry you away ~ LOL!

My Father came back up yesterday to do some more work on that cottage; they decided that since they are going out to Manitoba to see my sister in September, that he might as well come back up here this month and finish off the cottage (at least the whole main shell of it, anyways).

DH has to go to the docs tomorrow morning, but I know he'll want to go out there to take a peek tomorrow afternoon; sounds like a great excuse for a picnic to me. So nice to hear from both of you ~ take good care of yourselves; and have a great week, your friend ~ ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies

Well another busy week, I have been to Wales and Leeds today doing deliveries for my DH brother. We only have one next week thankfully but a long journey to London.

The children have now broken up here for the summer holidays. It is normally 6 weeks but this year they have 7 weeks. This is because some teacher training is going on for a week. So instead of taking 5 odd days throughout a period of time this time for the first time they are have a block of training and planning.

The weather here remains horrid. We have had no summer at all this year. Apparently we are suppose to get 2 months rainfall in 1 day today. I feel so sorry for those whose homes are at risk of flooding or who have already been flooded. It is such up heaval and so much of your cherished belongings are gone forever many can never be replaced. I hope and pray that everyone will be spared.

Yesterday whilst in Wales DH decided he did not want to travel back in rush hour traffic so when we stopped for a bite to eat we asked staff if there was somewhere like a park that we may exercise our dog. The lady suggested something that was only 3 miles away. It turned out to be a beautiful park which was very disabled friendly. In the centre of the park was a lake which you where able to walk round. So DH and I took the opportunity to walk Rizzie (our pooch) and take our daily exercise. So we walked around the lake. Had to stop half way round to rest but once I had got my second wind finished our walk. We then finished off in the café over looking the lake having a coffee. We both throughly enjoyed it and needless to say Rizzie was in second heaven walk around somewhere new.

ROSEBUD :~ Sounds like your weather is glorious at the minute and are able to partake in outdoor actives. It is always difficult trying to increase physical activity without over doing it and hurting oneself. I have overdone it on many occasions especially if it is a "good day" I do way to much only to have several "bad days" afterwards due to me going overboard. DH has to be my monitor at times and remind me I am not super woman :D I hope that increasing your activities break that plateau that you are at. Even if it does not move the scales take a look at measurement taken by a tape measure maybe that will be more encouraging.

Glad I am not alone in DH being not very keen on eating fresh fruit unless it looks like a pudding rather than anything remotely healthy. I must admit he has tried even though at times I can see it has not been an easy road for him. But my DH has also embarked on the healthy eating to help me and himself. So that way there is nothing tempting in the house to break my determination.

What is a horseshoe bed ? not able to make an educated guess as to what that maybe. Glad the garden is looking great and now your able to take thing for making salads etc. Here in England things like that are expensive. Many products that are healthy things like fruit and vegetables are costly. But foods which are highly calorific or ladened with fat/sugar are cheap in comparison. This government sure does not promote healthy eating and encourage people to eat healthier.

Bye ladies going to go now. I think I will go and read my book which has got very interesting. I am a right bookworm and have been since childhood.:book2:

wow.....may i join in? im 36 w cp and im ww core program. has anyone checked out the exercise videos for doisabled people?

Welcome andreaphilip3 to our thread, very please to hear from you and have you on board.

Sorry I have not checked out any videos for disabled people. So unable to help you there. But maybe the other ladies on here will be able to point you in the right direction.

Once again welcome look forward to hearing from you again.

hey purple thank you:)

i already have the videos i just womndered if anyone else uses them.

Thought I would have a quick pop into the forum, I know I should be really getting ready to go out but I am nearly ready is my excuse.

Weather today has been warm no rain the first in many days. It has been the worst for rain fall for many, many years.

Watched the film last night the hairspray the 2007 version sadly I have not seen the earlier version with Ricki Lake as the lead but would like to see it. I am fond of musicals so needless to say I enjoyed this.

My sister went on the internet for the first time so is now practicing doing all the things like emailing etc. The things that I take for granted and come second nature to me. So we have had several phone calls regardless to say while she and the family get to grips with it.

Right I really must run now time running out fast.

HI LADIES ~ We're having hot, hot temps weather-wise; it's cooler at night though. Haven't been doin' too much this week cuz of the heat (only put in a little walking and indoor activities). The heat may get rid of some of those buggies; and we didn't see as much of them tonight.

My Father and DH have been doing some more work on that cottage; they are almost done putting the complete shell up including finished roof. DH says they only need a few more days to get everything they planned done. They came home early today as the heat was getting to them.

:welcome: ~ ANDREA ~ we're always glad to have someone new join our small thread. Our friend MO also has CP; I'm sure the two of you can really relate and encourage each other. I don't have any of those videos; that kind of stuff is hard to get where we live (way up north in a small town).

PURPLE ~ last weigh-in I did lose 2 lbs (beginning of July); and yes, I did measure myself for that very reason. I think I'll weigh myself only once a month and measure every few months maybe. I had a bad set-back this winter ~ that's why I joined this site; but now I am now losing again, thanx!

I have a big problem with water-weight fluctuations as my legs swell up each day; so the scale can jump several lbs for that. That's why I took the ticker off; it was going up and down like a yo-yo; it didn't make any sense. That's why I weigh myself so far apart; it's hard to tell what I really weigh right now; but I'm sooo glad that it's goin' down again.

So, we'll see what happens at the beginning of August; the measures might show a more consistant result. CONGRATS on your losses though; you are doin' great, just like our MO; fifty lbs is fantastica!!!

Your trips actually sound sooo fun; it's nice to be able to mix work and pleasure at the same time. I think that's ideal for you; esp if you enjoy it. Gee, we would love you to send that rain over to us to cool off these HOT TEMPS; and then you could get things back to normal again.

MO DEAR ~ hope all is well with you; you have your hands full, and we well know it; and we hope that ERIC is talking up a storm soon; we're listening for his little voice ~ LOL!

ANDREA; do come back again ~ PURPLE ~ thanks for being a great help with this thread; I appreciate it, as I was busy this week. Take good care of yourselves; and have a great week everyone, your friend ~ ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies

Rain still continues here in earnest I am afraid. (Maybe we could send some to you and you send some of your sunshine. We are beginning to forget what the yellow circle of light is in the sky :D) Our next door neighbour grows a few salad items in the green house and a row of kidney beans outside his green house. Now that he is slowing down that is all he can manage but pleases him greatly. But he says that the beans plants are rotting due to the very water logged ground. So sad that you put all this work in and no returns due to the weather. We are very fortunate they are very nice neighbours and very kind to us. In actual fact all the neighbours are great ones round our way which makes for a lovely area to live in.

I live on an estate where all the homes are bungalows. Most of the neighbours because of that are elderly or have some illness / disability which warrants a bungalow. So my DH are one of the youngest around here But I do not mind as I feel I have a lot to learn from the older generation.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks so much for the very kind words means a lot to me. This week I have had several people come to me and say "my haven't you lost a lot of weight". Up until the past week nobody seemed to notice, well they possibly did but did not like to say at that time. So I have been on cloud nine with all the praise :D

Thank you for sharing a little of your weight loss journey. It is so hard to lose weight sometimes when health issue conspire against us. But I am proud of you for how far you have come. Both Mo and yourself have done so well I look towards you for inspiration and my motivation. You may have had a tough time last winter but the main thing is you dusted yourself off and started down the healthy path.

Yes I am fortunate that I get out and about around our beautiful countryside and go with my DH and my pouch of course. We have gone to so many places, places we would never have gone to. But occasionally we have a nightmare trip where the traffic volume causes huge tailbacks of miles and miles. But DH has invested in a mobile phone (cell phone) which connects with our satellite navigation system to give us warning of the traffic ahead. So far it seems to have saved us a many a long wait in a queue. Like yesterday on returning from London we found out that there was a 8 mile queue of traffic so we detoured around it with the satellite navigation system doing the new route for us. We ended up going through the outskirts of a very oldy worldy looking town. It still had a great deal of the old buildings with oak beams a pleasure to see after many towns destroyed theirs for modern buildings only to regret years later that they did not preserve what they did have.

My mum grew up in a very old building with oak beams and odd shaped rooms. Downstairs was the post office come grocery shop for the village and upstairs was the living quarters for the family. Mum was lucky growing up she did have a plumbed in bath rather than a tin bath you had to fill and infill in front of the fire. But like many homes it did not have a inside toilet that was down the yard. It is still there today and does not look very different from the outside but I am sure it is is modernised inside.

:eek: whilst i have been engrossed in typing this my darling little Rizzie has shredded his tennis ball. There are yellow threads all over the carpet, needless to say I will be spoiling his fun and putting the ball in the bin So I am not going to be to popular with him. He loves balls with a passion he is absolutely obsessed with them.

Well I must run and clear up the mess the pouch has made and then start on dinner.

HI LADIES ~ Well, we finally had some rain today; but now we have a bit of sunshine and a light breeze with temps in the seventies; the heat is supposed to returned by Sunday, but I sure hope it won't last too long. Today, I just did laundry, housekeeping, and baked some raisin-bran muffins for our snacks.

BOY ~ the garden sure needed that rain; it's finally starting to grow again. I can actually see peas on the plants now and tomatoes in the greenhouse (I hand-fertilized the TINY TIM TOMS myself; seemed to have worked, as they are coming out now). They need lots of rain; sometimes I have to remind DH just how much they need.

He hates to keep taking the hose out; we used to leave it out, but this spring someone stole a length of our hose; DH was so upset, cuz it's the second time and we always lend our hoses to everyone, so there's no need to steal them. He said if they take anymore, we won't have enough to reach the garden, so now he has to lock them up each time; and that's a lot of work for him (poor fella).

ANYHOW ~ DH is up at the cottage putting the finishing touches on as my Dad is going back home tomorrow. This morning, he took our car to the mechanics to get the new radiator; it cost us a bit, but it's cheaper than buying a new car. We got four experienced people's advice what to do for that problem; BUT, my Dad gave us the best tip of all ~

He said, "Anything under $1000.00 ~ replace and/ or repair it; but anything big like the motor or transmission ~ it's time to scrap it, and get a better one." I wrote that bit of wisdom down for safekeeping; THANX ~ DAD!!!

PURPLE ~ we sometimes take scenic detours on long trips; last time we had to go to the city, we took a back way home to avoid lengthy road-blocks for repairs and re-surfacing. It was so much more pleasant too.

I'm keepin' to my plan cuz I don't want to gain that weight back; I wanna keep losin' cuz I feel sooo much better now than before. Even if I slip up a bit, I forgive myself and keep on goin'; I think that is so important to long-term success (for life, I mean). Like some others on this site, we purposely have dessert once or twice a week; and a treat of our choice once a week. This has really helped me to keep doing so well.

I also look for tips like the one I found last night ~ using low-fat creamed cheese instead of butter/margarine on toast and bread, etc. I just cut most of it out; but toast is so dry; and 1 tbl of low-fat creamed cheese is only 15 calories; so that's great news for us all! I save leftover steak or pork chops for snacks; lean protein makes us feel satisfied longer. Popsicles are only 90 calories or less; great for this HOT WEATHER!!!

It takes time to learn what works for us and what doesn't; it's getting so much better now. A tip I also learned from my SIS and my DAD is to eat dinner later (to avoid the munchies at night); that one is helping me a lot! And, next Christmas, I get only one chocolate treat ~ THAT'S ALL! Don't want to repeat last year's fiascal ~ LOL! DH even lost 5 lbs this spring eating our new menu (lots of veggies and lean protein), though he didn't really need to lose any (now only 130 lbs).

ANYWAYS ~ there's a dang, lonely fly annoying me as I type; if he doesn't bug-off soon, he's gonna take a trip to la-la land ~ LOL! Yuck, he keeps walking on my keyboard and tickling my arms, so I'm gonna give him one more warning, or it's ADIOS AMIGO ~ LOL!

HEY MO ~ HOW YA DOOOOOOO'IN????

WELL, that's all the news from here for now; DH should be home for dinner soon; so take good care everyone ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Ladies

Wow we actually saw a bit of sunshine yesterday so maybe we are sharing the weather now was nice to have no coat on and umbrella.

We went out last night to play cards in a small village which is besides the river, it has not flooded I think in recent years flood defences have been erect somewhere to prevent it. This village alway use to flood on heavy rainfalls to my knowledge. It has 3 pubs close by to overlook the river and they all do food as well. So they all seem to do a roaring trade. We normally have a walk with our dog in the large field next to the village hall which we play cards in but last night there was an accident on the road and we had to divert and go a longer direction. So there was no time for me to walk round but DH played ball with our dog for a good 5 to 10 minutes. After playing cards we went and had the walk around the field but it was getting quite dark by then and glad the walk was not any longer otherwise we could not have seen our dog. He was off the lead doing miles of walking/running with going back and forth as he does.

Yesterday afternoon I was experimenting in the cookery department. I was using a meat substitute to make a pasta sauce with, we are having it today. It tastes very nice on trying it. My friend told me about it when I had eaten it at her house and it not know it was not meat. With it not being meat there are way less calories and no fat. My DH and I now eat less meat and so with that has come more experimenting in the kitchen to come up with tasty meals or light bites to eat. My DH says he thinks hes a guinea pig with all the new dishes I keep coming up with. This a joke in our house about being a guinea pig. So fortunately most of my meal for today is cooked and I only have pasta to see to and reheat the sauce.

DH has been to the garage today as we had a puncture in the rear driver side they have changed the tyre for him but unfortunately they do not have a replacement tyre for us until Wednesday. We have to go to certain garage with it being a motability car ( car that you can apply for if you have mobility problems) but we do not have to pay for the tyres which is some thing to be thankful for.

ROSEBUD :~ See that you have been baking raisin bran muffins for snacks. They sound nice to say the least. My DH loves muffins and use to have one often when having a coffee when out.

It is so annoying when people steal thing like your garden hose. People will steal anything if it is not nailed down. Well that is an expression that we say if anything is ever stolen. Most folk would be willing to lend anything so help out someone else so no need to go stealing.

Sound like the cottage is coming along nicely. But with any building project it all takes time and money of course. But I bet your Dad and step mum are so looking forward to it being completed.

Sound like your Dad gave you some great advice about cars that is a great pearl of wisdom which has probably come from his life experience.

Like yourself my DH and I allow ourselves treats as we call them But like you they are foods that would not normally be in your healthy eating regime that way we feel there are things to look forward to. But we see them as a treat and not an excuse to keep eating things that day that are not healthy. For one thing it keep me sane and keep me on track. My biggest test I think since I started is when I go on holiday in a months time I do not want to gain lots of weight so I will try and not to have so many treats. I know that my exercising for that week will be increased so that will help keep my weight in check. Yes great ideas in the food department are always welcome. Alternative for more fatting foods or tweaks in recipes that make them healthier. I have always loved cooking since a small child. I do not do so much now as the heat can have a negative effect on my health. But nevertheless I still derive a lot of pleasure from it. Just found some ice creams which are an American I think but have been launched here. So we do not have such a big range as I see on the other site But what we have got is about 5 or 6 different things but it has pleased my DH no end he is a big ice cream fan and so now he can have a snack of about 100 cals. Great that your DH is supporting you with your new menu and eating it as well which helps you. I am sure that you will be better prepared this Christmas as you know the pit falls and you are allowing yourself a portion of chocolate.

For me the hardest time was when I was reading I have always munched away. I read at night every night bit of a :book2: but I have found that one pack of the snack raisins seems to satisfy me now if I eat them slowly so an ounce of nuts if I am really hungry. To ensure that we both are never really hungry I try to have food every 3 to 4 hours. That has help us tremendously eating regularly little and often.

All the news for now today, glad I stopped by as it always makes me feel good and motivated.

Hi Ladies

Been busy the last couple of days. I have done lots of walking some with our dog and some just shopping. My husband and I have both been getting some new clothes as many of our old ones are starting to look very baggy. For both of us we have managed to pick up some clothes in the sale so have got some good bargains.

It has been very confidence boosting getting clothes in a lower size. I picked a pair of trouser of the rail only to find that they were way to big. So I was shocked at the size I have managed to get down to. I carry a lot of weight on my hips I always have done. It makes getting trousers that fit nicely a nightmare. They fit on the hips but are so baggy at the waist as in comparison my waist is relatively small.

Today we have had to go back to the garage as they did not have our tyre that we needed. But today they have got what we needed. We were reluctant to go anywhere were without a spare wheel cos you would guarantee that you would get another puncture as you did not have a spare.

Today we had a lovely pub lunch. There is a pub that does for a couple of hours per day at lunchtime makes some really good traditional British home cooked meals. They are very reasonably priced only down side today it was either roast potatoes or chips (fries) so I was good and just had vegetables.

I am sure when it comes to bed time I will not take any rocking tonight to get me to sleep. I feel very tired now and it is only just gone 4pm will need some matchsticks to keep my eyes open.

I have been watching the last couple of nights deadliest catch about the Alaskan crab fishing it is the 1st season we are watching. It reminded me of the hard life of the trawler fishermen who fish off the coast of the UK but of course the crab fisherman have a much more dangerous job. I love documentary style programmes like this I have never been one for soap dramas. With having my medical background I love to watch also ones based in hospitals. We have one showing in the UK at the minute about the difficulties the body may have to survive through the different stages of life. The first was being born, the second childhood and the 3rd was teenage years. So I think tonights programme deals with adulthood.

Right must run and got to go and prepare some tea.

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, we've had some nice days over the weekend; cool nights to make it really comfortable. We can sit out on the deck in the daytime and not have to worry about too many buggies. I hope August is the same. Just did some laundry and the usual daily household stuff like cooking.

We're going into town tomorrow for shopping and such; trying out the car to see if everything is working OK (as we had an electrical short during our Sunday afternoon drive; got it fixed this morning). Life is full of excitement, isn't it ~ LOL? DH is finished helping my DAD with his cottage (they had a little help from the uncles too); so, they got all the basics done! They built it as they saved up the money, so there would be no mortgage or debt; we are gonna do the same thing (save a bit; build a little; and so on, until it's done).

We went up to see the site on Saturday, as I wanted to see what the size is like for when we build our cottage/cabin for the future; we think it's fine (24' x 24'); a perfect size for two people. We are quite excited about it; and we hope to do some site preparation this year if it is financially possible; and then start building next spring. For now, it will just be a seasonal get-away place for the spring, summer, and fall; a place to go for fun that won't cost us too much; and it's a long-awaited dream for us.

HEY PURPLE ~ Glad you got a bit of sunshine; we got one day of rain at least, so we'll have to swap a little more. We also try to eat one meal a week without meat; one of our faves is pasta with diced tomatoes and cheese with lots of black pepper. It's so EZ and quick to make; learned it from my Auntie (who is now passed); but still got the recipe and memories.

Bran muffins are one baked thing that I don't have a problem with; I can eat just one for a snack with coffee or tea, and that's great for both of us (besides, they have other benefits too ~ LOL). I vary them by adding either banana or chopped apples for variation; sooo yummy! DH's favorite are chocolate chocolate-chip (but I even put some bran in them too -- hehe!)

We also eat about every 3-4 hours; we find the same benefits that you do. I don't binge like I use to a long time ago. If I am hungry I eat a little and that puts an end to the cravings for me. A nice muffin and tea is sooo filling for me; if I am really hungry, I will have small bowl of cereal OR a w/w toast with jam or peanut butter, if need be. I don't believe in starving myself; those foolish days are gone forever and good health is here to stay.

HEY MO ~ hope all is well with you sweetie and say HI to your DH and little ERIC for us too, will ya? Take good care, girl; we sure miss you!!!

WELL, that's all the news for now; take good care all; and have a great week everyone ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

hey justwant thank you:) if interested those videos can be found on amazon by searching chair dancing and also reach for fitness.:)

hey mo, pm me if you wanna 'compare' notes:)

Hi Ladies

It has been a glorious day here. So DH and I have taken the opportunity to be in the garden and mow our 3 lawns. Plus weed the patio area. Weeds are one thing that grows rain or shine. I hope we did not do too much and we are stiff as boards :D Both of us enjoyed having a nice day and being able to straighten up the garden a bit it was sure looking over grown.

Been trying on numerous clothes this afternoon from a friend who donated them too me after she lost over 4 stone in weight 56lbs. I must admit they have and will come in handy now that I am going down in sizes. I am reluctant to buy too much new as with me still losing your not in them very long. I have been so grateful too her for these clothes plus we have similar tastes which is a bonus.

ROSEBUD :~ I really hope that it is financially possible to turn your dream into a reality. For me a retreat away sounds so wonderful. A place to recharge your batteries and get away from it all. Lets hope it comes to fruition very soon a great 2 person place as a get away.

Now a confession to make I have never made muffins and don't even have a recipe :o As much as I cook and have baked over the years that is one thing that I have never done. So if you could let me have the recipe I think I will tackle them (especially with other benefits ;) as my medication plays havoc) I would be very grateful and love cooking and trying out new things.

The recipe which is vegetarian with tomato and pasta sounds yummy too. It is nice when you get family recipes. We have what is called a wine cake but we alway use it for our christmas cake as it is moist and lasts for months (if my DH does not get his hands on it :D)

All this talk of different foods good job I have had my tea so I am not hungry. We are going out shortly to pick up a 91 year old gentleman to go and play cards. He is a lovely man and has a phenominal memory of facts details and peoples names etc.

Yes like yourself I believe that sensible eating one that you can stay with for life is the best way forward. I choose a plan that I thought that we could stay with for life rather than a few weeks. I try to vary my menus to make them interesting. I will make life easier for me I cook in bulk and freeze portions just enough for 2 of us. Then when I am busy or not feeling so good I still have a home cooked meal rather than going for a calorie laden packed take out.

Must get my skates on my hair is still needing "putting up" I have long hair well nearly to my waist and I have washed it today and I have been letting it dry.

Bye ladies and catch you all later.

purple--- sounds like youve lost alot of weight good for you! i too think life plans work best:)

Hi Ladies
I'm Kierie> I'm 31 married (no kids but the cat and turtle) and I have CP. I DO WW south beach and I had gastric bypass last year. Having a large% of my weight off has really made a difference in the way I feel and move! I'd like to try posting here in addition to the other places I post b/c I DOn't really "know" anyone else in my sitch!
Mainly I use a treadmill and arm bike for exercise In addition to PT and OT I'm definitely going to amazon search the chair dancing which will be great for winter when I'm more stiff! Also there is a video called yoga for aches and pains which is really good!
I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you!!
Kierie

Hi Ladies

Phew another nice day developing here which is nice the garden does so need to dry out there are parts that are so water logged. My hanging basket this year has thrived and has been a beautiful show of flowers for the past few weeks.

