Living Maintenance - Maintainers Chat: March 31 - April 6

Last day of March?! :faint:

Good morning! I'm racing to chug down my mug of coffee and jump into my gym clothes, so I'll start us off for the week and check in later.

Let me say, though: thank heavens for new weeks and fresh starts! :D

Here, here! :coffee:

I had a great week last week, but that only partially made up for my previous 2 week peanut butter disaster. Another great week and I'll be back to where I was about a month ago. This is so silly! Why is my memory about a week and a half long? :p

Hope everyone is doing well, and March is ending like a lamb for you.

Mel

Hi fellow maintainers! I hope you are well. And yup, AMEN to fresh starts.

After having a so-so week, too much fruit, not enough for a gain, but too much for a loss, Saturday night occured. And it wasn't pretty. In fact it was very, very UGLY.

I was wonderfully back on track yesterday. Made a vow to not touch even one grape this week. Some people need to stay away from PB, but no, I've got to stay away from - grapes. I also found an incredible treat. Need to keep that to a minimum too. It's nothing new, but it is to me. Sliced frozen bananas. I slice them and place on a cookie sheet, freeze them and then put them in a container. It's like eating banana ice cream. My kids are loving them too. I usually stay away from bananas. I hate that an entire one is 100 + calories. But with the slices, I can take a couple at a time and spread the calories out.

Enough rambling about food.......... Got tons to do this week. Passover is less then 3 weeks away and I'm in heavy duty cleaning/shopping/cleaning mode. Taxes are here NOW. As is FAFSA, lengthy college aid forms which must be filled pronto. Still have to switch health insurance. Then of course there's all the first of the month bills. My washing machine is broken since last week. I have someone coming this afternoon hopefully to look at it. Something tells me it's time for a new one. Which stinks majorly because it's a washer/dryer combo and the whole EXPENSIVE thing will most likely have to be replaced. Laundry is piling up sky high.

Sad weekend. 3, count um, one, two, three, way too young people have passed away. One is the father of my daughters friend. One is someone I knew very well many years ago and am now good friends with his brother. The other a brother in law of a friend. One was in his fifties, the other 2 in their forties. So sad.

Anyway, have a great week folks.

Good morning everyone,

I'm really trying to mentally clear my head and start a new week fresh. I'm much less upset than I was Friday, but I'm still upset. The roommates haven't said a word about the ruckus Thursday night to me, just continued on conversation as normal. I checked the paper and there are no apartments available to rent that I can afford this week. I am just going to deal with it as best I can for now and try really hard to not let it stress me out. Most of the time I don't mind not making a lot of money, but right now I wish I made a bit more so I could afford my own place!

The weekend was nice and sunny. BF and I hung out with some friends Saturday, and went sailing Sunday. I should have come to work b/c I've got a lot on my plate but instead I went sailing. :D

I've decided that for April I'm not going to eat any alcohol or sweets. I need to be 100% on plan. Not surprisingly, Saturday AM after (finally) getting a good night's sleep I got in a fantastic NRLW workout. I actually managed to do the body weight matrix 2x. I want to keep that feeling for a whole month! BF has commented on my arms and my um, tooshie that he can tell I've been working out more.

Robin, you sound very busy. I hope you get everything done in a relatively sane manner. If you do need a new washer, you can replace your combo unit redneck style - get a new washer, use the dryer in the combo, use broken washer as laundry sorting table. :p I'm sorry to hear that so many people you knew have passed on. They were so young. :hug:

Mel, well, back to where you were a month ago is better than back to a few years ago. Keep staying out of the PB jar, I will too!

Meg, I hope you had a great workout!

Have a great week everyone!

Hi everybody. Sorry I was MIA last week. DH & DD both had the flu, and we had house guests (with very loud, destructive small children) on top of that and it was a rough week to say the least. I'm also having trouble accessing the site using my normal set-up of Firefox on Vista and it just wasn't worth the hassle with everything going on, and I found my brain was too saturated to really follow anything, anyway.

DH is mad a me because I tried to sleep in this morning after a bad night with limited sleep. The last time I really tried to push myself through major fatigue in this pregnancy, I wound up in the hospital being monitored for way too many contractions. Anyway, he allowed DD to play with a ceramic piggy bank (unsupervised) that she loves, and of course, it broke (smashed into a zillion bits--unfixable) and somehow that was all my fault, even though I had removed the pig from her reach last night and he gave it to her this morning. I suppose he thinks I'm just avoiding dealing with her tantrums in the morning, but I really just need to rest. I reminded him about the hospital trip, and I'm hoping he gets it now. I am still a wreck, a zombie, but am too mad to sleep. I'm trying to cut him some slack because he also had a bad week last week, and I really don't want to fight about it, but show a little sense. Ceramics and two year olds don't mix, no matter how mad you are with your wife. OK, rant off.

The good news is that I have not gotten the flu (yet), and am hoping it stays that way.

77 more days to go. I'm clearly at the stage where I must have a "Please be mean to me" sign on. People love saying all these mean things. "If you think it's hard now, just wait." Does it make them feel better? I do have a kid already, and for me, yeah, the first weeks/months with a newborn were tough, but compared to pregnancy, I'll take it any day. Two very different animals and there just is not comparison. I've quit talking to 3 or 4 "friends" who just can't keep their mouth shut about it, even after I've told them that I just don't need to hear that right now.

Anyway, I'm struggling to be positive this morning and obviously failing. Hope you all are having a better day.

Anne

Good morning maintainers.

Dena~from the last thread, here's your answer: I live in Palm Desert which is just down the road from Palm Springs. I know what you mean about finding an affordable home! Wowza! Thankfully we built our current home and since we're in the construction business (glazing) we were able to pull a lot of favors otherwise we wouldn't have half the house we do.

Gary~thanks for the offer of keeping an eye on Dana at Fullerton! I'll let you know if I need to take you up on the offer. We do have family in the area (aunt & uncle in Brea, two cousins in La Habra and one cousin in Yorba Linda). As for Ashley, do you think Dana will run into her (do you think she'd know who she is)? Yes, I know who she is (thanks to DH who watches racing relentlessly).

Robin~sorry to hear about the deaths. That is so hard.

Anne~hang in there and don't listen to those busybodies!

I'm having a tough day here. Saturday was spent driving to San Diego (2 hours) sitting in a conference (5 hours) and driving home (2 hours). Sunday, the family and I got up for a 5k in Palm Springs (I took Chico). We had a good time but I developed shin splints in the first mile and had to take it easy after that. I wonder if my favoring my shins is what is making my hips hurt today? Anyway, we got home and gave both the dogs a bath and that's where my troubles began. I don't remember lifting either of them (70+ pounds each) but just the bending over for all that time seems to have done my back in. I spent the rest of the day alternating heat and ice and using my massage pads. MIL gave me a pain pill which allowed me to get some sleep (just a couple hours before it wore off). Every