ANDREAPHILIP3 :~ Thanks for the kind words, yes I also agree with you being a life plan so it had to be something I could live with and stay with for life. My DH has also lost about the same amount of weight so he is looking so much better for it and is more active because of it.

KIERIE ~ Welcome to our thread very nice to have you on board. Yes I though I would not find a nitch that I was comfortable in and people understood what I was going through. I have MS and there is no way I am ever going to manage running x number of miles or walking it for that matter it just isn't going to happen. But what I can manage is walking in short spells but there are days that i am so fatigued that getting out of bed is an enough. But everyone here has been so supportive and helpful. That for the first time I really feel that my goal is achievable. Looking forward to getting to know you and having your input.

Hi Ladies

Had a marathon trip out today to deliver bean bags to near Bogner Regis which a seaside resort on the south coast of England. From where I live in the UK which is in an area know as the Midlands for very obvious reasons which are slam bang in the middle of the UK. It was a round trip of 410 miles so DH is absolute shattered as he drove there and back. We did numerous stops on the way there and the way back. We also passed or saw places which we both know like Windsor Castle (one of the Queen's residences) and Ascot racecourse. (one of the more famous ones in the UK.) So despite the long ride and how tired it has made me there was some nice points along the way. Unfortunately my DH has got to get up early to take the hire van back to the hire companies lock up unit. So he has got no "lie in" tomorrow.

I took some sandwiches for one of our meals out. But unfortunately where we stopped for a hot meal there was nothing healthy. So I only ate a small amount of it to do damage limitations. But you can guarantee the scales tomorrow will not be in my favour ( my weigh day tomorrow) but I am determined that this will not steer me back to my old eating habits. Where I consumed way too many calorie for the amount of activities I was doing. Not only that my food choices were appalling. Now that I have a much more healthier regime I eat more but it equates to way less calories.

Tomorrow will stop by friends as we had a phone call this evening saying their PC was not working properly so we will take it home to see if we can rectify or solve the problem. Our friends husband and wife both have limited knowledge of PC but we have been very luck that we had a great deal of tutoring from a nephew who is PC whizz kid.

Had some news yesterday which was a relief to all the family. My Mum had an infection in her breast she was prescribed antibiotics which cleared the infection. But unfortunately there was still a lump in her breast she was sent to the specialist for further tests to investigate it further. Fortunately it was found to be a benign cyst. My mums maternal grandmother died from breast cancer and her own mum had bowel cancer / skin cancer. So that was in the back of all of our minds. I am so relieved for her and now she can go on holiday in 1 months time with us with peace of mind.

I can not believe that it is our holiday in 1 months time on Saturday it seems only last week that I was booking it. I booked it in December 2006. Just started preparation for the holiday making lists what to take with. I am the queen of lists, I do not know where I would be with out them. I have cognitive issues due to MS and I have the memory span of a gnat now. I use to have a phenomenal memory and now that it has more holes in that a swiss cheese. So lists just help me along the way. Pity lists don't help my speech :D I mix words up often with funny results and have DH laughing uncontrollably because I have used the wrong word. My specialists calls it word salading :dizzy: But I have a sense of humour that helps me cope with the foibles of the illness otherwise I would crack up.

Well off to bed I go to snuggle up with my book, but I don't think I will read much before I fall asleep. Goodnight ladies catch you all soon xxx

HI LADIES ~ Gee, can't believe four days passed since I posted here; time is flying by these days. We've had two scorch-dingers so far this week, but thankfully, it rained last night and that cooled things down. The heat is getting rid of the buggies though; and that's always good.

ANDREA ~ nice to see you pop in now and then; your posts are short and sweet, but that's alright with us! We're glad you joined us!

:welcome: KIERIE ~ I've seen you posting in other areas around the board (as I do a lot myself and lurking {reading} too). We haven't heard from our dear MO lately; it is possible they have gone away on holidays. She did mention that they were going to Edmonton this year; that could be why we haven't heard from her in a while.

We are always happy to have people join our little thread; the more the merrier, we think. We are all on plans of our own choosing; and we come here just to encourage and support each other; and yack, of course! That video for aches & pains sounds like just what I need. Do you have to use a credit card to buy from Amazon; I guess that is safe now, eh? My DH is very hestitant to buy on-line cuz we were in a PC dept recently, and the worker told us not to do it for several reasons.

PURPLE ~ My bran muffin recipe comes from the box of QUAKER NATURAL WHEAT BRAN; first heard of it from a sweet lady we delivered papers to on Saturday mornings as a kid. She would give them to my brother and I with hot cocoa, esp on those cold winter morns.

OLD-FASHIONED BRAN MUFFINS

1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses (I use cooking)
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cups NATURAL WHEAT BRAN
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins (opt)

Cream shortening and sugar together; add molasses and eggs; and beat well. Add milk, and then bran. Combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt; then add to liquid ingredients. Add raisins; then place in greased muffin pans. Bake at 400F or 200C oven for 18-20 minutes. Make one dozen large muffins.

NOTE: you can add chopped apples or chopped dates instead of/ or with the raisins (sometimes, I even add chopped bananas). Enjoy ...

So glad your mom is OK, PURPLE; what great news! That must be a load off your mind, for sure. I also have to make lists to remember things these days; BUT, I just have to remember to take them with me. Now, I carry a small writing book in my purse for the lists. We still forget some things though, and have to do them the next trip instead; oh well, it's another outing for us.

From the time I was a teen, I would talk too fast, and get my murds wixed; I recall my mother laughing over some of my language foilbles too. DH still does today; and his favorite is "on the counter, between the stiv and the froge". I'm glad your DH is so supportive and keeps you laughing; they say that laughter is the best medicine for all kinds of ailments of the mind, body, and spirit; I know from personal experience that this is sooo true!

You hang in there girl, you're doin' just fine. Our attitude in this life makes a huge difference; life throws wrenches at us all the time. The best thing to do is to catch the wrench and use it to fix the next thing that comes along. Then, I try to enjoy every minute of every day the best I can.

Well, this post is getting pretty long, so I'll go for now; but take good care everyone, and do come back, cuz we love to hear from you all. Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi My Dear Friends (and the new ones that have joined)

Sorry l have been missing in action, I have been so busy with Eric, he is having some issues and we are trying to work threw them. I won't bore you with them but lets just say we haven't beening getting my sleep or time to just sit and relax lately, On a good note he has started using PEC'S (which is a picture exchage communication system) he gives us a picture of his cup when he is thirsty and a picture of a cookie when he wants a cookie. So far he is getting the hang of it and it is really excitting to see. He goes to theraphy camp all next week from 9-3 and l can't wait for the break.

I have a friend flying in tonight from Ontario with her little boy who is autistic too, they are visiting till Tues, I can't wait to go to the airport and pick them up.

To the 2 new ladies I have mild CP it only affects my right side, ride leg is 2 inches shorter and weaker. So l walk with a limp and lose my balance alot. I am married to a wonderful man and we have a 4 year old little boy who is autistic. I have joined curves and do the sugarbusters diet, and so far have lost enough weight that l feel great.

Rosebud and Purple

You both sound like you are very busy with activitys to keep you busy, Purple have fun on your holiday and reember to eat healthy when possiable and drink lots of water.

Rose I know you will have your dream getaway as soon as you can cause it gives you a reason to save. I am glad your Dad's is almost done and they can relax in there retirement.

Well guys sorry this is so short, I have to run and get my friend now, so have a wonderful weekend ladies.

Love Mo

Hi Ladies,

We are suppose to have 3 beautiful days weather wise (they talk of a mini heat wave) so I think I will be plugging in the air conditioning to keep myself cool during this hot spell.

I think for the first time this year people will be actually able to get their barbecue sets out and do a bit of outdoor cooking. Nothing like eating outdoors the food seems to taste that much better for some reason.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for taking the time to give me the bran muffin recipe. Not quite sure what shortening is we do not have anything called that here to my knowledge. But I did wonder whether it was either butter, margarine or vegetable fat of some sort. Will have to do a bit of research and see if I can come up with the answer. Molasses is something that is not common here but I wonder if they sell it in a health food shop will have a look. But I am sure am looking forward to making it when I get these 2 recipe items sorted DH eyes will light up like a Christmas tree :D

Glad you have had some rain and that it has killed some of the bugs that love to eat your plants or you come to that. Hope your enjoying your fruits of your labour now. I would imagine salad crops are coming in nicely to keep you supplied in fresh home grown salads.

MO :~ Nice to hear from you, I fully understand that during this time your personal time is very limited as to going on the PC. But when ever you do post I always enjoy reading about Eric and your weight loss programme.

That is great news about Eric and the card system that he now has in place a non verbal way of expressing his needs. It seems that Eric has grasped this and must make life a easier for him being able to communicate his needs.

Yes I can fully understand you looking forward to the few hours break during the day whilst Eric goes to therapy camp. For you those hours will be so precious and allow you to get on with chores more easily plus recharge your batteries so to speak.

I hope you have a great time when a friend comes from Ontario with their autistic son. This must be great on so many levels firstly to catch up with news of old friends is always good and secondly someone to talk to who understands what you are going through. Other people may be empathic regarding your son and the demands that puts on you and your DH. But someone who is raising a child also with the same condition have real understanding and knowledge. They maybe a source of information that you did not know and that can be so empowering.

In many ways Mo I am looking forward to this holiday as it has been 18 months since our last but food wise I am not looking forward to it. I am going to try as much as possible to keep health but there will be a few treats along the way but I must keep them in check less I will undo my good work.

Must run our nephew 14 has turned up his bicycle peddle has come of so needs it mending. Catch you all soon.

Hi ladies

Thought I would stop by and catch up here with my mid morning drink. Dare I say it I think summer may have actually started here in the UK better late than never. The hot dry spell has just about dried the garden out and especially our little pond ( well dip in the garden where all the water seemed to pool) which is good news.

DH has sorted out our friends PC so we are taking it back this afternoon and we are having lunch/tea there not quite sure what to call it as it is at 3pm :D DH has just got to fix some components into it which he bought yesterday which is a another hard rive and a graphics card. Our friend is then giving his sons PC to be reformatted as it is in desperate need of it.

Been trying to be good this last few days and drink a bit more water. I am not overly keen on water as it is so trying to get me to drink it is difficult but I am trying to make the effort. The only plus side is that I do drink decaffeinated coffee black and no sugar or sweetener so very minimal calories. I have drank my coffee this way for years I think since I was the age of 14 or 15 as I much preferred the taste to having milk or cream in.

Fortunately when it came to weigh day my option of having unhealthy food did not show on the scales in fact I had lost 2 lbs which was a big shock to me. DH has now had 2 weeks of being on the same weigh but I am trying to encourage him and keep him motivated. If this trend continues I will just tweak his food slightly and see if that has an impact. But I will cross that bridge if I have to.

Sadly here in the UK we have had an outbreak of foot and mouth. I do so hope that it does not spread like it did in 2002 ( think it was that year) it was an awful time and ruined many farmers. So many livestock had to be put to sleep and then incinerated it was horrid.

Right must shoot off as I have thing to do. Bye ladies be back soon.

Hi Ladies

Gee whizz just gave myself a shock just then when I could not find this thread but trouble was I was in the wrong forum, I was in the one dieting with depression. Oh well that what comes with not paying too much attention and going on auto pilot mode :D

Well we both had a lovely afternoon yesterday when we went to friends for lunch come tea. We had roast pork with steamed vegetables and roast vegetables. But each of the cooked vegetables came to the table and the meat came in different plates or dishes. Which meant I could serve myself how much or how little I wanted of each item. For dessert she had made a sugar free jelly with strawberries and blueberries. Topped with a very small amount of sugar free custard. The cold dessert was so refreshing with it being such a warm day.

Later well 5 hours later we had crackers with home grow tomatoes and cucumbers. So a nice round off to the evening and great so I could take my tablets as I must have a little food to take my medication else it makes me feel queasy for hours.

We played for a good couple of hours a game called spades. We played in pairs ladies verses the gents. The gents won. Only trouble with this game there is a slightly complicated scoring system that we play with it but adds enjoyment to the game nevertheless.

Just had our house alarm annual check today to ensure that it is working correctly and it gives you peace of mind that it is serviced and working to its optimum. Tomorrow we are having our pull cord alarm system checked. In every room in the bungalow we have a red corded lazy switch which you pull if you are having difficulties. If my DH was out and I fell over then I could pull one of these and they would send an ambulance out to me. The centre where the alarm goes through to has basic details about you like name, address, date of birth, health problem. Also next of kin and key holders your house. For a few pounds a month it gives us both Independence in the knowledge that I will be looked after. If my smoke alarm goes off it also calls this centre also and they come through on the intercom system to see if you have a fire or it is a false alarm. The only time I have set it off is cooking when I have the grill a wee bit high for grilling (broiling) bacon for example and I have not opened a door or a window to let the smoke out.

Must dash and get my tablets before I ends up too late. So catch you ladies soon bye. xxx

HI LADIES ~ We have had some really nice weather here for the last two days; cloudy with sunny breaks and the temps are really ideal right now too. We have all the windows open to let in fresh air. I picked some peas yesterday and we ate them for dinner with some yellow beans a friend gave me (sweet of her). When I get more peas or carrots ready, I'll take here a few as well.

My marigolds and red geraniums in my hangers are all blooming nicely; the ones I started as well as those I purchased from a local nursery. The tomato plants are really getting covered with toms now, so we are watering more often; now we just wait for them to ripen. The beans have made a comeback are now putting out baby beans; yummy (these are my faves).

We are not sure whether we will get some potatoes; but a friend says maybe we'll get some baby tators; well, that's better than none. The carrots and turnips stay in til late fall anyways, so they have lots of time yet to get bigger. So although things had a slow start, seems everything is trying to catch up now. We had lean hamburger steak & onions; plus a nice mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot sticks; with a new potato, and coleslaw for dinner tonight. We are really getting heavy on the veggies here; my DAD calls them "FILLERS"!!!

Our car is working great now that we have a new radiator in and the rad fan is now hooked up properly to the starter switch; hmmm ... whoever thought of disconnecting that wasn't using the gift of a brain that GOD blessed us with ~ hehe! ANYWAYS, thank GOD, it's all fixed up now; but it cost us a bit. We are thinking of ordering the PIT-RUN GRAVEL (chunky gravel) for drainage for our cottage/ cabin. Our lot is a bit unlevel and this will help that; and will be used as a drain under the brick foundation.

MO ~ it's sure nice to here from you again; the card thing for ERIC sounds like a good start. We are glad you have so many friends to support you who also have autistic children. I was posting for a short while on the SB thread, but I don't think my plan really fits in there; too many differences. I find my plan with controlled portions of a variety of whole foods is more suitable for me and DH too. Met some nice ladies there though.

Hope you can come in and visit us now & then, as we really enjoy your company. Have a good rest while ERIC is away at camp; you deserve it!

PURPLE ~ you are really keeping this thread alive; I'm so glad you come so often and I read every one of your posts. That dinner at your friends sounds sooo yummy; nice that your friend went out of her way to serve a healthy meal and dessert. IN THAT RECIPE, shortening is vegetable fat; you can use margarine or butter as a sub; and we can get molasses at our regular grocery stores here, but I know things are different in England.

GOOD FOR YOU for the 2 lb loss; I will weigh myself soon for the August month (as I was late last month); but, I'm focusing more on inches and sizes than lbs so much. I know that cuz I lift weights that can make my losses slow down a bit; as when I was in a gym when I was younger, I gained 9 lbs in one year just from muscle mass increase, even though I was much smaller everywhere than when I first started there.

Sorry to hear about the F & M problems with the animals again; I know what that did to your meat industry. I thought they had that all cleaned up, but it just goes to show that we cannot control everything, hard as we may try. Canada works very hard to keep our animals healthy too; and, we can get organic meat (no hormones or anti-biotics) here now too.

DH says the "NORTHERN LIGHTS" are out tonight; those colored lights that shine at night are so lovely. Will go out to take a look for a few minutes; so, that's all the news from here for now; take good care everyone ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD. :hug:

Hi Ladies,

Weather broke yesterday and we had a little thunderstorm with a short down pour of rain. It freshened up the stifling air which had become so muggy and close. But when we went out later that night there was not a cloudy in the sky and it was a lovely walk.

Just waiting in on the alarm pull cord gentleman to give it the annual check should be here in an hour or so. Slept really well last night as the previous night was one where you toss and turn and get little sleep. Then look like death warmed up in the morning. But DH took pity on me and took me out to lunch to somewhere that does healthy options and we had soup for tea/supper with a fresh pineapple for afters.

ROSEBUD :~ Your garden now seems to be going well and you are getting a few vegetables from it. Mind you I will not envy you your peas it is the one vegetable that I hate with a passion :D Never liked them and even trying them numerous times as an adult I just can not like the taste. Mushy peas the smell from those makes me turn green ( I know I am exaggerating ;) but you get the picture.) I really love runner beans sliced with gravy and homemade mint sauce. I can eat a plate of just them especially when they they young and tender.

When I was living at home we all had to help with the running of the garden and do chores in the garden as well as the home. The one I loathed most was podding peas cos we got buckets full ready for mum to put them in the freezer to tide over when there were not so many vegetables in the garden. I think I hated this job the most as I hated peas and did not see why I should pod them when I was not even going to eat them. But all the other jobs in the garden I did not mind as I saw that if they did not get done we did not eat. The garden was a big one as we had bought a plot of land behind our house so it was 1/3 of an acre of land that is without the land with the house.

The only trouble was I am just not green fingered and dreaded when mum an dad went away. Inevitably I would kill a cucumber plant or the tomato. I think I just had to look at them and they curled up and died :D

Glad that you have got you car fixed and that you are able to get from A to B. Just a pity it hits us in the pocket to sort these problems out.

Yes gravel maybe expensive but it should be worth it to give better drainage to the land. I bet you keep envisioning how it will look once you have built your cabin. It is nice to dream and plan.

I tend to come on the thread most days as for me it kind of polices my eating behaviour and makes me accountable. I then tend to get carried away with typing and see that I have typed loads. I am the same when I write letters in the days when letters were the in thing. So I suppose I am never going to change I just ramble lol

Yes our friends are really supportive and plus they are on healthy eating as well which helps. But like us she has health issues she has lots of metal work in her back due to an accident at work. I do not know how she does all she does because she is constantly in pain and has like me a bucket load of medication. The medication in turn makes you gain weight and so losing for her is very difficult. But she has done really well and you can see a difference now in her body shape. Her husband I think has lost over 3 stone (42 lbs) and so is visible different also. It is nice when you have other supporters along the way for your weight loss journey.

Good luck when it comes your weigh in day. Yes when you do weigh lifting in the gym you gain weigh because of muscle but you lose inches which is what you must go by rather than the pesky scales.

I have never seen the northern lights. Well I have seen them on television but never in person. I would like to see them they are suppose to be very pretty.

bye see you all soon ladies xxx

Hi Ladies

I have had another glorious day weather wise but towards the end of the day it did look like rain but none came.

Today DH and I have been to Cambridge which is a beautiful city which has one of the most famous universities in our country and the other is Oxford. These are because annually they have a boat race up the Thames. The Thames is in London and it is over approximately a 4 mile course. I think over the years there have been different nationalities in the boat like American and Canadian. The only thing is you must go to one of these Universities.

On the return home stopped at a village and there was a village pond. So we exercised Rizzie (dog) and stretched our legs. There was a little way in the distance a large stately looking home. Any way it looked very nice what ever it was and had a fabulous view over the countryside from where it was sited.

Today whilst driving through Cambridge on the river Cam we saw punts going up and down the river. Which reminds you of the gondolas over in Venice.

We went to a private school today to drop of quite a lot of bean bags. It looks like the school is having a lot of work done at the minute because it is the summer holidays.

Unfortunately I have been very unsteady on my feet today and have had 2 falls. The first was not too bad as I fell getting into a van so rather a soft landing over all. But the second was not a soft landing. I fell getting out of our car. I did not realise my handles of my handbag was wrapped around my feet. I have very little feeling in my legs the lower parts especially. So I did not feel that the straps were around my feet. At the time DH was filling up the car at the petrol (gas) station and I got out of the car to get some money from the cash point (ATM) but as I got out down I went. DH said he could hear me initially but could not see me. But of course found me on the fall in a heap a bit shook up :dizzy: I feel a bit sore and have a painful foot. But no doubt it will be stiff in the morning.

Must go poor little dog is crossing his legs time for his last walk of the day. Catch you ladies soon xxx

HI LADIES ~ We had a doozy of a rain storm last night; the entire night sky was lit up with bolts of lightening (straight down to the earth) and light flashes that lit up the whole sky. It lasted til past midnight; poor little furry baby (Pin Pin, our terrier) was terrified; she went and hid in the utility room where it is darker, so she wouldn't hear the thunders and the spit-spat of the lightening so much; poor darlin'.

Our other little darlin' (my Sweetie; a white cock-a-poo) doesn't seem to be bothered by storms anymore; but Pin Pin has always been more sensitive to noise though. Right now they are both sound asleep beside me on their big, pink blanky (comforter); yah, I know, they are spoiled; and they deserve it!

DH is listening to the American Comedian, BILL COSBY, on his stereo and I can hear him laughing all the way thru the walls. On Monday, I did some early fall cleaning (mostly rearranging and tossing ~ hehe); we just have way too much stuff. I just did the usual housework and cooking today, including laundry.

Yesterday, we had a load of special gravel put on our lot; we are gonna need one or two more from the looks of it, for sure. It is a lot more unlevel than we thought; the high grass hides so much; but the truck managed to get in there OK (although the young driver was a little unsure at first). We are gonna add as we can afford this fall; then start the foundation next year; then the floor; and so on (just like they did with my DAD's).

My DAD put a nice teal green final paint on his cottage before he left; boy, does that look nice or what! It really looks so natural; but, DH and I were laughing cuz I told him that I kinda wanted green siding of some shade; just a bit lighter than what my DAD put on his. Now, we will likely have to go lighter or they will be too much alike. Ours will have a differerent style than his though; yes PURPLE, it is so fun to dream and plan.

PURPLE ~ sorry that you had such a fall; been there, done that! Hope you haven't any serious injury and recover quickly. I scraped my calf on my desk of all things, just trying to chase down a pesky mosquito the other night; it looks quite awful with a blister and all. My lower legs have trouble healing cuz of the swelling, but I can see little hairs growing there now ~ yah, I actually want them (they are a sign of good health for me).

Sounds like you had a fab trip to Cambridge; esp the sight-seeing along the Thames and the river Cam. Just have to be more careful with that purse strap next time! I also like to come on here and check in for the same reason you do; and I just enjoy meeting and chatting with new people that I have more things in common with, as we are a bit isolated out in the country.

The people here know how it feels to struggle with health problems and weight issues. In our daily life, people who don't struggle with the same problems, seem to lack compassion and understanding. They think we all should just stop eating and that's it!:dizzy: If only it were that simple ~ there wouldn't be any over-weight people, or a need for this site, for that matter! ;)

You and your friends are doing great; and you have each other's support as well, and that's sooo nice. I'm glad your weather situation has improved; it looks like this week will be a good one for us too, if the forecaster's are correct. If it is cool enough, we will be off to town in the morning.

HEY MO ~ have a nice holiday this week and gets lots of rest too! WELL, that's all the news here for now; take good care all ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good afternoon Ladies,

Been a glorious day here today. I have walked the length and breadth of England ;) Alright I know that is not quite true but to my feet and legs it feels like it :D Firstly went into the shopping centre (mall) in the city of Nottingham. From all the walking there we went to the market to get a couple of handbags for my holidays. Then in the market the new and secondhand book stall. Love that stall but I am an avid reader and always have been. I am really lost when I do not have a book. I keep one in the car so if ever there is a spare minute I get it out and read. Then there is always one by my bedside which I read every night. DH is not a reader but saying that he is making a gallant attempt at trying to read a book. If he finishes this one it will be the first since we have been together (10 years)
From there we went to have a bite to eat and then one to do the weekly shop.

Then of course when you get home you have to put the weekly shopping away and then I flopped. I made a cuppa and that has sure been welcomed and I have made myself sit down and have some rest. I feel so tired now and do not want to do anything :lol:. I think I have done way too much walking but the exercise is good for me but I like everyone have their limits.

I do not feels as stiff as I thought I would be today after falling. But I have a few lovely bruises with some lovely shades of purple in it. But my right-side is very sore but i have had to take extra pain killers to cope with it.

Bought some lovely costume jewelry today. Never guess what colour they were in :D Purple :lol: I bought a necklace and bangles. They are not matching but they co-ordinate very well together.

ROSEBUD :~ Aww your poor babies. It is so horrid for you to try and comfort them when they are so scared by a thunder storm. Mind you that seemed a really humdinger of one by your description.

Used to like watching Bill Cosby in the The Cosby show I think it was called. It was really funny. But we do not see him on UK TV now.

Your fathers cabin has come on in leaps and bounds now. They often say the slowest part is coming out of the ground. That is putting the footings down. After that it seems to come along at a pace.

Ouch a scrap down a shin is really painful. For starters there is not a lot of flesh there so you bang the bone as well which hurts like crazy. Before I knew I had MS I fell getting onto a bus and really hit my shin on the metal steps. I was wearing denim jeans. It hurt a bit at the time but that is all I thought about it until I went to work later that day. On going to the bathroom I thought I would check on my shin. Not that it was hurt or even sore. I was really expecting a bruise at most. I had made a right mess of my leg I had took a chunk out of my shin about the size of a penny ( about 1/4 inch) and it was soaking in blood. That is when I started to have inklings that something was neurologically not right because I did not feel anything. I was numb from the waist down.

After a period of time of various bits and pieces of my body going numb. Or losing strength I kinda guessed that I had MS. I told no-one about this not even my DH. I suppose I was being an ostrich and sticking my head in the sand and hoping it would all go away. But of course it didn't. After 9 months of hiding all my symptoms I eventually broke down with my DH after 2 falls in one morning both of my computer chair. I told him to sit down as I had something to tell him that was pretty serious and told him my inklings that I may have MS.

After another 9 months of test and prodding and poking. I was diagnosed in 1999 with MS. In a way it was a relief knowing that I had something wrong with me as one of the GP in the practise blamed it on my weight. Personally I could have swung for him but did not have the energy :rofl: But fortunately one of the other GP's believe me and was ever so nice.

Yes it is great to come to 3fc because here there are people whom know what it is like to struggle with your weight and what it is like. Literally I only have to look at a chocolate cake and it has but 2lbs on :yikes: The weight goes on so easily and comes off so slowly in comparison. But here people have had the same struggles as you and are not judgemental about you which is so nice. Here I feel comfortable being me and do not have to apologise for being overweight because we are all in the same boat or have won the battle but help others do the same.

:yikes: Look how long my post is :rofl: will need a whole page for me soon with my ramblings.

Right must be off and get Rizzie (my little baby well not so little about 40lb of pure muscle, staffy are very muscular) a bit of food.

bye ladies catch you soon xxx

Good Afternoon Ladies

Been busy for the past 24 hours. Yesterday I managed to do a great deal of walking but in bursts. Went to my mum and dads by car as they live 30 miles away approximately. Then in the afternoon we walked into town rather than go in by car that was 1 mile did a little walking in town. Then had a coffee and a rest. Then walked back but was really tired by then. After having our tea took a gentle stroll picking blackberries (wild ones) managed to pick with the help of mum and my niece 2lb 4oz. So had a lot of exercise. Last night I slept so well but I had done too much so I had to take a lot of pain killers.

Today when through the 3fc recipe books on-line to see a recipe that was healthy to use up blackberries. Found a crumble recipe for a different fruit so i tweaked that one to suit what ingredients that I did have. It is nearly cooked now and if it smells lovely hope the taste matches it. I have made several uncooked crumbles to go into freezer as it was way too much for DH and I. So DH is playing guinea pig today with my cooking but he should like it as it looks like a real pudding of crumble. But I have put lots of fruit in ;)

With all the mild weather we have had it has made the blackberries very earlier we are normally picking them in September and October. I try to go blackberry picking every year to get a crop in. Have picked blackberries since I was a child.

Catch you soon ladies just going to take crumble out of oven, as the timer is just about to bleep. bye xxx

this is my first post in a weekly thread *drum roll* so I dont really know anyone.. or what to say... but I'm going to take my cue from purple and just start.

So yesterday was the first time i had mcdonalds in a month. I got a happy meal with a diet drink and in retrospect I dont think it was worth it. by the time our movie night came around i was over my calorie goal by 200 (I live with my brother and plan to for a long time because we have a deal where I make dinners for him when he works and he takes care of my injections 3x a week - I haaaaate needles!)

anyways. today I did pilates in the morning for 20 minutes.. it's more just stretching and letting my body wake up... It helps me focus/really helps me deal with symptoms/tiredness. I remember when I couldnt do pilates because of dizziness so I savour every day that I can :)

Hi Ladies.

Well I must start by saying the crumble was lovely and DH ate all it. Sneaky me put heaps of fruit in and not lots of crumble but to his eyes it was a proper pudding ;) Has you know I have to be inventive on the fruit front so DH will eat fruit. Although eating the fruit has been a little difficult for him. He has been so supportive and continued with the healthy eating with me. He has lost 50lbs also and over 10 inches from his waist. My DH carried all his weight on his tummy so hence such a big difference.

It remains very hot and humid. So I have very little energy to do anything so I am doing the bare essentials and that is it. But on a brighter note it is suppose to break today and become cooler and fresher.

Going to central London tomorrow which I am not over fond of due to the very heavy traffic and lots of queues. Plus to add insult to injury you have to pay for the pleasure :dizzy: In certain parts of London we have what is called the congestion zone. If you enter into this you have to pay £8.00. For every day your in London and enter the congestion zone you have to pay this fee. If you do not pay it within 24 hours the £8.00 fee goes up by quite a considerable amount. I would not be surprised that if other major cities in the UK do not decide to use this congestion charge.

VALPAL :~ Welcome to the thread nice to have you on board. I think we all slip up and make bad food choices but I think the important thing is to get back on the waggon again. I made a few bad choices last week as I was travelling with my DH and I was so hungry that I ate what was there. I try to be good and plan ahead where or what I am going to eat. With my bad food choices this week I did not lose any weight but on the brighter side I did not gain any either.

Yes your not the only person that hates needles I have a sister who hates them. So I understand what it is like to find them difficult. How long have you been on interferon ( i think i may have spelt that wrong)?

Well done on doing the Pilate's. I have heard of this yoga but have never tried it or know too much about it.

Yes finding a form of exercise can be difficult when we have different health issues making life more difficult. But I walk when ever I can and if I can't do it I don't beat myself up about it. ( like I would in the past ) I accept tomorrow is another day and it might be better.

Time to shift myself into gear as it time to prepare lunch. Bye catch you soon xxx

:wave: HI LADIES ~ Boy, we've sure had a busy, busy, busy week and weekend too! Went out quite a lot this week; more than we usually do, but I just hate staying home all the time, esp when we have good weather. August is turning out to be the best month of the summer for us this year, so we are taking advantage of it.

As you probably already know, we are avid lake fans; when we go fishing, we just do catch and release. We went on a picnic the other night; and to the lake to see our swannies. Whenever my hot flashes and stuff act up, we jump in the car and away we go; it totally takes me out of myself and I forget all my sickness and pains.

I picked up some better feeders for my hummingbirds; many of them came back that hadn't been around for awhile, but one young guy seems a little puzzled that the feeders are different and just looks at them and flies away. I may have to put one of the old ones back up again, just for him; we'll see. I like these ones better cuz they don't leak and waste the syrup solution; plus they are slimlined and less solution looks like more in the container.

We went to church this morning and for a short drive before picking up something for dinner (just had to reheat spit BBQ chicken; one of my faves). We had lemon merinque pie for dessert; I also love one-crust pies and crumbles for dessert (I add more fruit and use less crust too).

You can make crustless pumpkin pie too; just sprinkle lightly greased pie dish with a bit of wheat flour or oat bran; pour in filling and bake as usual til custard is firm. DH prefers a crust, but I make one for him with crust and one for me without; it's really like a pie pudding, or is that pudding pie?

:welcome: VALPAL ~ we are always happy to have new people join us, do come back and tell us a little about yourself and your life. We all may have some challenges, but we care and support each other in a very positive way. I have a sister who lives in northern Manitoba. I agree with PURPLE; she has some great advice for you in her reply.

PURPLE ~ I did my weigh-in on the 10th of August; and would you believe, I was only down 4 grams (oops, I mean ounces), but I don't count them. Anyways, at least I didn't gain anything!!! My scale is digital, but I was hoping for at least a pound; oh well, maybe next month will be better. I got DH to set up my reciprocal bicycle again; I haven't used it in a while, but it's the only bike I can use right now.

I asked him to turn our livingroom into a gym for now, cuz we aren't using it for anything else anyways; so I'll have the rower and the bike, so I can get more exercise this winter. DH says we just have to downsize, so I told him OK just as long as we start with his stuff first; of course, you know there was dead silence to that suggestion ~ hehe! ;) ~ LOL! ;)

On the rare occasion we have guests, we eat in the kitchen; chat in the kitchen; play cards in the kitchen; and then they go home. When we build our cottage, we have made a deal that we will add the screened-in porch right off, so we can go out there instead of being inside all the time.

We have blueberries here; they make nice crumbles and jam too; sometimes, I put them in muffins for DH as he loves that. We can pick them for free; and we have a blueberry festival to celebrate our good fortune to have these lovely berries growing in our region (most of the north actually).

MO ~ hope you are doing well and that you had a lovely respite this past week while ERIC was away at camp; oh, and keep in touch ...

WELL, that's all the news from here for now; take good care everyone, and we'll talk again soon ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HI EVERYONE ~ We had a beautiful day today; moderate temps with sunshine and a nice breeze, so I spent most of my day, picking veggies from the garden; in the morning, I picked the rest of my peas; and in the aft, we picked lots of green and yellow snap beans. I am so happy to get some, as we really had a slow start this year (though normally we would have got a lot more from what we planted).

BUT I'm just so glad that I got any; putting up 18 baggies for the freezer and we also had some for dinner tonight; and they were tender and yummy. I just finished bagging them at 9:30 pm, so I'll pod the peas in the morning as I'm all veggied-out! ;) Tomorrow's line-up is to head to town for our weekly shopping; it should be a good day for it; they are expecting light showers.

We are really getting nice temps for August; I hope we also have a good fall this year too as last year it was very cold here. Fall is my favorite time of the year cuz that's when the buggies leave and the cooler temps come here.

PURPLE ~ let us know when you are going away on your holidays; I tried to look back and find the date, but can't seem to find it. I know that you have MS and our MO has CP. A lady named ANDREAPHILIPS3 put up a thread in the OBSTACLES Forum ~ a plea for help from anyone who suffers with muscles spasms. Maybe you or MO might be able to help her more than me; I get what they call "CHARLIE HORSES" which are also painful, but usually, I can work them out in a few minutes with massage therapy.

As I told her in my reply, both my DH and my FATHER get them too, but their's go into their calves and thighs; and DH has what some call "JERKY LEGS" at nightime; not great for getting a good night sleep for either of us. ;)

AND, we didn't have to turn the livingroom into a gym; we took our daybed out of the spare room and that made enuff room for both the reciprocal bike and the rowing machine. So, I hope to have a better winter this year; and everything is so much roomier in there too and we get to keep our normal living space.

MO DEAR ~ hope all is well with you and yours; drop us a line when you can; hope you had or will have fun on your trip to EDMONTON.

AND TO ALL OUR OTHER FRIENDS out there who drop in now and then; take good care of yourselves, and don't be shy about posting here, as we'd love to hear from you. Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Thank you for the welcome ladies :)

Purple - I have been on 'interferon beta 1a' for a year now (still dont really know what that means... heh whoops) and I think the natural course of disease made it very hard at one point to give myself the injections. Coping and all that. It's getting better though and I'm proud of myself for getting to this point.

Pilates for me equals a lot of stretching and repetitive exercises that strengthen my core muscles - very helpful with MS. I've fallen enough times and been okay because I have the strength to get up and flexibility to not be seriously injured. It's also an easy progression to get out of bed and get on the floor for morning pilates :D

I started doing this exercise with a VHS series called Windsor Pilates. I had taken a pilates class before and the tapes were a good refresher. It also taught me 12 basic moves I can do each morning when I'm pressed for time - which is always.

The food choices thing has been interesting for me as I adjust from what I normally eat to healthier, more filling choices. It has become a lot easier to pass by that cookie or sweet because I know it isnt worth it nutritionally. I have yet to let myself have chocolate though.. I'm pretty sure that would be my downfall!!

Has the weather settled down over there? The heat can drain energy so fast eh? I guess I'm lucky to live where it gets to -40 celsius every winter :(

And the congestion tax actually sounds like a good idea.. I'd like to see that in some Canadian cities where infrastructure is not growing as fast as the population. Are people generally resentful of the fees?



justwant2bhealthy thanks for the invitation to ramble about myself! ha ha.. I live in Thompson Manitoba.. where I grew up and swore never to return because of the winters.... so I went to Vancouver BC for university.. graduated and my parents brought me back here because I was in a flown blown ms flare up. It was hard to get used to this place again (very remote!!) after living in a city but it's growing on me.


We have a lot of lakes around as well. I dont fish but it's a great place to walk/picnic and just relax. We're thinking about going camping this weekend. Your home gym sounds great... I have a stationary bike but I've never been on a rowing machine before. Do you kayak and such during the summer?

Oh and last thought - where about in northern Manitoba does your sister live? There are only a handful of towns! ( and they're all a fair drive away).

Thanks for the support too ladies -Since I had that happy meal at mcdonalds last week I've done really well diet wise.. basically by adding more high fibre foods that keep me full. And even though I woke up yesterday with a frozen neck I still got my exercise done :) I went to the chiropractor who did the crack pop thing... and I'm going back on Friday :|

Take care everyone - I'm taking tomorrow off work so I hope it's a nice day!

Hi Ladies

Sorry not to have stopped by lately but I have been under the weather. On Monday we were delivering bean bags to the Capital the journey to the place took 4 1/2 hours then we were in a loading bay and the company who we were delivering to left us waiting 45 minutes. It was only after several attempts of getting them to sign for the goods and check them in. Did we get anywhere. DH told the manager that if they were not down to check them in 10 we would pack up the goods and return home. We have never had such problems as we have had with this delivery normally customers are happy to receive the bean bags and want to sign the form so they can try out their bean bag.

If this was not enough traffic remained heavy on the return journey and we were going to pull into a service station for a rest stop. But one mile from this the works van let out an almighty smoke screen from the exhaust and we lost all power. Very nerve racking for DH (driver) as he was in the centre lane of the motorway (freeway). He managed to get to the hard shoulder (area for broken down vehicles). But we were 1/2 mile from the service station and I was busting for the bathroom. So there was nothing for it but to walk. It was hot and I was tired. It was one of the hardest walks I have ever done. We were eventually picked up by a pick up truck and taken home. We left home at 9.30 am and arrived home at 10.30pm.

So after this ordeal it has taken its toll on me, I have slept a lot and had no energy. But starting to get back to normal.

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for your message about Andrea I have wrote in the forum to her about my experiences. Firstly before I forget I go away on holiday on the 1st September for 1 week. But I will be going to my Mum and Dads on the 31st August. So I will be MIA for that period of time. Wow you are sure reaping in all the veggies from your garden. But you deserve to with all your hard work that goes into keeping a garden.

Picking blueberries for free sounds nice to me. For us blueberries are very expensive but that is due to the fact they are imported into the country. I don't think we grow any here. If we do it is not in any big scale. We grow mainly strawberries and raspberries in the soft fruit range.

I had to laugh about when you suggested that you started with down sizing his stuff funnily enough was not too keen on that idea :D I have a DH who is a hoarder will keep absolutely everything if I did not keep an eye on him. We only live in a small property so you have to be careful how much stuff you collect.

Look on the bright side Rosebud you did not gain any weight either. So think of it for training for maintenance. Also your much healthier and fitter than you was which must be a positive for you. This has had an impact on your health this change in life style so you have much to be proud of and how far you have come. Sounds a smashing idea about making a home gym. I would love to have a tread mill but I have absolutely no space. If I did I would use that for walking and my primary exercise. I would I think have an exercise bike also.

VALPAL :~ Thanks for the information about Pilate's sounds a good form of exercise. Yes it is certainly something to be proud of the fact you give yourself injections it is an achievement. I am not on beta interferon but we have strict criteria of symptoms and attacks that you must have before being considered for this drug. Our health service is free which you probably know so drugs that are expensive are made sure they are given to people who will most benefit. It is nice having free health care but as you see it has limitations. The reason I am not considered for the drug is that I have not had any 'attacks' I did at the very beginning when I was waiting for my diagnosis. But I have had a slow deterioration over time with no defined attacks.

All the drugs I am on (which is 4 ) are for TN (trigeminal neuralgia) but unfortunately I am having a lot of pain at the minute from that and am having to steadily increase them. I have a lot of rope with medications as I was a nurse, they just tell me maximum they would not like me to go over and I just medicate myself accordingly.

I think that you can be kind to yourself and allow yourself small amounts of something like chocolate that way you may not feel that your depriving yourself. Otherwise I think you likely to go on a binging session. I have my little treats here and there otherwise i would be really naughty ;)

I tend to look at foods and the amount of calories and think could I eat more for the same amount of calories. I have changed to wholemeal bread, pasta and brown rice. All that little bit more filling and keeps me fuller for longer. But I did these changes gradually rather than all at once that way it was not such a big transition in the change in diet.

I eat heaps of fruit and veggies. Our food bill mainly consists of these. The weight loss has slowed down now but one thing is I am eating better and am healthier than before.

The congestion charge in London is more resented because of how much it is, which is £8.00 ($16.85 CAD & £15.89 USD). The first year the charge was £5.00 ($10.53 CAD & £9.93 USD) then it went up to the £8.00 ($16.85 CAD & £15.89 USD). So people where very displeased about that.

Must dash did not realise the time, I will be late. I have got so engrossed in writing this that the time has run away with me.

bye ladies :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ we had some showers earlier today, and then the sun came out again; we are getting great weather here, even if it is a bit cool (I'm sitting here typing with a warm, fleece shawl on).

VALPAL ~ you can call me ROSEBUD for short; it is easy to tell that you've had a tough time of it over the last while. I'm glad you were able to go to Vancouver for schooling (what did you take?); what a beautiful part of our great country that province is!!! We have some friends here who have MS and it has sorely changed there lives; but you have a good attitude, and that will really help your quality of life.

I'm so glad you have such a good support system from your family. My sister lives in FLIN FLON, Manitoba. I'm sure you know where that is as you are in THOMPSON; are they close? She loves it up there and my DAD & step-mother are going up there to visit soon (early September, I think). But FLIN FLON is a city, so they have all the amenities like a Wallmart, Zellers, and such; and they can always drive down to WINNIPEG, if they want to (and they do, on occasion).

PURPLE ~ don't want to make you too envious, but I also have a treadmill and a regular exercise cycle with moving arms, but we don't have the room and I can't use them yet. My bum right knee jams up too much and the pain is excruciating; even on the recyprocal, I have to pedal backwards (I have to modify my actions/reps). I find the rowing machine the best; I can do the full motion a little; but the rowing, is the part I love.

DH does have a row-boat BUT when he was straightening out some dints, he cause a few holes and still hasn't fixed it yet cuz he's doing so much stuff for others he hasn't gotten around to it yet. I would love to go rowing on the lakes again (as I used to do this a lot when I was a kid). OH WELL, maybe next year ...

SORRY to hear about your delivery van breaking down; hope you got it all fixed up now; cuz you need it for your living. Maybe you should carry a folding bicycle in the future, so DH can bike for help next time (just an idea). I'm so glad to get a few veggies out of that garden; I told DH that I've just about had it with all the pain. He teases me and says that I say that every year; he says that it's the pain talking.

BUT SERIOUSLY, I'm switching to more tubs and hanger planters next year; a friend of mine did the same and has only small edge gardens with flowers and veggies mixed. I think that we'll do the same on our cottage lot down the road (around the outside edge would be nice). She says it's a lot easier to maintain as you are getting older.

CANADIANS AND BRITS are very fortunate to have some free health care; BUT we also have limitations, PURPLE; some drugs, procedures, and surgeries have been removed from the free list. We do have to pay a $2.00 fee with every drug prescription plus flat fees for things like filling out forms ($25.00), that goes into the government pot; but we don't mind that.

Our gov recently reinstated premiums for those with high incomes; some people didn't like it, but they are paying it. Unlike the past, low income persons don't have to pay premiums anymore (neither do disabled people and low-income seniors).

I am so glad that I didn't gain any too; and I do feel so much better with all that weight off. I can get around so much better now than before and each day, I seem to feel better too. Symptoms are slowly going away; I am still losing inches and I just feel more flexible in general. Lots of health benefits to losing a bit of weight.

I just long for the day to feel more comfortable in my skin so-to-speak; that's my goal ~ to be able to do whatever I want to do and feel comfortable doing it!!! Preferably with NO PAIN, PLEASE! :^: Like everyone else, some days are better than others. Hope you are feeling better too, PURPLE!

PURPLE ~ thanx for replying to ANDREAPHILIPS3, as she really sounded like she needed some encouragement right now. I did think of the muscle relaxants, but didn't know if that would help her; and you are a former nurse (I was just a Health Care Aide (and trained nurse's aide). I also worked as a Community Support Worker (took Social Work and Business in college).

Did so many things and differents type of work; but it was all interesting and I learned an awful lot over the years. Today, I am retired and just give free advice, when someone asks for it. Together, we have a wealth of information that we can share with others; and visa versa. :D

WELL, I have to go put dinner on as DH will be in soon; we are having FISH tonight (DH is Catholic and loves to have Fish on Fridays). Nice to talk to you all; take good care of yourselves ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi ladies

Well it is a right wintry day here in the UK. Was a busy bee last night and made a huge casserole ( with all this wet cold days it is the wintry food that you cherish) I made it with turkey but heaps of vegetables and then some lentils to help making it filling. For the first time I have added in some flaxseed (ground) as it is one of the suggestions so poor DH is guinea pig again ;) Will not be eating it today once it cools down will be going into fridge.

The reason we have not had it today is that we have been invited out for lunch as a thank you for doing a friends PC, Fortunately our friends are on a healthy eating plan so the food will be tailored accordingly so not too damaging to our healthy eating regime.

Tomorrow we are off to see my sister and her next-door neighbour to look at their PC as they both have issues. Having knowledge about PC's gets you called upon regularly but never enough time to sort yours out.


Today I have washed my hair but takes simply ages to dry as it is thick and down to my waist. But that is the pay off for having long hair. Just put the first layer of nail polish on my nail. I love to keep them nice now. Seeing as up until my 30's I bit my nails terribly. But I so loved to see nicely manicured nails. So I eventually cracked my bad habit I virtually had to sit on my hands to stop me. But now I have stopped I love to keep my nails nice kind of showing off I suppose as I could never wear nail polish as they were horrid. My DH :hug: bought me some nail polish yesterday to go with an outfit I had recently bought. It matches perfectly.

ROSEBUD :~ I was a qualified psychiatric nurse for 16 years, even though I did not do general nursing I picked up quite a bit of information over the years like yourself. My patients had mental health problems but of course like everyone health issues arise and that is how I learnt over the years. I give advice for free but frequently advice to go to a doctor as you do not know their full physical history which could be very important.

A folding bike could be good on some roads for break downs but on the motorway (freeway) no bikes are allowed. Well motor bikes are allowed but scooters are not allowed either. There are many rules and regulations who can use the motorway and which lanes they can uses. Lorries and buses are only allowed in the first and second lane. There is a 70 mile an hour limit on vehicles. But lorries can not go above 56 miles. We have a lot of speed camera here in the UK and the police are very keen on prosecuting the motorist. But due to these restrictions we have a good safety record apparently compared to Europe.

Yes raised beds can be useful as you get older or have mobility problems. Pots and hangers can be good also. Like your DH interpretation of pain from gardening. Maybe I will tell my DH that one as he has a bad shoulder from his days in the building trade. He has to be careful not to get over heated as he does not perspire like we do as he has been extensively burnt. All the areas that were burnt damaged the sweat pores. His skin if cut takes ages to heal compared to most.


My sisters DH is also Catholic so he prefers fish on Friday. The children have also been brought up as Catholics as well. They have all gone to a Catholic primary school, but they have not gone to a Catholic secondary school as it does not have such a great academic record as many other schools in the area.

I must make some tracks and sort out a few things which I need to take to our friends.

Bye bye ladies catch you all soon :hug:

"Good Morning Ladies

Did not manage to stop by yesterday I was extremely tired when I had returned from my sister. My sister has 4 girls aged 14 , 11, 9, and 8 years old. The oldest girl was at my mums when I called round so that left the 3 youngest. With not seeing them they of course want to me to see and do lots. Also as you know we have a Staffordshire bull terrier whom they adore and he loves them as well. They run him ragged and he loves all the playing and attention.

When we adopted our Rizzie he was already 19 months old and he came from a family whose marriage was breaking up. Neither one could could keep Rizzie's and they had 4 children. Even to this day he loves children and thinks it great when children break up from school in the evening as the local children may a fuss of him. One girl he has taken to particularly and her brother. They also have a dog of their own a dobberman I think any way it is a great huge dog.

DH has been busily doing 2 PC's over the past 12 hours he has been reformating both of them. The reformatting itself is around 45 minutes it is putting the software back on the computer that really takes up the time. I think mind might need doing but as per usually I keep putting it off until the last posible minute as I hate doing the job.

My sister and BIL remarked yesterday how much weight that both DH had I had lost. So that was a really big confidence builder. But I think that would be the same for anyone if there is a someone who remarks about your weight loss and how you look.

I made my second goal a little while back and that was to be lighter than my husband. For all the time I have known him I have been the heaviest. But now there is only a few pounds in our weight, but DH is still lighter than me. But I am quite competitive so it has given me a real number to chase and keeps me on the straight and narrow. I am looking forward to achieving my second goal. These smaller milestones are great to reach and make it easier than thinking of the whole amount of pounds you have to lose which in my case was 100+

Bye bye Ladies catch up with you soon. xxx

:wave: HI LADIES ~ we have almost a perfect day weather-wise; sunny with cloudy breaks at about 70F in the shade (a little warmer in full sun). Went for my walk today and picked up the mail while I was at it. We also went to town shopping this morning and I also did some walking in there too; so today was a better day for me.

We were quite busy last weekend; went to the Farmer's Market in the morning, but they were practically sold out of the veggies. I ended up buying a couple of eye-glass cases from a lady who has a loom and some trees from a local nursery guy (he started up a new business growing tomatoes and trees).

So, we planted 10 trees on our lot on Saturday afternoon; 4 Poplars for south shade; and 4 Spruce Furs and 2 White Pine for north winds. We have to get some more so he said he would give us even a better deal. He also guarantees the trees (if any die, he will replace them free of charge).

This is really exciting to finally get something permanent done out there after all these years; we hope to get the rest of the soil prepartions done by September, so we can start the foundation in early spring of 2008. One day this week, we will be going out again to do some more stuff on the lot (DH wants to cut the grass as it was full of purple vetch and I kept getting my feet tangled in it; not good to walk in).

Sunday we went to DH's church in town and to some friends for a nice lunch; it was nice of them as they are very generous people. We also played some games that I mentioned before (the one we call EXTREME CHASE) with the marbles and cards on the boards (I won one game, but the guys beat us ladies in the teams; rats-LOL). I think I need to practice more.

PURPLE ~ Not-to-worry, EVERYONE recommended to ANDREA to go see her doctor! In the social and nursing fields here, the DOCTORS HANDLE ALL MEDICAL CARE. The only advice I'd give now would be on general topics or those in MY fields of expertise (ie financial).

WELL, that's all the news for now; gotta go put dinner on; DH just popped in to say he's almost done checking the brakes on our car (some piece inside fell apart). Take good care ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:D Hi Ladies

I havent been back as often the last week. I woke up last Wed. and couldn't move my neck to the left whatsoever. Two trips to the town chiropractor later and I'm almost good as new.... and I can read a computer screen without pain :)

Purple - Thanks for explaining the congestion tax. Does flaxseed have a noticable taste? I'm trying to expand my diet vocabulary... the same old food is getting boring. (and I do have some low calorie treats every day so I dont feel depreived.. my favs are diet dr. pepper... air popped popcorn and skinny cow ice cream). I look forward to having smaller goals like you - congrats on getting there :cp:

I'm glad to hear that your professional experience as a nurse is helping you with pain management. It must be empowering to have some control over things.

Rosebud :) Flin Flon is a four hour drive south east of Thompson. It's a unique place no doubt! Infamous in the area for it's huge cartoon statue at the entrance to town... and it's sewer lines covered by wood to form makeshift sidewalks across the top of the Canadian shield. They've got this great ' got fish? ' highway billboard in southern Manitoba that's the envy of tourism professionals in Thompson. It's supposed to have great fishing :)

I took a b.a. in communications and political studies at trinity western university. it was a good experience.. but it's good to be back in manitoba.... I'm Metis.. and this is where I grew up. It's home :) The 700 km one way trek to Winnipeg is a monthly thing for us... not so bad. I did live in Ottawa for a few months... beeeeautiful city! Have you ever been there?

free advice is always welcome too. I spent a month planning to joing WW when it started in the fall but realized that calorie counting was working for me and I didnt want to change BUT knew I need accountability. I am so glad I found this forum :)

Have a great week :carrot:

Good Afternoon Ladies

Thought I would drop by but I have not got heaps of time as I am going out later today. But I have found an excuse to sit down and have my afternoon tea ;) Well it certainly does not appear like August here more like mid winter. It is cold, (nothing like Valpal has I know)windy and damp. Weather for having soups and stews etc to keep you warm. Salads don't seem to hit the spot I am afraid.

ROSEBUD :~ No wonder you have been excited to plant all those trees on your plot of land. It makes you feel like your getting somewhere. Good job the lady did not tell me that see would replace any trees that died the poor lady would be bankrupt :rofl: I am just not green fingered. I swear I just have to look at a plant and it whithers up and dies.

VALPAL :~ Sorry to hear about your neck, but I am glad that the chiropractor sorted you out. Horrid when that happens and the pain is horrendous.

You asked me about flaxseed. It really does not have any taste, quite bland really if anything I would say it tastes slightly of nuts. You can sprinkle it on cereal, porridge, oat bran and in dishes such as soups and casseroles. I found it acts a like a thickener and makes sauces and soups thicker. Once opened it must be stored in a fridge for up to 45 days. If you look it up on the INTERNET it has quite a few health properties and high in omega 5. It is excellent if you suffer from constipation. ( like i do due to medication) I found it has improved my eczema considerably and has lessened the amount of creams and lotions I have to now use. Which I am so please about. The great side effect for me is it keeps me fuller for longer so I am not tempted to graze continually. If you enjoy cooking and experimenting with ingredient I am sure this can be incorporated into many dishes.

Yes since I have changed my eating habits I have tried many new things along the way to vary our diet. Plus I like cooking (not as much as I did due to the heat factor) and experimenting and trying out new recipes.

Congratulations on doing your BA that is excellent. I have always fancied doing a degree not sure what in though lol Though I think more than likely it would be in modern history. 1850-1950 period. I really enjoyed history at school.


Yes I have found it empowering having a nursing background although when I first was diagnosed and I could no longer do my beloved nursing I was devastated. I had worked so hard to get where I was and I was so near to getting where I wanted to be which was working in a maximum secure psychiatric hospital. At this time I did not use to techniques that I know for coping with pain etc. Eventually my DH kicked me into gear:kickbutt: (well not literately) but he shook me out of my depression and made me get on with life. The one thing he said to me which helped me so much was "you have this qualification and no one can take it away" which is so true. Fortunately I was not like this for many weeks. I look at it now and think I could have been diagnosed with far worse. I am much better off than many people and to be thankful for what I have. I have a loving supporting family and a wonderful DH. So I have so much that many do not have.

MO :~ I hope you and your family are well and Eric is getting on with his therapy. Look forward to when you have a spare moment, rare I know especially in Summer Holidays. Plus you have to try and juggle a little time to do your exercise at curves. Thinking of you and looking forward to your next post. :hug:

Yikes :fr: is that the time. I must go to get ready to play cards. bye ladies xxx

Hi Everyone l am so happy you have the pacience to wait for me to check in.

Lots going on my life so this will be short but sweet. We are in the process of moving again, we have rented a house that is only 20 minutes from Eric's special school, (right now we are 40 minutes from there) so my commute will be cut in half. So l have been busy packing and getting ready for the move. We are moving on Sept 8 so l will be MIA again for awhile but once it is done l will be on more often l hope.

Eric starts school on the 6 of Sept and his full time theraphy starts that day too so he will be in school from 9-12 and then in his theraphy from 1-5pm every day. I am so excited to see how well he is going to do.

The house we rented is a 3 bed room bungalow so no more staries yahoo. It has a hugh fenced in backyard and a double garage. I can't wait. It also has a real fireplace so l am looking forward to that this winter. The townhome we are in right now has a gas fireplace and it isn't as nice as a crackling fire. Our bedroom has a hugh walk in closet and a ensuite. I can't wait to enjoy all the space.


Valpal I and welcome l was born in Thompson Manitoba and lived there till l was 18months then we moved to Ontario, But in our homemovies l see all the snow that my brothers use to go out and play in all day long.


Rosebud I hope your all doing good, sounds like you have your cottage all set up in planning and that is wonderful.

Purple Sounds like your nieces are lucky to have a great aunt. They are very lucky girls.

Well ladies l am sorry but l have to cut this short as l have to go pick up my DH at work. So once again thanks for thinking about me and l promise once this move is over and Eric is in his routine l will post more often. As you can see from my ticker my weight is still falling and l am doing great, I try to get to curves 2 times a week but this next week l won't get a chance. Once Eric is back is school though l will be going back to 3 times a week.

Take care ladies and keep smiling

Love Mo xoxoxxoxo

Good Afternoon Ladies

Much brighter here today a little sunshine poking through those clouds. Been into city today and dropped into the indoor market in the shopping centre. Going to do my weekly shop at the supermarket tomorrow so I have been planning my list of the items that we need. I try to be organised otherwise a shopping trip to do the grocery shopping can be very daunting as my mind goes blank at what to get. If left to DH there would be lots of items that we do not really need but appealed to his eyes and belly ;) I have to keep him on the straight and narrow with his healthy eating. I must admit he has got better over the months at looking at labels and working out how healthy something really is.

Just had to bathe Rizzie's paws in an anti-fungal wash. I have noticed that he was over licking his front paws and he has this anti-fungal wash from the vets. He get dog equivalent of athletics foot but his is caused as his aim is useless and he tiddles over his paws. So this causes his feet to be wet and the crevices in his paws cause a warm environment is a great place for fungus to grow. Lets hope that I have caught it in time last time he licked off all his fur in between his toes and caused them to be absolutely red raw and painful to touch.

MO :~ So nice to hear from you and to knowing that you are OK. Gosh you will be busy with moving home that is a very time consuming task, never mind the stress that it causes you.

But it seems that it will be beneficial for all especially with the commute time being halved. Your new bungalow sounds lovely. yes no stairs is wonderful and so practical if you have a family you do not have to be constantly shutting stair gates. I also live in a bungalow and moved here in 2001 when my mobility decreased and stairs was becoming very difficult and had to go downstairs on my bottom. There are main positives for bungalows. Like the sound of a walk in wardrobe (closet). The only negative for me was the reduction in size for me as this is a small bungalow but overall I love it. The large garden will be excellent for Eric and for outdoor entertaining.

Congratulations on the weight loss, that is very commendable seeing that you are in the process of moving where it would be so easy to move away from the healthy eating plan.

bye ladies :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ it's so nice to see so many posts today! We had rain here all day, so we are going up to the lot tomorrow instead, to spread the soil around (ground prep); going early morning and packing a picnic lunch for fun! It's nice to see DH so excited about our plans.

I have some sunflowers blooming out by my deck now; apparently some seed from the birds started to grow; we also have one tall one in the garden. I put back out my old feeders and all the hummingbirds have all come back; some like the old-style feeders and some like the new ones that look like Petunias. I was able to pick some more snap beans for dinner last night; my friend was right, you can get more than one pickin' if you leave them in; the fence that DH put up is really protecting them from the frost.

MO ~ SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU AND ALL THAT GREAT NEWS! You are gonna be busy over the next while with moving; but, I know September will be much better when ERIC is in school and therapy full-time; and you can get your schedule back on track.

That new house sounds divinely perfect for you and your family. One floor (that means no more falls, we hope); and a fenced-in back yard for ERIC; that's so fab! And the lovely real fireplace is for you and your DH; how romantic for those long, cold, winter evenings; gee, I'm getting a tad envious! But not-to-worry, we will have our own cottage with all the little things we dream of too pretty soon.

That sounds so much like what we have planned; a one-storey bungalow; fenced in back-yard for our girlies with gardens and a closed-in deck so the buggies can carry us away; plus a regular extension deck for the BBQ and clothes line. We plan only small gardens along the south side; and our tub planters, which I love, on the south-west side.

This week, I finally found one of those pulley frames for our clothes line; now DH can't knock it down (I've lost three lines so far). The bar raises the line up and down; when not in use, it goes high in the air out of the way! Boy, they are hard to find and expensive; I finally found one for a more reasonable price ~ $52.99 plus $15.00 for the new line (plus taxes); but I will be able to reach the line better too, as I am so short.

VAL ~ I was born and raised in southern Ontario, but Ottawa is one place I never went to; we almost went there on our honeymoon, but DH was getting tired by the time we got over to Peterborough. Everyone that goes there says it is lovely; one of our nephews is in university there now. Maybe that's one vacation trip we should plan for the future!

PURPLE ~ have you ever tried Flax Seed MEAL? I love it, esp to put in oatmeal and muffins. It's just the seed that has been whizzed; thanx for mentioning to put it in the fridge (I didn't know that). I keep my whole wheat flour in the freezer to keep it fresh, only taking out what I need per recipe.

ALL OF YOU are doin' great on your weight-loss; I'm gonna put up a 10 lb ticker and see if I can see some improvement with that! I'm doin' better keepin' on my plan and went for an extended walk yesterday; I try to go to the next laneway down the road to expand my walk when I feel up to it. My goal is to finish a three-mile trek to the next county/twp line (there and back is exactly three miles; my neighbour clocked it with her car).

Well, that's about all the news I have for now; it's time to go make my tea now. Take good care; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

It's funny you should comment about the weather, Purple. We've been bemoaning the lack of sun in my office since August began. We all know the snow is coming next month and I'm trying to 'psych myself up' to get through it. (S.A.D. anyone? oy!) My Dad is a registered nurse as well... and struggling with his own hearing loss because it may ultimatly cost him the career he loves. Your attitude is encouraging and I agree - there are worse things to be up against. I'm blessed too, my family is close by and I live with my brother who watches out for me. I'm glad you've got the support of your DH!

Thanks for the welcome Mo :) You were born up here eh? I can't even claim that one! I'm sure the place has changed since you were up here heh heh. 'Manitoba's 3rd largest city' now has it's very own.... Tim Hortens! (more importantly though... a Starbucks too!) I have some pictures from last winter outside the snow by our front door as tall as me.... so the piles of snow sounds familier. All the best with your move.

Rosebud, the picnic should be nice I hope you enjoy your day tomorrow. I'm headed out for a 3km walk tonight.. so not quite as much as the 3 miles you're aiming for.

And I just want to take this moment to complain about the fact that I've weighed myself far too often this week. I only just bought a digital scale so this is the first time I've witnessed the weight fluctuations that can happen in a day and during my tom. I've stayed OP with my diet and exercise but the last couple times I've weighed myself it's been higher than I was last WI! talk about learning the hard way :(

I'm headed out to walk. Have a good one ladies!

Good morning Ladies

Managed to do my weekly shop yesterday but I managed to forget one of the essential staples bread of all things. So last night after playing cards we dropped into a 24 hour store. On coming out of the store gosh we could have become drunk on the fumes alone. There had been an accident not sure how it happened but there were hundreds of smashed red wine bottles on the floor next to the shelf. Many shelves were being restocked around the store so that could have be when it happened. The floor was awash with a sea of red.

About a year back whilst at the check out I dropped a bright red nail polish on the floor which was cream in colour. It seemed to go every where, my face was as red as the nail polish. The poor cleaner trying to clean this off the floor was a tough job for him. Fortunately they said I did not have to pay for it and even went and got me a new bottle to replace the one I had dropped. Needless to say if I have nail polish in my hands I am ultra careful so as not to have a repeat performance.

VALPAL :~ I feel you have something to moan about with the weather due to having such long cold winters with a thick covering of snow. I think in my life time I have only once seen snow to about my knees and so that is very rare. My parents talk about a bad winter in 1947 when snow was higher than the hedges. For me it is hard to comprehend that amount of snow. Goodness knows what we would do our country about grinds to a halt with just a few inches of snow.

I can fully understand how your father feels with ultimately losing his career due to his failing hearing. It is so frustrating. I have nursed people with SAD it is awful condition which is caused by the decreasing hours of day light. Thankfully I remember that it was made more publically aware so people did not suffer in silence or at worse every year had to go into hospital. The great discovery was that lack of daylight caused it and creating artificial light improves the condition considerably.

There is such a lot we do not know about the brain and why some become ill with mental health issues. It was during my training umpteen years ago 1 in 8 people would need some sort of psychiatric input. Whether that was counselling / medication or inpatient stay in hospital. With todays life style being even more stressful I would not be surprised if that figure had increased.

Well done on walking 3km that is a good form of exercise that costs nothing. I love walking but my mind is willing but my body is not :rofl: but I can just about manage a mile if it is flat ground and it is done at a slow pace. Plus I need a walking stick or hold on to someones arm. I still use this as my form of exercise and go most days.

ROSEBUD :~ I have never tried flaxseed meal to be honest I have not heard of it. I would imagine it to be be finer in texture than milled flaxseed. My friend has just begun taking flaxseed. I bought her first pack for her and then she bought her own from a different supplier. She said that the second lot she bought was very finely ground more like a flour in consistency. That would work I think very well with muffins and bread etc .

Hummingbirds in the garden sounds idyllic I get crows, starlings blackbird and sparrows. If I am very lucky I might see a robin. So we do not have such beautiful birds which visit our garden. Besides our dog hates crows constantly chasing and running them off. Our own resident scarescrow :D

I am sure with the long walks (3 miles) and keeping on plan you will see some changes. Even if not on the scales but in how your clothes fit or the tape measure. I use walking as my form of exercise as you know and I can see a difference in the shape of my legs. This week I have not walked on 2 occassions when I would have done normally but that was as I really did not feel up too it. But hoping to put in 2 small walks today weather permitting. I do so hope you see results in one way or another as you so deserve it.

DH is talking about cutting the lawn today with the weather being fine. So I will go and be cheif bag holder and open the bags to put the cutttings in. Important job that one :D

Must go and wash some dishes. As I am also head cook an bottle washer :rofl:

bye ladies :hug:

Hi Everyone

Got a few minutes to post so l thought of you girls first, everything is going along good over here, got most of the packing done and all the boxes stacked in every room. My house looks crazy right now but only for a couple more weeks then we can unpack everything. I have my surgery 1 week from today so l am starting to get nervous, not sure if l meantioned it but l am going in to have my tubes tied. So this is my last week to get everything done before we get the keys on the 3rd of Sept. So l shall be busy.

Purple l am like you walking is hard so l use my cane unless Eric is with me in his buggy and l push him for both the balance of the buggy and able to put most of my weight on the buggy. Other wise l use my cane or my Dh's arm. Thats why l would rather bike ride over walking.

Rosebud Wow 3 miles that is fantastic, wtg on that girlfriend. I can't wait for your dream cottage to get done so you and Dh can retire and enjoy everything you worked so hard for.

Valpal Yes l am sure it has changed alot, but l love my birth certificate from there it is very pretty, so much nicer than Ontario's. my DH and son where born in Ontario. The snow is alot but my Mom always said it was a dry snow, my brothers would play outside all day long and come in and there mittons were still dry. Unlike Ontario where it is a very wet snow.

Don't worry spring will be here bepfre you know it. And you will be in better shape to enjoy it, use this winter to do lots of exercise.


Everyone else keep up the good work and keep smiling. I am off to get grocerys in now so l hope Eric behaves in the cart, some days are better than others with him and so far today he is in a good mood so l think l better go and get this chore done.

Talk to you girls soon

Love Mo

Good Afternoon Ladies

Well dare I say it (this will put the mockers on it :D) DH had to get the portable air conditioner out the past couple of days as it is been hot and humid. Valpal will more than likely understand how draining heat can be. Trying to drink plenty and keep cool.

Finished my book last night I was reading this is the 4th part of a series of books. They are set back in 1840's in Ireland and Lancashire (a county of England ) I do not know if this is the end of this particular series or whether she will write another. So I will be starting a new book tonight by an author I have never read. My book store where I get most of my books recommended this one to me. She has very similar tastes to mind so I normally like what she suggests. This one is quite modern for me set in the 1950's the latest I normally go to is 1945.

Well I really must make a start tomorrow in preparing for the holidays. I will get DH to get the suitcase down from the shelf in the cupboard and start packing things that will not crease. A week today at this time I will already be at the holiday log cabin. We can have the key anytime from 4pm on the Saturday. Then there is the washing and horrid ironing to start on. Next Friday mum, DH and I will go shopping and get the final food that is needed such as bread and milk
.
MO :~ Glad that you have done most of your packing ready for the forth coming move. The only trouble with that your house looks like a bombs hit it ;)

Best wishes for your sterilisation and will be thinking of you. :hug: My sister had the same operation some years back after the birth of her 4 daughters.

Good luck with your move on the 3rd of September. I hope you and your family will be happy in your new home. But oh boy won't you be a busy bee for the next few weeks or so. But on the bright side think of all those calories it will be burning ;)

I must go, I have few plates etc from tea to wash up. Hope it cools down a bit ready for a nice stroll around the block. If I am lucky I will see some foxes. They are such beautiful animals. We have quite a few urban foxes living around our estate but they are shy and nocturnal.

with love ladies :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ We had lovely cool weather today, so we went up to the cottage lot to level more of the foundation soil (DH does that while I fetch things and measure stuff). We had a picnic lunch and checked on my trees and we watered them; so far, they're good; hope they make it thru the winter OK. :^:

I hate to break up all those congrats, but my goal is to get to three miles; I haven't got there yet girls; I think I'm only about a third there (maybe a mile) ??? I have to use a cane to walk too; some days are better than others; on good days, I extend the walk by going on to the next lane along the way. Today, I walked around the small loop near by cottage lot; I do this each time we go up to get my walks in.

The small loop goes thru our lot and thru my DAD's; it's about the size of a large athletic track. There's also a larger loop which is actually an entire block, which I will graduate to eventually. The people walk this large block all the time, waving as they go by. Anyways, I'm trying to up my walking cuz it's the one thing I can do most days.

MO ~ Glad things are going so well for you; it's so nice to hear from you again; and know that you are in our prayers, sweetie. Lots of changes taking place right now, but the end results will be very worthwhile!!!

VALPAL ~ I'm only weighing myself once a month (about the first week); cuz if I weigh more and it goes up, I get too discouraged; and we know where that leads ~ to munchie-land. ;)

PURPLE ~ We get all kinds of birds here (robins, sparrows, wrens, ravens, grosbeaks & finches, hummingbirds, swallows, blackbirds, starlings, bluebirds, chickadees, ducks, Canadian geese, owls, cranes, hawks, eagles, partridges, pheasants, seagulls, and more); today, we saw a flock of new ones that we have never seen before (a rusty brown with large white stripes across their wings). We've been getting a lot of new birds here the last few years too; people think it's because of the weather changes.

Flaxseed Meal is just what you think; seeds that are ground up (not quite as fine as flour), but more like coarsely chopped oatmeal. I use both the whole ones and the meal (mostly in muffins). We are having hot, then cool days here too; one day the A/C is on, the next, you need a wrap. Your holiday plans sound fab; have a wonderful time!!!

Picked up some new venetian shades for our windows at a 30% off sale yesterday; DH got them all up (quite a big chore); and they sure brighten up the place. We've been very busy of late, so tomorrow will be a complete day of rest for us. WELL, that's about all the news here for now; so take good care everyone; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Evening Ladies

Well glad to say I did not put the mockers on it we have had another glorious day, maybe not quite so warm but that may have been to due to a nice breeze. Well i have managed to wash and iron today as it has been excellent drying weather.

I made an awful mess in the kitchen today. I was making a soup to go into the freeze and I was blending it. Oh boy I did not notice that there was a crack in the lid and the soup mixture promptly went every where possible including me. So I had to spend a good half hour cleaning up. Well with having a busy day today I don't think I will take any rocking tonight to sleep. But I am extremely pleased that I have done the washing. Only the bed to strip and wash tomorrow. Hope the weather holds out so that I can dry it outside. Otherwise I will put on my drier to dry it.

ROSEBUD :~ You might not have done the 3 miles but you are planning that you will build yourself up to that. It is nice to have a goal to work towards. I did that with my mile. I did a walk every day health permitting until my stamina and strength built up. I increased the walk when I found that I could do that short walk easier and was not breathless. It took me some time to get to where I am today. I am proud that I have stuck with it even though some times that walk was murder because I have now achieved. I do not think I will be able to go any further as now at 1 mile my leg drags terribly at the the last 1/4 of a mile. But I am sure that if you take it steady and do the walk regularly and slowly build up you will be able to go further that you can now. Even if you never achieve your 3 miles think of how much healthier the walks will have made you. I really wanted to get to do a 1 1/2 mile but I realise was being to ambitious. I really hope you make your goal. It is nice to have goals to work towards. I like small goals that can be attained in a short period of time. Hence my ticker of 14 pounds. A strange number to many be here in the UK we say we weight so many stones and then pounds. For example 12 stones 2lbs. So for every 14 pounds I lose that is another stone I have lost. If I look at the big picture of the vast amount of weight I have to loss I find that so daunting and impossible task.

night ladies with love :hug:

Good afternoon Ladies.

Hope you have had a beautiful bank holiday. Just had a thought on that one it may not be a bank holiday else where maybe one just in the UK. Been an absolute wonderful day weather wise and a lovely breeze. Got all the bed clothes wash and dried. Been a busy bee again today. Found some more ironing that need to be done for the holiday. My DH has 2 100% cotton shirts and they are murder to iron but after finally searching the INTERNET I found some tips on how to make them look crease free. But even so they take some time to iron.

Made a fresh fruit salad to last a few days today. Put it into a tub and so I just have to serve into dishes at meal times. Thought it would save time in the long run.

Found a huge Caterpillar in the garden yesterday and I had to go to the INTERNET for reference to what it was. I had never seen one this big it was the size of my little finger and was slightly longer. It was brown in colour and had two brown spots near its head that resembled eyes. I found it was an elephant hawk moth Caterpillar. It grows into a fairly large moth which is pink in colour.

I have been any spare time I have over the past few days watching the world athletic championships. I have been a big fan ever since I was little. I love the Olympics games and something which you may never of heard of if you live in the US is the commonwealth games. I was fortunate that my DH bought us a ticket to go and see one day of the commonwealth games in Manchester I loved it. When the Olympics come to the UK in 2012 in London I hope to be able to go if the tickets are not too costly.

Well did my ballerina act last night in the bathroom. I had just finished putting my hair into a plait for bedtime as that is how I sleep with it. I have hair down to my waist and I find that is the best way from keeping it from tangling up. Well I had just finished i turned around and lost my balance I fell back and hit my back on the toilet. So last night my back was throbbing but seems not too bad. DH says he can see no bruise.

Just cut DH hair this afternoon ready for his holiday. He has a pair of clippers and I cut them with those. The worse bit is clearing all the hair up afterwards so whilst I had the Hoover out I hoovered the whole house but the rest of the house was not too bad as I had run a Hoover over yesterday.

Well must get myself into gear still more chores to do.

bye ladies see you all soon love :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ We also had peachy weather here today; started off a bit muggy, but by the afternoon a lovely breeze came in that made the rest of the day just glorious; we spent part of the aft out on the deck with the girls.

Just did some house chores and meals today, plus I picked the last of the green and yellow beans today; got another small basket (about 6 cups); that's pretty good considering the odd weather we had this year. The weather was so nice on Sunday, that we decided to go up to the lot again; we are just so happy and excited when we go there.

DH did a little more prep, while I sat the girls, who were anxious at first; they finally settled down about 30 minutes in. We saw two foxes this time; first a black one, then a red one; we thought that maybe they heard the girls whining (every time I stepped away from the car to talk to DH, they would start whining).

After our picnic dinner, I put them back in the car, and they were as happy as can be. DH said maybe we better not bring them next time. Got a few pictures of the site prep with DH shoveling. Wish I had a digital camera; I'll see if I can pick one up for Christmas; it would be nice to put the pics up on the PC; I know my sisters and my Dad would love that.

PURPLE ~ sorry that you fell again; but sometimes when you are having fun, these little accidents occur; been there, done that!!! Mostly, I'm so glad no serious injury happened. I've been getting all kinds of cuts & bangs lately too; but the more you do, the more this is bound to happen; it's all a part of enjoying life!

Yah, 100% cotton shirts do get wrinkly; I do have a couple of irons for those things that are not perma-press items. Every now and then, I have to get one out to do a shirt or something too; thankfully, it's not too often though, like in the past (like in my teen years). I cut my girls hair a bit last night too as they got some seeds in them from the lot; thought I might as well give them a trim too. I also do DH's hair as we find the barber here cuts his hair too short; and we save $$$ the cost $$$ as well.

We didn't have a holiday today; we had one the first Monday of August though; we almost have one every month now; some are popular holidays like Christmas and Easter; others are Civic holidays designated by the government here for the workers/people.

I like the Olympics and athletic sports too; but my TV antenna got knocked off in a wind/rain storm and DH hasn't gotten around to hanging it back up. Probably cuz we don't really watch a lot of TV anyways, and we don't have a ladder (one of those things you constantly talk about buying, but always forget about until you need it ~ LOL).

Well, that's about all that's going on around here; we will be going up to the site a lot between now and snowfall; DH is so excited and so am I; each time we go up there, we love it more and more. We find ourselves saying over and over ... we should have done this a long time ago; but the timing wasn't right; and it is now!

So, take good care my friends; and WATCH FOR THOSE FALLS! That's enuff of those for this year ~ OK??? Your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies!

I'm so sorry you fell Purple! It's a horrible feeling - I hope you dont ache too much the day after. And we have a bank holiday this coming Monday - Labour Day. I'm hoping to go to the lake for at least part of the day.

Rosebud- your string beans sound great. I love fresh veggies. Do you blanch them and freeze them or just eat them while they're fresh? I would like to buy a 'prosumer' digital camera that would allow me to change auto settings to manual and get artsy fartsy with photos. Have you got a particular model in mind?

Ericsmommy - yes.. I was on the wet coast for awhile and the difference in snow is impressive. Ours is very powdery and dry... the only days we could make snowmen as kids was when it 'warmed up' and the snow melted enough to be damp. Have you been back to Manitoba since?

As for me... I'm tired and headed to bed. Ttyl!

Hi Ladies

Well thought I would drop by quickly before I go out to play cards tonight. Tonight is the night that we pick up to fellow card players one gentleman in his 90's and a lady in here 80's. The live in the same village a couple of houses away. This particular village the flowers in the garden down one particular road are awash with colour they plant heavily with bedding plants and they must spend a lot of money. But the results are spectacular

ROSEBUD :~ Yes I decided that for what hair style DH has I could manage that easily enough with the clippers and the cost of a hair cut is quite pricey. So even now I have saved money for what the clippers cost.

Thanks for your concern over my fall. Yes had many falls or trips over the years. Even in my childhood was clumsy and could never stand on my own two feet. But fortunately have not done too serious damage to myself. Only bumps, bruises and grazes so I am so lucky because I know that it could have been a lot more serious.

VALPAL :~ Thanks for your concern about my attempts of being a ballerina. But I think I tend to fall more when I am tired for obvious reasons.

Hope you managed to get to the lakes for some part of the day. I know what tiredness is like in MS it is debilitating to say the least. I hope your rest did the trick.

MO :~ I know your busy with moving and also having surgery just to let you know that your in my thoughts and wishing you well


time for me to run ladies

see you shortly xxx

Hi Ladies

I have a few minutes so l thought l would say hi. It has been so busy around here, packing and srtessing about my surgery, means my sleeping hasen't been the best. I will be glad when Friday gets here, as much as l hate being in pain the worring about it is worst. They called yesterday and have finally found staff for Eric's theraphy so it offically starts on the 10th full time so we are so excited. He goes back to school on the 6th and then l get my 3 hours a day to myslef again.

Purple Sorry you fell Hon, l know how it is when your tired you so stuipid mistakes. I fell going up the staries the other day cause l lost my balance, didn't hurt myself but it still sucks.

Rosebud l know how excitting it is to plan your cottage enjoy it and go up as much as you can before the snow flies. I am glad your veggies turned out not bad with the wierd weather Ontario had this year.

Val Nope never been back but we did drive across Canada when we moved to Calgary. Some day l would love to go to Thompson just to see it again.

Well ladies have to run Eric needs a bum change talk to you later.

Love Mo

Morning Ladies,

I found out yesterday that my 'exceptional drug status' expired for manitoba pharmacare.. so my pharmacy cant give me my Rebif for september unless I pay for it myself. 2000 bucks aint gonna happen.

I'm waiting to get a call back from my MS Clinic nurse in Winnipeg... I left a message with her secretary yesterday trying to convey the fact that I cant get my september drugs and it's just frustrating. it's just a matter of paperwork being filled out.. the clinic has to get the time to send it off that sorta thing. so I'll get the drug eventually... I just like to stick to my treatment routine... and tend to get more side effects when I miss doses then have to go back up to the full dose.

It's frustrating. have I said that already? But I'm trying to detach myself because it isnt the end of the world.. and that sort of thing.

My mother came into town last night, so we went out for dinner and I ate a couple hundred calories more than I wanted to.... darn appetizers. I think I've learned my lesson... always order a starter salad. Anyways... I'm not beating myself up over it because 1700 cals a day is my first goal. but 2000 is my safety net and I'm still below that and I still got my exercise done that day.

Purple - I actually had to adust my work schedule last year to manage the tiredness. I dont start in my office until 10 am... not because I sleep in but because I honestly dont 'make sense' in the morning. Do you take naps to manage the fatigue? I take a lot of vitamin supplements... along with the pilates and sleep nearly 10 hours each night.

Mo- Worrying about things is just draining. Can you escape your own thoughts with a book or cd? I hope you're doing better soon and able to enjoy the 'free time' you'll have :)

Oh and I splurged and bought a new mattress set for my bedroom. It's amazing what a difference it makes! I actually skipped pilates today because I didnt feel sore when I woke up... but skipping wont become a regular thing.

I'm headed out, have a good rest of the week!

Good afternoon Ladies

Well it is another quick pit stop here at 3fc as I am going out in under an hour and as per usual I am not ready. I think I am paying for my 2 days of being a busy bee I am absolutely shattered. So I have taken a nap this afternoon to recuperate.

This morning I read an article suggested by somebody at an MS site I frequent. The title of the thread was how to do you describe the fatigue or tiredness you get in MS. But the article was somebody describing to her friends what it was to live with Lupus. She did it by saying they had x number of spoons. For every thing you do you lose a spoon. When it was getting later in the day sometime because you were low on spoons you had to make decisions on what to do that would use the least up. She was saying you never forget because if you use up today quote of spoons and then push yourself to do more or like borrow from the next day. It would have a knock on effect that the next day you were so limited to what you could do. I found this so poignant it was describing me to a tee.

MO :~ Yes waiting is the worse position to be in. You constantly ruminate about the whole thing get yourself worked up. Then into the process you don't sleep. It is a vicious circle which is so hard to break no matter what anyone says to you it doesn't make an iota of difference. I am a born worrier and my DH says if I have nothing to worry about I create things to worry about. But my best wishes for the Friday and wishing you a speedy recovery.

VALPAL :~ So sorry that you are having trouble with your medication I hope your MS nurse in Winnipeg is about to sort the matter out. You really could do without the hassle. Will be thinking of you and hope that it gets swiftly resolved.

Yes I have to take naps in the afternoon some times as there is absolutely no way I can carry on without them. Like yourself I don't do mornings. I use to be up with the lark only a few hours sleep needed but that is definately a thing of the past. I am not normally up before 9am but it is nearer 10am more often than not. I need at least 10 hours sleep to be any use to anyone. I think it is a combination of the MS and the drug regime I am on. I am on high doses of carbamazapine and increasing gabapentin gradually to cope with the pain.

I had to give up work do to the tiredness. But also the fact I could no longer restrain a disturbed patient. When a patient is disturbed they may need restraining for their own safety and they are very strong under these circumstance. I had loss of strength down one side. I was afraid that my weakness would injure a member of the team. I could not live with that knowledge so it was time to give up. Quite frankly I was so shattered in one way I was so glad no longer to put myself through a grueling day.

Right I really must scoot. Now only half hour till I leave. So I best get my skates on.

bye see you soon xxx

:wave: HI LADIES ~ we had a beautiful day today; just stayed home and did cooking; made a batch of bran muffins and a large pot of homemade veggie soup base and put up 16 containers in the freezer; so handy and yummy.

Have a bit of a flu; so I struggled a little today. Had to lay down for a wee nap this afternoon. Some days I also have to nap becuz my legs swell and the only way to get them down and the pain to subside is to lay down and put up my feet. I wrap myself in a big, soft comforter with my girls beside me; they are so sweet!

I can identify with a lot you gals go thru even if it isn't caused by the same condition. I used to get up with the dawn, but most days now, I don't get up til 8 am, and some days a wee bit later if I am up late the night before, or had a particularly difficult day as in a flu again, like now.

I hope I feel better for tomorrow as we had planned to go up to the site if the weather isn't too hot; we only go up on the cool or overcast days now. We were up one hot day and had to come home as I got sick from the heat. I have to watch more now that I am going thru the change, cuz I get those terrible hot flashes that make you feel like you are on fire ... not fun!

MO ~ so nice to hear from you; I know about anxiety about surgeries; I get right anxious just going for the tests. Just two more days and it will all be over; remember, it's a minor procedure for the doctors today, and recovery should be very short. Try to keep your mind occupied as much as possible. I love to do music therapy for my anxiety. I close my eyes and sit in my rocker, and listen to my SERENITY tapes or cd's; this is sooo very peaceful, esp before bedtime!

PURPLE ~ I like the spoon analogy; as we age, fatigue becomes a problem for many of us; DH has trouble sleeping too; and, I just need a lot more sleep now than I did when I was younger. With MS, this is even more troublesome. I do what I can when I feel up to it; and when I don't, I no longer fret about it; I just take rest days at those times. It's nice that you can still go with your DH on his delivery trips though ...

VAL ~ I haven't bought a digital camera simply becuz I don't know which one to buy or how to use them; my sis said she was going to send me one, but she's so busy, she forgot. DH wants me to buy one for Christmas. Do you have to buy memory cartridges for them all? Do you know which ones are the best? My PC is a HEWLET PACKARD ~ I know you can get HP cameras.
I have to buy a cord to download into my PC in the USB outlet, right? Some of these cameras are very pricey, I noticed!

It's great that you are still able to work in spite of your physical challenges; is your office at home or nearby? What exactly do you do now? I have other health issues like high blood pressure and anxiety from too much stress, plus all my physical problems (with big-time pain issues, which are very exhausting), so I no longer work now, like PURPLE.

It's all I can do to look after my home; so I spread out my household chores over the week; breaking them down into small jobs. I do cooking and dishes daily, but starting on Monday, I do one to two loads of laundry; Tuesday, baking and small chores; Wed, clean my bathroom; Thursday more laundry; Friday is shopping day; Saturday, do outside stuff; Sunday to church and is a rest day for both of us. (Yes, I am very organized, but flexible too; my sis says that I'm anal, just like her; is that a compliment or what?) ;)

The weekday schedule is very flexible and varied depending on the weather ~ cool days I bake; on the other days, I do any chores that need doing, mostly in the morning (if possible), so that I can have more free time, ie sewing. DH has two indoor jobs that he picked ~ dusting and the floors, which helps me so very much (he sweeps, vacuums, and washes them as needed). This is a great arrangement for us; and I am grateful for his help.

If we go out for some reason, like lately; I just do the chores on the free days. If I am too tired or sick, we just stay home until I am feeling better. Everything depends upon our health these days; if we only knew that when we were younger, eh? I am keepin' on plan and doin my walking as I can.

ANYWAYS, so nice to read all your posts; guess I've rambled on enuff for one day; so, take good care everyone ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

I made it to the weekend!!! (I have Friday and Monday off!)

so... I still havent heard back from my MS clinic. I'm feeling discouraged about the entire situation... I'm at the mercy of several beaureaucratic machines.

otherwise than that things are going well. The days are getting much shorter now.. 3 weeks ago the sun didnt set until 10:30.. and now it's 8:30 and headed down. I'm going to miss the extended daylight.. and I'm going to come up with a strategy to get through the winter I'm thinking some sort of monthly reward/pamper system. Anybody tried a hot stone massage? I loooove them!

Purple - I know the story you're talking about and I agree. Sometimes just trying to focus takes some spoons. It took me awhile to learn how to make the most of my spoons every day AND to say no when I knew I couldnt borrow tomorrow's spoons to make somebody else happy 'today'. If that makes sense.

You sound like you've got peace with your situation now. It must have been infuriating to realize you could no longer perform your chosen career because your body was causing it quits without your permission. I'm sorry to hear the pain medication is causing such a disruption in your life... but thank you for being a reminder to me that a healthy lifestyle is still possible.


Rosebud I hope you are feeling better soon from that flu....and hopefully it hasnt knocked too much out of you. I hope you're resting as much as you can!

I try to could send you some cold overcast days if the heat is getting too bad :) The forecast calls for frost this week. Was today managable enough to get to the site?

About the digital camera... the one that you buy SHOULD come with the usb cord so you dont have to buy one. And the brand is less crucial than the 'stats' about the cameras performace.. .for instance a good affordable digital camera (under 200 CAD) would have the ability to take at least 5megabite photos, have a decent size LCD display screen to review your pictures (at least an inch wide).. and an optical zoom of about 3 (the camera will let you zoom closer to a setting and keep clarity of the photo). I have had good experiences with Sony point and shoot cameras.. and Canon digital cams.. but I'm sure an HP could provide good features too :)


My office is a 3 minute walk away from my home. I am so blessed to have a sit down computer job that isnt phsyically demanding.. and to only work 35 hours each week. Right now I'm the tourism coordinator at my hometown's community development corporation. We head up economic diversification and that sort of thing because we are originally a nickle mining town.

I break chores down into days too. I actually live with my younger brother who went through a botched foot bone surgery a few years ago.. so we're basically relient on each other. I cook dinners for him and he helps me with my shots/ chaperones me to stores with I'm feeling confused and tired and drives. I actually feel 'prematurely aged' if that makes sense... because my peers are still out there partying whenever they can... and I plan my days around when I can rest! For awhile I tried to convince my friends that they actually werent invincible like they thought... but it fell on deaf ears.

It sounds like you've got a good routine down.. and great support from your DH! That really can make all the difference :)

I hope all is well with you ladies.... and that you are fdoing okay today Mo!

VAL ~ THANX for that info about the digital camera; HP does have one with all those specs for about $90.00 at Canadian Tire store here, even less on sale. I've seen some nice Sony and Canon ones too; will look into all of them.

Dang flu is still here; gonna make some tea; wrap up good and probably go to bed early to sleep it off, if I can ...

HELLO TO EVERYONE ELSE ~ hope you all have a great holiday weekend; it's Labor Day weekend for Canadians (for the workers). Take good care; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ Boy, this flu is a nasty one; one of the worst I've ever had; last night I could hardly sleep, cuz every time I would lay down, I would start coughing. So I had to keep cough drops and cold water on my throat to aleviate the tickle; I think I got a little sleep, but we finally got up at 6:00 am, cuz I just wasn't sleeping anyways. Tonight, I should sleep a lot better, from exhaustion ~ LOL!

We went and got the second batch of trees for our lot; when we got up there, my DAD was there putting up some touches on his place. We got six of twelve planted this aft; so we now have a whole row of hybrid poplars all down the south side; and furs and pines down the north side; we planted one blue spruce right in the front yard (some more will go there once all the soil is in).

We will be bringing in the last soil for this year tomorrow; DAD was pretty happy to see how much we did all by ourselves. A 60 y/o Popeye and me; how funny it must appear, but I can hold my own with a hoe. I'm really beat and my legs are throbbing, but at least the coughing has eased off. We will be going up tomorrow morning to meet DAD and plant the rest of the trees, if DH feels up to it.

We went out on Saturday as well; so we've had a very busy week and weekend. I've been keeping on plan pretty good; it's easier for me if I am busy; I have been getting lots of exercise too, walking around the loops as well. DH has already flopped out early (poor guy), so I just came in here to check in.

VAL ~ hope you get that medical insurance thing all straightened out soon; must be terrible to need those meds and not be able to get them. We had a perfect overcast day today to plant trees (they do better if transplanted on cloudy days). Made a copy of those notes about the digital camera for a reference. That's nice that you and your brother can help each other out.

Never had hot stone massage; sounds warm for some reason! Can you put in florescent bulbs that will brighten up your home to deal with the lack of light? You have a good, positive attitude, VAL; and, that will always make a big difference. They say that " Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it " ~ wow, that is so true ... eh?

MO AND PURPLE ~ Hope you are all well and taking extreme good care of yourselves; have a great week everyone; your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Happy September everyone :)

The leaves are changing color.. The fact that summer is over isnt avoidable anymore.

My long weekend was full of excitement. My drug situation was worked out on Friday after making a few more phone calls... and on Saturday our 'winter desert' climate had an intense downpour of rain that flooded out many streets. My brother's favourite thing to do in rainstorms is to drive - since they're so rare here. We ended up driving through some 'road lakes' with the final 3 foot deep street stalling the truck... so it was towed. It's a junker so we abuse it a bit too much. It's running now.

My saturday weigh in was disapointing because I gained .2 of a pound.. no loss. I'm taking it in stride though because I know this is about changing my lifestyle which is better in the long run.

The best part of my week thus far has been renting season 3 of House, MD. A sarcastic medical drama that actually talks about MS fairly often... so my own selfish motives keep me watching it to laugh at myself/feel normal.

Rosebud! The flu sounds nasty! Props to you for keeping active while so sick! Sounds like you got a lot accomplished last weekend - good job :) We have a blue spruce on our front yard that was 2 feet tall when we moved in.. and now it's well over 20. We call it our Christmas tree - it used to get winter burned but now it does pretty well. Do you have to take any special care of them during the winter?

The hot stones were actually too hot for me.. so I had my masseuse cool them off... so warm stone may be more appropriate. I hadnt realized how much of a difference it made until I tried to get up after the session and my body was tipsy. Relax? yes please!

'90% of life is how we react' I completely agree Rosebud. I'm still trying to let go of worrying/control so I can be more at peace day by day.

I hope everyone else is doing well this week and are able to drop by when you get a free moment :) Life picks up and flies by without warning eh?

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, we finally got some rain tonight; it was 89F all day, and was that rain welcome or what ... We didn't get enough rain here this year (some other places got too much I hear); it will be good for all the trees we planted up at our lot. We went to the old farmstead and picked up some from there to transplant; hope the weather is good for it tomorrow or maybe Saturday. These are freebees and look like they would make nice Christmas trees someday, so we are gonna transplant several of them.

I'm still fighting this flu; felt horrible this morning, but by the afternoon, I felt better; DH went up to the site for a short while by himself today (it was way too hot for me and was best for me to stay home when not feeling well). I don't get this extreme heat thing in September; don't remember anything like this before.

So I had a pretty restful day; didn't do anything but read and rest all day (have to get over this thing once and for all). :^:

VAL ~ I am so glad that you got your medication coverage all settled; that must be a load off your mind. HAPPY SEPTEMBER TO YOU AS WELL; we want the rain, but thankfully, we never get three feet deep floods; glad your truck is OK now. Just keep on, keepin' on with the healthy eating; my weigh-in is on the 7th; don't know how I'll do as I didn't do too good today for some reason (I kept feelin' hungry and munchin'; probably bored and anxious about DH being away when I'm not feelin' well; one of my insecurities, I guess; gotta work on that one).

I don't know if you have to take special care of the trees during the winter; no-one mentioned that to me. Maybe I'd better investigate that a little. Most trees go dormant in the winter and wake-up in the spring. They say that the fall is the best time to transplant, so I'm praying a blessing over them all that they will make it thru the winter.

PURPLE is on holidays right now; and MO is recovering from a little surgery; hope both are very well and takin' good care of themselves! Not much else goin' on here right now; DH wants to take some time for the next few days for us to get our health back on track; so I'll just be do'in what's necessary and nothing more til I'm feelin' better. Talk to you soon, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Hi Ladies

Well as you can see I am back from my holidays. But it has taken me several days to recover. I over did it a little because I wanted to join in but I have paid the price since I am so tired now but boy was it worth it.

It was in a glorious setting this cabin and a wood directly behind the cabin which was excellent exercise ground for our little baby. But the ground was not so hot for me I need an arm of my DH to keep me upright but I so did enjoy the wood. One of the local residents told my DH that there was also another area great for exercising Rizzie which was called the plantation locally. We did not know quite what to expect when we got to the plantation but it was a great wild life sanctuary with loads of fur trees, bracken and heather which was in bloom. It was great for walking Rizzie off the lead as it was in a safe area.

The weather has been hot every day so we have been so fortunate after the wet summer we have had.

Yesterday I went to an MS open day at a centre which has therapies for MS although they will except other conditions. It is a charity based organisation which relies on donations to keep it running. Whilst I was there I did go in the hypobaric chamber (chamber used for divers when they have the bends) for what they called a mini dive. I was given 100% oxygen and pressurised to the depth of 4 metres. If I decide to go to treatment (trigeminal neuralgia permitting) they do depths of 12, 24 or 32 metres but you decide which you feel better on. Was so glad I went and I think I will be using what they have to offer. You give a suggested donation for each treatment. But if you are unable to afford that you put what you can. They never turn away patients on the grounds of money.

ROSEBUD Sorry to hear that you have been poorly whilst I have been away. Glad to hear that you are slowly on the mend. Sound like your busy planting trees on your future cabin site. It will look splendid once they have started to mature.

VALPAL I am so glad that the drug issue has been resolved that must be a weight of your mind. It must have been a stressful time. When your at the mercy of someone else for your health. Glad to see that your being positive about the small increase in weight. I think we have all had those and you have approached it so positively that I am sure that you will see results which are favourable so soon. I am in the same boat as you I have gained weight when I went on holiday fortunately it was only 1lb. I hope it was muscle ;) rather than fat. Well I did do so much walking I was at my absolute limit but I wanted to see so much whilst I was away as there was so much to do and see in this part of the UK. I had never been there either which was an added bonus.

MO I hope you are recovering well from your operation and your move has been successful. I hope you are finding time to rest and recharge your batteries after such a stressful period of events. Look forward to hearing from you when your up and about, plus have the time to sit and post.

I have missed posting on here and keeping me on the straight and narrow. So glad to be back and posting.

night ladies :hug:

Extreme heat in September DOES sound strange. How's your body doing after that bout with the flu Rosebud? I hope your health is doing better this week :)


Our blue spruce used to get winter burn.. but really can we be suprised when the temp goes lower than -40. tidbit of the day.... -40 is the same in celsius and fahrenheit. Usually with the windchill in jan/feb we're around -45 so I"m sure your tree situation is different.

emotional eating is hard to beat isnt it? I've had to replace all the 'good' snacks with lower calorie options to keep myself within my calories each day. It has been difficult for me to realize when a food issue is about more than hunger and I think the first step is realizing it Rosebud. You're on your way :)

I'm having a good week.. because people close to me say they can see that I'm losing weight. I finally got the chance to tell a coworker that I'm working on my lifestyle so please dont offer me donuts.. she replied with 'I knew it!!' and now I feel even better :) I lost a bunch of weight as a teen.. and I had forgot how good the compliments feel!

I'm only posting because my office is quiet and empty right now. We've got a lot of things going on so I should get back to focusing.

Take care everyone!

:wave: HELLO LADIES ~ I'm starting to feel a little better; must be all the good vibes and prayers from my friends here at 3FC's; thanx so much everyone. I felt good enuff to go to church yesterday and up to the site today to plant some more trees.

Glad to have you back too, PURPLE; yes, we all can't wait til our MO comes back too as we all miss her lovely upbeat postings. She'll be back as soon as she's finished moving and feels better, I'm sure ...

We are now having much cooler weather here now; had some rain which really helped our trees; we planted five more today, so that brings our total to 36 now. We are trying to make an artificial fence of trees around the entire outside edge of our lot for privacy, to block the northern winds, and to shield us from that hot, southern sun.

PURPLE ~ glad you had such a great time on your holidays; sorry that you are so tired though. Sometimes that happens on vacations that are full of travelling and site-seeing; you need another vacation to rest from your vacation ~ LOL! Will those treatments help your MS? I think someone else mentioned them to me once; I hope they help you feel better.

VAL ~ you get quite cold temps up there in the winter; ours have warmed up over the last several years. Last winter went down only in the -30's (up to mid-30's); and not as often as it usually does. Yes, emotional eating is a big thing for me; I eat from stress, anxiety, boredom, and esp hurt feelings!!!

I'm so glad that you are getting go many nice compliments; that is so encouraging. My DH has been my #1 encourager; says he notices all the time. Sometimes, we lose inches even if it doesn't translate into big numbers; so I do lots of toning movements as well. Hope things are going well for you at work.

HI MO ~ hope you are well, dear; looking forward to hearing from you. Hope Eric's schooling and therapy are both going well. That new house sounds ideal; we are all so very happy for you all.

TAKE good care everyone; talk to you all again soon; and have a great week ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good afternoon Ladies

Sorry this will be a flying visit do not know where the time has gone today. Plus I am out in the next 30 minutes so I thought whilst I drank my coffee great excuse to fly by.

Had a great confidence booster today my next door neighbour stopped me today she was so concerned about the weight loss. I think Audrey thought that I had something health-wise wrong with me. I assured her that I was well and it had been achieved my healthy eating. She was over the moon for me and told me how great I looked.

MO Yes the treatments I mentioned are supposed to help. Physiotherapy is to help with movement, same with reflexology and massaged. The hypobaric chamber is suppose to help with energy and generally feeling better. Plus some people they are able to move much more freely after treatment. I seconded that about needing another holiday to get over the first holiday. But I am always the same i tend to burn myself out some what and pay the consequences afterwards. DH does try to slow me down knowing full well what the results are.

Glad your well enough to manage to go to church and plant some trees. Glad to see that your on the mend. Take things easy for a while till you gain full health and strength. ( hey I am great at giving that advice not so great doing in practise myself ;) )

Well done on your weight loss on your ticker, just noticed it, blind as a bat sorry did not see it yesterday. Looks like your hard work is paying off you deserve the success for your hard work and healthy eating.

VALPAL Gosh your winter does seem cold to me, I can hardly comprehend such temperatures I am so spoilt where I live. So glad that your friends are noticing your weight loss. The compliments are great moral booster. Well done on how far you have come so please that people are seeing your hard work. Congratulations on how much you have lost so far. Keep up the good work

Must run ladies bye :hugs:

Good afternoon Ladies

Been another glorious day, looks like we eventually have a little bit of summer just arrived late ;) Been busy today in the kitchen, with preparing vegetables. Often I peel and cut up different vegetables. So all I have to do is reach in my fridge and there is a portion all ready prepared ready to be steamed. Just means like to day there is a lot of preparation doing the various vegetables. I always have at least 3 vegetables with a meal that way you do not need so much meat but still feel filled up. Today with lunch we had carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and dwarf green beans. I also have prepared a meal for tomorrow all I have to do now is just pop it in the oven and just wait. I have made a casserole, I know it is summer but DH loves these sort of meals so I make them, then I can play sneaky put heaps of vegetables and not so much meat. But he thinks he's got a casserole and doesn't really know how little meat is in it. But the meat flavours the casserole so the vegetables taste nice.

Been good today after lunch we went for a walk so I have done my exercise for the day. Did not walk so far today my legs are stiff after doing 2 longer walks the previous days. So it did hurt slightly today but was convincing myself that in the long run it is doing me good.

Just had a telephone call from the MS therapy centre to let me know that the raffle that I had entered on the open day on Sunday I had won 3 prizes. Very embarrassing seeing as I only had 2 stripes which is 10 individual tickets.

Going out to play cards again tonight. We played last night. DH won 5th prize last night with a very low score. I scored higher than him but did not get in. In the game you play either lady or gent. It does not have to be women play lady you can play either. The gent position just shuffles the cards and deals. In some places they will also cut the cards but last night it was the lady's who did so. DH won some tea bags. We are not big tea drinkers so we gave it to our next door neighbours who are big tea drinkers. Tonight the place where we go to most of the prizes are meat. But tonight this is called a military whist drive. Instead of scoring your own score all night you play as a team of 4 players and it is the teams score that counts. I think the military bit that comes into the game is that you play for flags. If you win you win the oppositions flag. So each team has a different flags from around the world but they are on pieces of thick cardboard about 1 inch wide by 1 1/2 inches long.

Must dash got the tea pots to wash yet and get ready for going out tonight.
bye :hug:

Good Afternoon Ladies,

Well great excuse to stop by whilst my tea is cooking. Just finished my walk so getting really hungry now.

The weather still remains warm, but today there is a cool breeze which makes walking pleasant.

Went to the market today and to the book shop I visit and took back the books that I had read. But as per normal I came back with 2 more from authors I read.

I had lunch out in the market which was nice to have a break away from the cooking. As much as I love cooking a break is always welcomed.

It looks like in about 2 weeks time my friend Joyce and her DH are arranging a dinner party with another couple whom they know. Primarily so that I can meet Chrissy. Chrissy is another MSer so she desperately would like to meet another MSer. Often with the condition you are very isolated and know no one with the same condition. Part of me is very nervous about this. I am always self conscious about meeting others as I am very critical about the way I look. Once I get over the initial hurdle I am fine as I can mix very well and can break the ice with people. (skill learnt for nursing) But it is just my personality I do not have heaps of confidence and my hobby is worrying so my DH says :rofl: I think many people with medical and psychiatric problems have a degree of isolation regarding their condition and frequent do not have people whom they can confide in regarding problems. No one can truly walk in your shoes unless they have the same problem. I am not saying friends and family are not supportive but they do not truly know what it is like. Sometimes you hide things regarding your condition in order to protect loved ones. ( I have been there and done that )

I hope you are all well Ladies and enjoying the beginning of Autumn. I love when the beautiful colours of the leaves are on the trees. It can be such a beautiful time of year here in the UK. Gosh getting very close now to when they turn back the clocks here 1 hour. It is the end of October do not know the exact date with out referring to the calendar. It is alway at a weekend though. Do you all get the clocks going back and forward at certain parts of the year. There has been talk for many years to stop that but it has never materialised.

Well time to run else it will be burnt offerings for tea :D

bye :hug:

good afternoon ladies... I started writing at noon... but got distracted and now I realized my post is still waiting for confirmation....

I have rave reviews about two low fat instant soups I discovered at superstore and safeway. Safeway's brand is called eating right and superstore's is blue menu. I had split pea soup from safeway... which was tasty, super filling, and about 250 calories (ready in 5 minutes... about 500 mg of sodium). And my latest fav of the blue menu brand is the vegetarian chili... amaze-ing!! I had been doing Lean Cuisines/leftovers for my lunches... but these soups are my latest greatest discovery.

Rosebud I can empathasize (why does the way i spelt that look so wrong) with the fight against emotional eating... I used to be an emotional starver... unfortunatly I'm all about the extremes so when my health took a turn... lol I turned to chocolate. I seriously thought I was doing so well with the denial thing.. but two years later nad 75 pounds is kind of a blaring.... 'you were only lying to yourself'.

work is interesting. I was hired on a contract last year... and it was extended to the end of this year. I like having a routine... ok.. I LOVE routine so the thought of having to leave my current workplace (which is great) stinks but I'm learning not to put all my eggs in one basket.

so how many more trees are needed to finish 'the fence?' 36 trees planted is quite an accomplishment! How many do you think you'll end up with?

Purple - good to see you again :) I think its wonderful your health is well enough that you can reassure your neighbour about your health habits - congrats on all YOUR hard work! I have never met another person with MS - will Chrissy be the first one you meet? I can really relate to what you said about protecting your loved ones from MS -- I've tried that (and failed).

Today is Friday. TGIF!! It's finally warmed up too and the sun has come out. Hopefully I will get to enjoy it at the lake tomorrow... I got a family pack of veggie hot dogs - which I officially now love more than real hot dogs. Yay weekend! I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy it :cheer:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ gee, can't believe how the days are flyin' by; I thought that I posted in here a couple of days ago, but it must have been somewhere else. So, I have to play catch up; becuz of rain, we stayed home until today (Friday).

DH dug up 6 more trees from the homestead on Wednesday; and we planted them today, plus 6 more we found elsewhere. I can't believe we put in 12 trees today (I'm exhausted); plus we also picked up about 18 rocks to fill in our front trench, which makes a rock wall for the edge of our driveway.

VAL ~ Our site needs a lot of landscaping prep; so we are doing a bit at a time cuz it's easier on the old bods ~ LOL! So, we have 50 trees in as of now. We have most of the east side and 3/4 of both the north and south sides done with these additions (that includes a couple in the backyard for south-west shade).

To do the south quarter and the west side, it may take about another dozen or so trees, but we can do those over the next few years. The reason we planted so many this year, is to make up for lost time, and so that if any don't make it, there are plenty of back-ups. In the hottest areas, we planted pairs of trees only 3-4 feet apart for this reason.

We may leave a small area on the north-west side open, so that we can see the gorgeous sunsets from the back porch; then we wouldn't have to plant any trees in the north-quarter section. We are going to transplants some tall yellow flowers (don't know their names yet) along the north-quarter fence instead; that should look nice.

We are having a great time doing all this; DH is exhausted tonight, so we are just takin' it easy at home (that's why I'm on here checkin' in). Don't worry about your spelling, VAL, we all understand what you mean (empathize). We have Blue Menu food here now; I do like some of their cereals; not sure if I have seen the instant soups here yet.

I hope your job continues for you, or that you are able to find something else that you like; and, I'm so glad for you gals that you can find support with each other here on this thread ...

PURPLE ~ the games you go to sound fun and interesting; and you can win prizes, like meat; what a great idea! I don't think we have anything like that here; what a shame! Probably the closest thing to it would be Bingo or the Euchre Clubs, and I think the Legion has Dart tournaments. Our bowling alley just reopened this month; a couple of returnees bought it. I'm so glad, cuz I thought it was a shame that it wasn't being used. There's only so many things to do in a small town like ours as it is ...

I like to put up baggies of fresh veggies too; I put some in the freezer already cut up, so I can just throw them in a pot, like you. They're handy for those times when you are busy or just plain tired. I'm glad that you are finally having some nice weather over there.

HEY MO ~ hope all is well with you, girl; take good care of yourself ...

WELL, that's about all the news we have here right now; I wanted to get in and post after I realized that I hadn't in awhile. Oh, just wanted to say that I lost only one pound last weigh-in, but I'll take it after that long plateau; I'm thrilled to lose anything at this point. Take care all ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning Ladies.

Typing this over my coffee break, been trampled by an herd of elephants in the night. :D OK so I have exaggerated a bit but a I hurt all over this morning so waiting for the pain killers to have some effect. May even use the Tens machine that I have which can be useful when pain killers have done as much as they can. Not such if you know what a Tens machine is and even then called be called something totally different. It is a portable unit which you stick 4 little pads to your body and then attach leads to them to the portable unit. You then switch on and try the different programmes. Some give a constant tingling sensation whilst other give it in bursts or waves.


VALPAL :~ Thanks for telling us about the soup. Grr pity all the safeway stores here was bought out by another company called Morrison's. I would say it happened about 11/2 to 2 years ago, but you know how time flies by.

Thanks for the praise on my hard work :hug: I did meet a group of MSers last year as I was in part of a trial for MSers with depression. At the time they picked us for the trial I was suffering bad with depression but it was nothing to do with my MS but my eczema which had raged out of control and I was covered the only place I did not have it was my face. I had night after night being awake because I itched so much. Which again lack of sleep just exacerbated my mental state. I hated the way I looked, people in the street treated me like a leper. So everything was coming to ahead. But after treatment at hospital it cleared up, but has left me with a few scars. But I went on this course never the less. I did not gain a great deal from ( as the tutor said I was equally if not more qualified as her in this area and she did let me lead a couple of sessions) the course but it was nice to meet people. But for one reason or another they did not keep in contact which I found a little sad. (but that may also I understand be their mental state as many it had been a great effort to even get out of the door and come.)

So hopefully with meeting Chrissy it will be a more perminate friendship. Do you know anyone with MS? Yes I have protected loved ones but normally I fail after a period of time miserably.

Hope your able to take that trip to the lakes. Veggie hot dogs that is a new one to me. Although you have many foods in Canada and USA that I have not heard of or just can not get my hands on. Sounds really great idea if weather permitting to go to the lakes. Might even get a bit of exercise in to boot which is a bonus.

ROSEBUD :~ Right that is offical now you planting a forest :rofl: Joking aside I bet it has been hard work planting all those trees but in the long run I am sure that it will be well worth it. Plus all this planting has an added bonus it is all exercise which can be only a good thing.

:congrat: on your weight loss glad you have broke the plateau which must have been frustrating but good training for maintainence. Don't say it is ONLY a pound the experts recommend 1 to 2 pound loss per week. So slowly slowly wins the race. Keep up the good work and be proud of what you have achieved. You have been an inspiration to me and a source of information. For this I can not thank you enough. :hug:

We play card games for prizes because otherwise techically you really need a gaming licence to hand out money as prizes. We have strict gambling laws which this would come into. As I have said before we only pay a very small fee to play. In that you also get tea or coffee and very sinfully biscuits :o but I have been good I have not had one in months but sometimes it makes it hard to resist when they are put out in the table in front of you for 3 other players and yourself. The people who run the card game then have to pay for the hire of the hall. So we are happy to play for prizes and if they are not what we want I can alway find a happy home for them.


Phew thankfully pain killers have kicked in some what so washing up now calling.

bye ladies :hug:

Well Hello Ladies

I am finally feeling better and we are all moved in. I am so glad both of those experiences are over.

Were do l begin, well the surgery went fine l had to be at the hospital for 6am, so our sitter had to be at our house for 530am, thank god she could still do it after l found out the time. So DH and I got to the hospital on time but we had the van topper on the van still cause of the move so the van wouldn't fit in the underground parking, so Dh let me off at the door and he parked the van about 15 minutes away from the hospital. I had my surgery at 830am and came threw it fine, but it sure was painful the gas they use to see inside me was the worst pain, Everyone told me it would travel to my right shoulder and that would be the mose painful part for a few days, but in my case the gas went to my left leg and because of my CP it make walking and moving so painful, l was laying in bed for 4 days just crying. But it finally left on the Monday and then the fun started with the move, the movers we hired were the slowest movers l have even seen, took them almost 6 hours to just move our furniture, DH had moved all the boxes and little pieces of furniture before they arrived. and at 150.00 a hour we wern't impressed. But thakfully it got all done and we are now all unpacked and settling in. Eric had a few rough days when we first got here cause he just cried and cried and took us by the hand to the front door. So we just tried to reasure him that it's ok this is our new house. He is alot better now and seems to love the house, He runs around and around with a smile on his face.

He is now back in school and full time theraphy has started so his days are full 9-12am school then 1-430pm theraphy 5 days a week. But he is a little tropper and hasen't even cried yet.

I finally went to curves on Friday my first time in almost 3 weeks. It was hard, l only did 1 and a half laps before l quit, l could feel it pulling on my incision site and didnt want to take a chance. my Doctor told me to wait a month but l was inpatcient. But on the good news side it was a my weight and measure ment day and here are the results

weight 156lbs
waist 30.5 inches
hips 35
bust 37
and my BMI is now 24.3

So they were very excited for me.

So that is the update on my now to talk about you latests posts.

Rosebud my dear friend

I can't believe you have planted that many tree's l am so proud of you and your DH for all that you have accoplished on your lot. you should be so proud of yourself. And congrads also on finally lossing again, it must feel great to start going down again. I hope this time next year you are sitting on your cabin's deck watching the leaves change.

Purple

I am so glad you had a wonderful time on your holidays, but l understand completely about overdoing it. I do the same thing when we go on holidays and when we get home l am so tired and sore l always say l won't do it next time but l always do. Your card games do sound like so much fun, thats one thing l miss about living in our old apartment, every Wed afternoon was card games and all the old ladies loved Eric he was a baby then and l would push him down in his buggy and spend the afternoon playing cards while he played on his blanket or cuddled in some ladies arms.

Val

I am so glad you got your meds figured out and that stress was releived. Yes we buy alot of the blue menu items and have loved everyone so far, the soups at saveway are also sugarfree so we really love them. How was your trip to the lake? Veggie dogs are good l agree with you, so are the veggie burgers.

Well ladies l have to go and chage my ticker and then give Eric his B12 shot so have a good evening and l will try and post again Monday. Thanks for all your wishes for my move and surgery they sure helped.

Love Mo xoxoxo

Good Evening Ladies,

Been a wonderful day here for drying the washing. The only trouble after the washing come the ironing ;) I have just taken my pain killers so that I can tackle the task in about a hours time. It is the one task my DH can not seem to master ends up with more crease than he started with bless him :hug:

Been for a lovely walk this afternoon it was nice as there was a great breeze which kept you cooler. Had a rest on the pub wall. No I did not have a drink :o but I was surely tempted today. I rarely drink but on odd occasions I do fancy a little tipple. But I tend to do any drinking in the house as it goes rapidly to my head due to 2 reason 1 I seldom drink and 2 my medication increase the effects of alcohol. Whilst on the wall a motor bike back fired and Rizzie was so scared he started to shake. Then he decided he wanted to be on my knee for comfort but he is kind of heavy for that at about 36lbs. He sure does not look that weight but they are a very muscular dog and as we know muscle weighs more than fat.

MO :~ :congrat: on the weight loss and now having a health BMI. :goodluck: with the final 6lbs you will lose that in no time once your fully fit. Welcome back we have all been thinking about you and your family during this stressful time. Sorry to hear that the operation effected your walking that is all you needed. That is the trouble when we have procedures we can be "wired up" a little different due to our various conditions and things effect us differently to others.

Glad that the move is over even if you had the go slow movers. I hope you will all be very happy in your new home. :hug: Aww Eric I understand how he felt about moving to him this was not his home. But I am glad that he is happy in his new home.

Sounds like Eric is very busy with his school and therapy. By what you have told us he seems to have taken that in his stride. I am sure that may give you a few hours to yourself to do things that need to be done. I bet that time is very precious and beneficial at the same time.

Oh well there is only so much time that I can put off that dreaded ironing. So time to run ladies. bye for now :hug:

Hi everyone

I have a rare kind of nerve damage, not too different to MS in some ways, and it now affects all of my limbs. I can't excersise any more and that's one of my biggest difficulties. I used to do step aerobics 4 times a week and now I can't walk without crutches and only for a few steps so have to use an electric wheelchair most of the time :(

anyway that's my whingey bit over with ;)

Welcome mynxie to the thread nice to have you on board this thread. As you will find out not all the people on this thread have MS but we all do have varying degrees of difficulties with mobility.

Myself I have MS and I do have problems with mobility. If I go any distance I tend to drag my right leg. Also I need either a walking stick or someones arm to help me with any length of walking.

Look forward to hearing more from you in the future. On this thread you will find people who will understand your unique difficulties. But greater than that they will help keep you motivated and be a great source of information.

Thanks Purple x

:wave: HI LADIES ~ we have beautiful sunshine out their right now; it's a bit cool, but that's OK; it's fall after all.

:welcome: MYNXIE ~ our PURPLE is also from England, and there is another thread somewhere that has people from England specifically. We are glad you joined us; sorry you have been having such a tuff time of it! I do chair aerobics every day; and I found an ERGOMETER, which I'm getting for my birthday (in October); it's a table-top bicycle and you use your arms instead of your legs. Apparently, you can burn some mean energy with it; according to FRESNOKID'S gym trainer friend. I'm gonna give it a whirl; it can't hurt!

I really think you'll enjoy yourself here; I'm quickly becoming a 3FC's addict. I come here a lot; I just luv it!!! You can meet different people here every single day; and they really are supportive. Come back and post often; and let us know a bit about yourself.

HEY MO ~ I'm soooo very sorry that you had such a bad reaction to that procedure; I've never heard of that before. I guess they are using some new techniques these days; but I'm glad you got thru it (I was prayin' for ya all the way). Now you can put it out of mind for good. Too bad those movers were trying to take advantage of you guys; purposely taking their merry time; that happens a lot these days.

BUT, we are all so happy for you that you are in that wonderful new place. Yes, little children don't always understand why we are moving around; my mom would take us to the houses before we moved and explained that we would be moving soon and why. I'm glad that he has finally settled in OK; a lot of changes there for all of you. Now's the time to enjoy ...

:congrat: WOW, girl, you are doing fantabulous; you are almost at goal now; then, you have to take some time to do MAINTENANCE; that's so very important cuz you don't want to gain any back. It will be kind of an experiment to figure out what you can eat each day/week/month and not gain any back. Thanx for your support; watching you gals has kept me going despite the setbacks and plateaus. :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

PURPLE ~ thanx for your kind and encouraging words; you are absolutely right, every pound counts and this is good practice for maintenance; to keep on going even when that water-weight kept going up and down; I knew it was water cuz I had kept to plan very well for most of the time, and the fews times I had treats were isolated and small amounts; not enuff to gain a pile of weight; and we could see that my legs were swollen more on some day than others.

I found a lady (name is ANNIE) who's moniker is TEALEAF here at 3FC's and I found her webpage; and whoa, she had almost the exact same experience as me; I got some great ideas from her site. After she lost about 60 lbs, she stalled, gained eight lbs, then plateaued for about ten months before finally going down again. She is now in the 170's range; her webpage is called ANNIE TAKES OFF.

I found it the other night and so glad I did; as I was getting so frustrated; but now I know that my body is just RESTING. After I lost 73 lbs, it decided to stall; last December was a bad month, but I think that I didn't get enuff exercise last winter; and as ANNIE states, she learned that she needed to cut down her intake (calories) to get the weight falling again.

I have been doing the same; like cutting out as much margarine/butter as I can; and looking for those little things like creme in coffee to cut my intake by another 100 calories at at time. This is key, I think; I will keep doing this as I go along til I reach 1500 a day. She learned that she needed to exercise more on the days she had off (she works at a factory; so that burns a lot of energy) to keep the weight loss going.

We are retired, so I have to find other things to keep me active that I can do safely and without being so painful that I want to give up; as I mentioned earlier (the Ergometer). Planting trees and walking around those loops up at the site are really helping me; I luv that there is a built-in walking track there already; many people there go walking there on a daily basis.

VAL ~ hope you are well; I'm going to look for more of those BLUE MENU foods; esp the soup and try them. Anywhere we can save 50-100 calories on lite versions will be very worth it overall; everything helps!

Well, I have to go check my Sunday dinner (roast chicken with veggies; one of my all-time faves); so, I'll be back soon; take good care ladies ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning Ladies.

Phew got the ironing done so I am pleased about that. Today is not so warm at present it is cloudy but fingers crossed it will not rain as I plan to go for a walk later this afternoon. Walking in the rain is not very pleasurable.

Well Saturday night I had a late night. But that was all of my own doing. I had got this book I just could not put down. So it was 1.45am when I eventually went to bed blurry eyed. Just started another yesterday evening but I have not read very much. I was so tired last night I ended up going to bed early. Thats what comes of burning the candles at both ends ;)

ROSEBUD :~ Thanks for letting me know about TEALEAF another fellow 3fc. I will be definitely be reading her web page as if never hurts to have more information. Yes I when I come to a point when I am not losing regular I will look at what I can tweak in my diet without making too drastic changes. As you know I seldom have butter or margarine on bread. I have not done so for years and now I much prefer it that way.

I try to keep active in the day as much as I can with chores in the home. To get in extra exercise. Might seem silly but I take things through to the table when setting for meals I make more journeys than I used to. I think the extra few steps that day add up in the week. Plus if you think I do that for afternoon tea as well for me it all adds up. It might only add up to 1/2 to 1 mile per week but that is 1/2 to 1 mile more than I would be doing.

It must be nice along the built in track where others go walking. After a period of time you will get to know others and that makes it even better. We see others walking their dog now on the walk round. Others will want to stop to give Rizzie a stroke as they used to have a dog but it has passed on. Rizzie laps it all up the fussing he really loves he when he is made a big fuss of.

Must run as it is getting time for dinner and I still have heaps to do for that meal.

bye ladies catch up with you soon :hug:

HEY PURPLE ~ I forgot to mention yesterday that you had me :rofl: with that comment about us PLANTING A FOREST; yes, I actually said something like that to DH: "Uhmmm, that front yard is kinda starting to look like a small forest, so we better not plant anymore there for now!"

To which, DH replied, "Yah, what do we do if they all live? Will we have to start cutting them down?" To which I said, "Not on your life pal; they are stayin' there, after all that hard work!" :lol:

ANYWAYS, I sure had a good laugh :lol3: over that one; thanx for the pick-me-up; you have a great sense of humor, and I really appreciate it. :D

Good evening ladies.

Just a swift pit stop this evening as I am going out shortly. But I love to stop by as it keep me on the straight and narrow.

Been a lovely day today. But you can definitely tell in the morning it there is a little nip in the air.

ROSEBUD :~ Funny you mentioning my sense of humour. After years of psychiatric nursing you definitely needed a sense of humour to keep you sane. We were terrible for practical jokes. As I worked in mainly an all male environment my nickname became maid Marion. We come from Nottingham the home of the legend of Robin Hood. This one particular day I was the only female staff on duty and during this hour I was assigned to look after a client where ever they went. This high level of observation was because either they were at risk of harming themselves or harming others. The male staff I worked for with were a smashing bunch but making tea/coffee for others was not top of their priorities. But it never really bothered me as if that was the only thing I could have ever complained about them and they made me feel safe even when the ward was very disturbed. This day whilst I was assigned to looking closely after this client they brought me a drink of coffee which I thought how sweet of them. After a few minutes it began to dawn on me as I saw them laughing from the nurses station my gift of a cup of coffee was not all that it seemed. On closer inspection they had put maid Marion on the cup and I had not spotted it. :lol3: So that shows you the sort of harmless tricks we got up to.

My DH also has a fabulous sense of humour so it continues how we joke between us. Laughter is the best medicine. His brother Ray has a wicked sense of humour which even my DH can never beat.

Time for off bye ladies see you soon :hug:

Good evening everyone!

Purple - your comment about Rosebud planting a forest was hilarious. I usually only have time to skim this thread at work and my home computer isnt too dependable. Laughter really is the best medicine. My best memories are coming home from a stressful business trip and sitting down with my brother who had me belly laughing within minutes. It can uplight an entire day!

And no, I dont know anyone face to face with MS. I have 'met' a couple from other forums that I frequent. That was actually the reason I came looking for 3FC. I knew that I like to skim forums/get a lot of knowledge from them.. makeup,, ms.. and now diet wise. I'm glad the drug trial was a good experience overall for you... I'm sure the leader was somewhat intimidated by your experience and knowledge (speaking as a younger person it's hard to lead when somebody else is obviously more qualified!) And lack of sleep is the first thing that changes my mood so I'm glad you realized how much of an impact it was having on you. Life gets so miserable when sickness robs our sleep!!

Mo - welcome back! What brand of veggie burgers do you enjoy the most? I havent found many up here and the ones I've tried are horrible!! Unfortunatly it's been getting cold too fast and I have yet to get to the lake because of the weather... we've got snow forcasted for Thursday and I'm such a wimp when it gets cold. I also want to really encourage you to take it so careful with exercise and exerting yourself after your surgery! I'm sure you know to give your body time to heal.... better for yourself and your family in the long run.

Rosebud... it sounds like you've got a good grasp on cutting down calories on whatever you can. I need to remember to do this... especially at business lunches when I cant plan em and it's so easy to take the fatty salad dressing or margarine!

and welcome mynixie! The 3fc forum has been a great place to keep me in line and I'm sure you'll find a lot of support here - come back and post when you get a chance :D

I feel like I could stay up most the night reading the posts more thouroughly (sp?) so I'm sorry everyone if I'm skipping over huge chunks! Have a great night!

feeling really down about my "physical challenges" today.

If I could use my limbs properly I'd not be this big....I'd be able to excersise still, now I struggle to move, simple as that and it's really doing my head in. I miss being ablebodied, selfish I know...sorry to be a whingey cow

:wave: HI LADIES ~ well, we've had a mix of rain and sunshine here the last couple of days; but man, was it humid today; thankfully, it cooled down tonight when some awesome winds blew in ...

Just takin' it easy today; tryin' to keep that flu at bay; DH says he thinks we might finally be winning the battle; sure hope so. My Uncle came by to pick up our car (disabled once again; since last Saturday); gee, it would be nice to have a vehicle that doesn't break down so often; that's going on my prayer list for the next while.

ANYHOW, my Uncle has a nasty flu too; sure hope it's not a different one; and that we don't catch it. DH thinks that it probably is the same one, so hopefully our bodies will have had a prerunner to fight it. It sure seems that so much of our lives is affected by our health as we get older.

MYNXIE ~ that made me think of you; don't envy the place you are in right now; I know that sometimes it is really difficult to accept our limitations and how they are affecting our lives (been there; still there); but eventually, you may be able to set that aside and focus on what you can do today to improve your life; and bring joy into it again ...

You can still eat healthier even if you can't do much in the way of physical activities; and we must keep perspective as well; do what you can. I'm sure you have heard of the SERENITY PRAYER by St. Francis of Assissi (GOD grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference).

You can come on here and read everyone's posts and make some new friends; in the general chatter area there is a joke thread (light thread) that always lifts my spirits, and I pass the really good ones on to my family and friends each week; I try to spread some cheer to them. That's an easy way to do something good for someone else, and they really appreciate it too.

So, we are pretty much stuck at home right now; my Auntie did come by Tuesday to take me shopping; enjoyed that immensely. Sure hope it doesn't take forever for that car to get fixed; I so enjoy going out for a drive and I have three trees left that must get put in soon before it gets too cold.

WELL, we all have our challenges in this life; DH and I both fell asleep this evening; layed down for an hour nap to get the swelling down in my legs and woke up four hours later; that's why I'm on here now; I'm wide awake now; :yikes: hope I can still sleep a few more hours later on.

HI to PURPLE, VAL, AND MO ~ hope you ladies are all well; glad you liked TEALEAF's webpage; she continues on with more pics in the MINI-GOALS section; will follow her all the way thru her journey; she has a nice sense of humor too. HUMOR can be a very healing source for us all, esp when we are hurting in some way. I look for humor wherever I can; I am fortunate to have a family that have a good sense of humor as well.

GARDEN UPDATE ~ picked some onions and summer turnip for our roast beef dinner this week; seems the winter turnips aren't growing at all; and the carrots are so puny; doesn't look too good for them this year, but at least I got something out of it; maybe next year will be better. I am going to go back to a different source for my seed, and only plant that which was successful this year; streamline, I guess you could say ...

ANYWAYS ~ just wanted to check in ladies; take good care all ~ your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Morning Ladies

Looks quite a cool day and dull outside today. Yesterday afternoon we saw a rainbow due to the weather conditions. I love to see them they look so beautiful but of course we seldom see them.

I am being very lucky at cards this week so far. On Tuesday I got 2nd and last night my team got 1st so I have been fortunate. Sometimes you can go weeks without winning then the tide seems to turn.

At the minute I am a little under the weather, I have had a jippy tummy and keep getting cold to the point it is hard to warm up again. But at the minute there seems no real other symptoms. Will keep you posted if it turns out to be anything or nothing.


MYNXIE :~ Sorry to hear that your having a tough time of it. It is hard to accept that your body will just not do as you want it to do and it is letting you down. I can fully relate to what you are saying. Have you been diagnosis long with your condition? For me personally now I am not so angry and upset about what I can't do as I was when I was initially diagnosis. I am not saying that there are times that I end up crying in frustration because I really want to do something and I just can't as my body won't let me. At times especially in the beginning I was angry at my DH not because he had done anything bless him but I wanted to be angry at something. I could not be angry at my MS as you could not physically see it so to speak. I have blamed others for my failing body as I was so upset that I couldn't do the simplest task. How folks put up with me I shall never know. But over the years I have come to place where I am not angry and frustrated all the time.

Remember to talk to people especially loved ones how you feel as that helps as how are they suppose to know how you feel if you do not tell them. My DH often asked was he suppose to be a mind reader. :D Don't be afraid to ask for help it is not a sign of weakness as I use to think. These are things that I have learnt over time and still am learning to this day. In the mean time feel free to tell us on this thread how you feel although we may not walk in your shoes exactly ( IE. have the same condition as yourself) we certainly do appreciate how difficult life can be when you are presented with challenges.

I hope that sound OK and makes sense. I hope it did not sound patronising as it was never intended to do. But today I am struggling to find the right words for things. ( can be part of MS ) as time has progressed this has become worse for me.


ROSEBUD :~ Sorry to hear that your Uncle has become ill with the flu. There seems to be a lot about lately and lets hope that you have already had the bug he has.

Sound like the garden as had some great successes and somethings that for some reason didn't shine.

I done the same thing thinking I have an hour to recharge the batteries then 4 hours later you wake up. Then when it comes to bed time you are raring to go. I often now set the alarm clock after too many times of sleeping hours then can't sleep that night as you are wide awake. I do hope you managed some sleep.

Sorry to here the car is not working again you really do not realise that you use them so much until they are out of action.

Must run got to go and cook a chicken.

bye ladies :hug:

I've been diagnosed for 2 1/2 years now, coming up to the 4th year anniversary of my accident this Saturday though. I think that's one of the things that's kind of bothering me, you know?

I like this forum, it's very chatty :D lol and the people are lovely here

Thank you to you all for making me feel welcome

Hi Ladies

First off welcome Mynxie glad you have found us, my Name is Monique but everyone calls me Mo much to my Mom's horror, she loves my name and hates to have it shortned.

I am a 40 yr old SAHM to a little boy who is 4 and has autism, I also have CP and Epilepys but it is well under control. I have a hard time walking and ride my bike every chance l can get, we bought a bike trailer so l can pull my son behind me and he loves it and so do l, pulling almost 70lbs has really helped me lose alot of my weight. I also changed my eating habits and it has payed off. As you can see from my ticker l have lost almost all the weight l want to in the last 6 months, now with winter coming on, and bike riding will end l am just hoping l don't gain alot. I also go to curves 2-3 times a week. But most of my exercise l get from chasing my son around.

Rosebud, please take care of yourself and don't get the flu again. I am sure the tree's will survive, they were planted with love. I am sorry to hear about the garden, but just like my love for the Toronto Blue Jays, there is always next year.

Purple you know a few wrinkles won't hurt so l say put that iron away and enjoy life with a few wrinkles. I am glad you won finally at cards, but more importantly they are a nice form of intertenment.

Valpal I buy the presidents choice brand of veggie burgers, but my all time favorite one was at a resturant. You better get to the lake soon l think it will be a early winter, we had flurries here in Calgary yesterday.

Well l better go ladies as my dinner is ready, but just wanted to say hi and thanks for all youtr prayers, l am completely recovered now and feel great.

Love Mo

Good Morning Ladies

Well fingers crossed my jippy tummy feels heaps better and I feel better in general. But I did not do any exercise for a couple of days either as I just did not have the energy. But I feel more energised today so I hope I have fought of the bug I appear to have caught.

Off to Mum and Dad's today to see them we do that every other Friday which is a nice way to catch up. I do see them at cards but only for very brief periods of time when we are playing against them.

Well also going to friends tomorrow evening to see them but they have arranged a meeting for us to meet someone else with MS.

The same friend who we are eating dinner with tomorrow evening asked me if I had lost over 5 stone (70lbs+) to which I replied I wish, but I am getting there. She swore I had lost more which is nice boost. With me being tall I think I can carry a bit a weight more and it doesn't appear so obvious. For me losing 5 stone is my next mini mile stone. My last mini mile stone was to weight less than my DH which I do not but only just he is biting at my heals all the time;) as he is losing weigh also. He has done so well but people are just beginning to make comments about his weight loss which I am glad about. Has when they always asked me they never asked DH which I felt so sorry for. He has a really sweet tooth so this change in life style must have been harder for him than me.

MO :~ Glad to see that your back to full fitness. I never realised your name was Monique I alway presumed wrongly. What a beautiful name, I forget that Canada is also French speaking in parts as well so there are many French names.

Congratulations on the weight you have lost so far excellent work. Wow some work out cycling with Eric in bike trailer I bet your legs are beautifully toned. Yes winter must be a concern as it is harder to do outdoor actives but I am sure if you keep going to curves as much as possible. Plus watch your portions you shouldn't be too bad.

MYNXIE :~ Anniversaries can be hard on the run up to them and the actual day. I can understand how it bothers you and you mull things over in your mind. It makes it hard to concentrate on daily activities.

I was diagnosed in 1999. For me it has taken many years to get to where I am today. I went through a grieving process. Grieving for the person I wanted to be, the person who I was and the loss of my career. ( I was a psychiatric nurse in forensic nursing. Which in English mean I cared for people who had committed a serious crime like murder and was found to be mentally ill ). I eventually got to the acceptance stage with the help my of my DH doing :kickbutt: :frypan: not literally but he has been my rock through this.

Well time to get ready to go to Mum and Dad, but also have a coffee before we go.

bye ladies catch you tomorrow hopefully :hug:

Good Morning Ladies

Well today is my resting day I have decided seemed to to have been busy the past few days barely time to breath. But I have no appointments to attended to so lazy day here I come.

Had a wonderful evening yesterday at my friends house and I met another lady with MS. It was great to talk to someone who had walked in my shoes and knows the frustrations the disease can bring. But I have counted my blessings as she does not have the support network that I have and that makes things doubly difficult for her. She is on beta interferon the same as Valpal and has been for approximately a year now. Chrissy has had several bouts of optical neuritis from the onset which so far I have been fortunate to have missed.

Had a lovely meal last night, our host does cook healthily which is great but I was trying to be mindful not to eat for the sake of it just because the food was out in front of me. Finished with fresh fruit salad for dessert which was an excellent way to clear the palette after eating spices food.

Last night :yikes: I was tossing and turning in bed and just could not sleep despite feeling very tired so this morning I do not have much life in me :rofl:. Not certain whether it was because I ate late or the fact I did not get to take my night medication until midnight. Well whatever the reason I hope it doesn't reappear tonight. I forget though what it is like not to sleep well even though it was not that many years ago that was me on a regular basis. But now I tend to sleep like a log and have no problems, which I am not complaining about :D

Right time to go and get mid morning coffee to see if that will give me more life. Well it sure won't be the caffeine from the coffee that does the job as it is decaffeinated. ;) I have just thought maybe I need a kick start to get me going :kickbutt:

Catch you soon ladies :hug:

Hi everybody!!!!!!

if i knew how to put the cute smiley faces in i would :)

Im maria, im 38, and i was Dx with MS in 1993,osteo arthritis,fibromyalgia and raynaudes syndrome.

I walk and do most everything semi- normal

I just tire easily and the pain is a real pain! lol

I started WW this month and lost 15 lbs so far and i havent excersised at all really. I know i need to move more- I will get to it
I have a stationary bike that has a nice backrest to it and i have some free weights that i picked up for 2 bucks at goodwill.
i have walked around the inside of my house (LOL i know) and set my microwave timer to 5 minutes, and sometimes even 10 minutes.

I tend to overdo things i enjoy too so im being very careful to not set myself up for pain when its not needed.
Im not looking to be the next top model by far lol
I just want to be healthier and fit into all my clothes i have waiting for me when im there!
im starting a wedding photography business and i have to be able to keep up with the pace of the day so losing this weight is SO important to me, its no longer an option!
i started this month at 192 and im down to 177- so here we gooooooooo
off and running!!!!!!! cant wait to have a zipper on my pants instead of elastic waists!

glad to meet you all
maria in Connecticut

:wave: HI LADIES ~ WELL, we finally got our car back on Saturday, so we were off the races again too; getting out of this place after being stuck at home almost nine days; when you live in the country, you just have to have a reliable vehicle to get around in. So, we went out the site to plant the last three specialty trees for the year; hope they'll be OK since we were late getting them in.

Well, the car repairs cost us; but thank GOD, we are still solvent ~ LOL; by that I mean, we are still in the black. Thank goodness, I am frugal and put some savings away; we wouldn't have made it otherwise. I hope this will be the last of the repairs on this car for this year, as DH is getting pretty perturbed with this vehicle for all its troubles ...

ANYHOW, it's a new day; and we are feelin' fine; think that flu is on the run, and we even got into town to church this morning; what a beautiful, sunny day we had today. They are predicting a hot one for tomorrow; then so cold it could almost ***; no, I didn't say it; really!

:welcome: MARIA ~ nice to have you join us; boy, you have some health issues there, but I am glad things are going OK for you right now; we have friends with MS, but thankfully they are in remission and/or their meds are really helping them stay in reasonable health. One fellow is in a wheelchair and has some difficulty with his speech, but he zooms all over town and has a good attitude now. We know people that started a wedding photography business; they say they love it more than any other job they ever had. Best wishes for your new career!

HEY PURPLE ~ thanks for coming in so regular to chat; I read every post, but finally got time tonight to check in. I'm glad you are feeling better too; it seems we are all on the mend ~ yeah!

MO ~ I agree with PURPLE and your mother, MONIQUE is a lovely name! DH is all French and I am part; he speaks it, but I can't. We live in Northern Ontario, which has a large French population. Yah, the TORONTO Blue Jays or the MAPLE LEAFS, eh? This year the garden was kinda like life ~ a mish-mash of good and bad; got lots of some; some of a few; and barely none of the rest ~ LOL! Yah, there's always next year ...

VAL ~ Hope you really don't have snow there already; gotta bundle up good. The weather here is strange too; rain; then sunny and cold; then sunny and too hot; then rain; and very cold again; but I won't complain cuz I'm just so happy to see the sun and have a fall. We don't get any *** that really stays until early November; if any falls before that, it usually melts very quickly.

MYNXIE ~ Have you decided on any specific eating style; or are you just winging it? Hope you are feeling OK! Anniversaries of sad events are never fun; I don't keep track of the dates of bad things, just the good ones. Maybe that is what helps me to keep positive; just a personal little trick, plus my faith, of course; really gives me something hopeful to focus on. Hope to see you come in and post sometime soon ...

WELL LADIES, DH is going to do a pick-up tomorrow with a friend; will be a tuff day for him; hope it isn't as hot as they are predicting. I'm trying to decide if I should go with him, but the weather sounds frightful, so I may just end up staying home, even though I don't really want to. There will be no air conditioning where he's going ~LOL!

ANYWAYS ~ take good care of yourselves, your friend :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Good Afternoon Ladies

Well today it feels very cold and wintry outside. We have had several downpours of rain. But I have been fortunate after I heard a report on the radio at lunchtime. Tornadoes have caused widespread damage to homes and businesses across the UK as the country experiences a spate of freak weather. As you may or may not be aware tornadoes are something very seldom experience and there has only been several in my life time to my knowledge.

Also our farmers have been hit again if the foot and mouth coming back was not bad enough. We had our first case every documented in the UK of blue tongue in a cow. Apparently this is past on by midges and is not contractible by humans. So we have not had a good few days in the UK.

MARIA :~ :wel3fc: and :welcome3: to our thread nice to have you on board. Firstly :congrat: on your weight loss so far what a great start. Keep up the good work and you will soon be at your goals.

Best wishes and good luck with setting up your wedding photography business. I wish you every success for the future. Making these postive steps in your life style you will definately be a somebody rather than that invisible person of old.


I will give you a brief introduction to myself. Firstly I live over the pond in the UK. I am 42, 43 next month yikes where did the time go :rofl: I was diagnosed with MS in 1999 and TN (trigeminal neuralgia). There is just my DH and I. I have no children of my own but my DH has two grown up lads. I am mobile with the aid of a stick or DH arm ;) I no longer work but was a psychiatric nurse for 16 year. So that is me I think in a nut shell.


ROSEBUD :~ Hey you know me I tend to waffle on when I post just can't seem to help it. Maybe there is a cure for it :rofl: But on a more serious note dropping in here as frequently as I can reminds me to keep on the straight and narrow. It makes me accountable for what goes in my mouth. Rather than my habits before just continual grazing without much though as I did not want to face up to the corner I had got myself into.

Really pleased that you are mobile but the cost of repairs are shocking:o Good job your good with the housekeeping/accounts of the household. I used to be good but I got so muddled but that can be part of MS. But DH took over. But I am good at making cheap meals from very little or making things go further. My father taught me that as my Dad did all the cooking just about in the home when I was younger. So I just learnt from him. I am sure he learnt from his Mum which would have been in the 2nd world war when strict rationing was in place here in the UK.

MO / MYNXIE / VALPAL :~ I hope you are all well and things are going well on the healthy eating journey.

Well time to go in the kitchen and check a pan of soup I have reheating on the stove for tea. I made a pan of chicken and vegetable soup from a whole roasted chicken we had for a meal. I used the carcass and boiled that for a chicken stock, then striped any remaining chicken that was on the bones. I then cook vegetables in the stock and season to taste. I thicken the soup with potatoes mashed (no salt or butter or cream/milk in). Hey presto a big pan of soup.

bye:hug:

Good Afternoon all

Well just got back from a long food shop and then we called in another supermarket to see if they had got the ice-cream that we like. But nope they had fruit flavours but DH like mint and I like the chocolate. So calling in another supermarket tonight on the way home. I hope they have some as I feel like I am on a treasure hunt ;)

Just dying a pair of trousers today just started the process. Do not know for the life of me how I managed to get bleach near the back pocket of these trouser. So I thought I would attempt to dye them and hope it covers the culprit white spot. The worse thing I went out in them last night and it was not until I was at the venue did DH spot it. Well of course I then all night was self conscious of this white patch on a pair of chocolate coloured trousers. I have never dyed clothing before so I hope that my first attempt comes out OK will let you know.

Feel really happy today that I tried a UK size 20 and guess what they fit considering I started at a size 26 UK I never imagined at the beginning of the journey that I would ever see sizes that low. I can not remember ever buying that size I know that I must have done but it must have been when the dinosaurs roamed the earth :D Bringing myself down to plant earth I know that different dress sizes can vary immensely from brand to brand. So I won't go out celebrating just yet :rofl: The one thing that is lovely that I can now buy clothes at regular shops rather than limited to just a couple which sell the larger ladies sizes.

Just watched this morning a documentary that I have taped the programme is called the tribe. It is were a Englishman called Bruce Parry goes and lives and works with a remote tribe some where in the world. He shows how hard the life is but enriched by many things that are not financial. This season of programmes it has an underlying theme of showing how the modern world is encroaching on their way of living and marginalising it. The programme that all that I have seen hit home to me the most. It was set in Borneo and the tribe was the Penan. The government wants the jungle logged and palm trees planted in their place. This in turn has left the Penan with a small portion of jungle to live in. The government does not want the Penan story told to the outside world so this has to be filmed in secret. I know that the rest of the Borneo people have to make a living but also they must protect the jungle and the environment. All the chopping down of the trees has now made the soil so that in a rainfall it washes into the river making it impossible to drink from.

Well it is fast approaching tea and nothing is ready as yet. So I will have to get my skates on and see what where going to eat.

Bye for now :hug:

My boss is out of the office and I saw purple bump up the thread so I'm stopping by - hey everyone :)

I've been having these weird dreams lately... the latest one being I eat a bunch of junk food while I'm sleeping and wake up so disapointed in myself/scared to weigh in. Basically I'm finding myself with an unsupportive family. My parents come into town every week or so... and the end result is always a bunch of junk food in the house - which I dont buy myself and my brother, the roomate cant afford. It catches me offguard to open the microwave and see a huge foot square homemade chocolate cake... or an unopened box of chips sitting in our living room by the tv/exercise bike.

I know my parents dont do this to bug me.. and they think leaving junk food in the house is 'caring' for us... but that's what got me to this point in the first place and I'm feeling pretty sabotaged. I think it goes so deep. But on that note...since it's getting close to cdn thanksgiving I'm about to set a christmas goal. I think I'll be able to get pretty near to my 'year goal' by then!! yay :cheer:

ericsmommy - I think you're right about the early winter. It hasnt snowed in our town yet *knock on wood* the lake has been kind of nice because the bugs are nearly gone and it's not too hot or cold to wear a warm sweater as long as I move around pretty fast.

and welcome Maria I have MS too, was diagnosed when I was 21 (now 23) and I know what you mean by getting run down easily. Hopefully focusing on our health/fitness level will improve the quality of life for both of us! your wedding photography business sounds like a great idea - do you have an online gallery or do you plan to show people your work with a physical portfolio?

rosebud sorry to hear about the car repairs but props to you on having a savings account waiting! I hear it's been insanely warm in ontario the last few days - i'm so jealous!

Purple how did the dying attempt work? I have tried to dye bleach spots too but in my attempts the colour never took that those spots - hopefully it works! and congrats on going down so many sizes!!! :cheer: :cheer2: I look forward to joining you on the smaller sizes some day :)

Good morning

Well a quick fly by as I am out to lunch with BIL so this is a pit stop to remind me to be good. I think I will have a jacket potato and vegetable curry sauce. That is delicious and very filling. I will be going to a pub across the road from my BIL business which is one which makes bean bags predominantly. Unfortunately BIL Ray appears to have a hernia so he has been referred to a hospital to see if that is the case.

VALPAL :~ Well my dying efforts on my trousers went better than expected it has covered the white patch. When you look very closely it has dyed a lighter colour. But most people will not see the little fault now so I am pleased with the results. I know that these trouser will not fit me much longer at the rate I am losing at the minute and they are on the loose side as it is. But I will get a little more wear out of it now.

I understand where your coming from having well meaning parents who's idea of lavishing love upon you is to do it with food and the food is not necessarily the most healthiest option in the world. My parents especially my dad as he does most of the cooking has not had the education that I was given about food and nutrition. So is not so aware what is healthy and what is not.

Has much as I love my dad he can be very strong willed and insensitive. The one that my dad does that really bugs me and no matter what I say he does not change. "ah but you will put the weight back on". I have only had one other serious attempt at weight loss and it was only about 3 months. Even then I cheated like mad because if no one saw me eat that chocolate bar for example it did not count. I lost about 21lbs at that time but put it back on and more besides. This time I am more determined I want to be healthy and can not go back to that life style I was leading that when he says that to me it makes me more determined I am going to prove him wrong. I can only turn his negative into a positive.

Thanks for the praise on my weight loss it has been much appreciated. It won't be too long before your dropping dress sizes quicker than you think. At first I had to lose quite a lot of weight around 30lb. Then after that it seems to be only after 10lbs lose or so even those new clothes you bought are looking loose. I can not believe how quick I am going down in sizes. Keep up the good work I notice that you are steadily losing and doing brilliant. It will not be too long before your going clothes shopping and people are noticing which fuels you more to keep up your healthy life style.

Must run else I will be late for lunch

bye bye :hug:

:wave: HI LADIES ~ came in late last night to read, but it was passed bedtime, so I waited til now to come in and post; couldn't believe I hadn't posted in 3-4 days. We've been having a very rough week; that car has been causing us a lot of silly little problems like the front hood wouldn't open and the emergency brake was sticking, etc. Anyways, DH got this fixed today at no cost, thankfully. Last night, we played games to get our mind off things; it really helped.

I have been feelin' pretty rough this week with a really bad TOM; about every third one is really terrible; have two quasi-normal ones, then one that is down right scary! I'm in pera-menopause and I'm almost 49 y/o (next month), so maybe, just maybe there may only be about one more year of this ... :^:

PURPLE ~ Thanx so much for bumping us up on the thread; and being so regular here; that's why I love your posts so much: they are so chatty. Sorry to hear about those tornadoes wrecking homes; I feel sorry for those people; hope they all find new places to live; and hope your meat industry can free itself of its problems soon. We are having a pasta & cheese dish for dinner tonight ~ LOL; just a co-incidence, though! ;)

Dying clothes can be tricky; I might have just tried a dark brown permanent marker if the spot is small. I have used this trick for many things; I have jars of markers in different colors for that purpose. I fix up clothes, ornaments, and furniture that way; it works wonders ...

VAL ~ Yes, our weather was hot; then we had rain; but today was cool and gorgeously sunny, so I put out some food for our birdies in a couple of baskets. A chickadee came by and was chattering at me, like he was saying "OK, where's the food already?" I want to get a couple of small feeders to hang up until we put up the big one for winter; the blue jays and nuthatchers have been here on our post looking around for food too.

I just know that your parents love you and mean well; at first, I thought you were still talking about your dreams when you said you found a big chocolate cake in the microwave ~ LOL; that would give me a surprise. My family is the opposite; they want me to lose weight, and always serve healthy meals for their good health too. Oh, we do treat ourselves once in a while; we all must enjoy some of life's good pleasures too; it's just how much and how often, I think ...

I have been having weird dreams too, but not about food; mostly, mixed-up mumbo-jumbo about family relationships; thankfully, the last few nights have been better for me, so I got some sleep.

HELLO TO MO, MYNXIE, and MARIA ~ Tomorrow is shopping day; so we'll be pretty busy; but they are expecting a few sprinkles. Well, I have to run right now, as dinner is ready and DH is waiting very patiently; take good care friends, :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

HI LADIES ~ we are starting a new MONTHLY thread for our PHYSICAL CHALLENGES group here; it will be starting in OCTOBER.

MONET, our moderator, is going to STICKY it at the top of the page, like she did for the FIBROMYALGIA monthly thread.

The red sticky will be easier to find, and the monthly thread will keep it shorter as well ~ :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

Here is the link to the new thread:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123803

Go ahead and start using your new month thread now, and I will close this one in a day or two, so others will have a chance to find the new one before this one is closed!

Thanks!

Monet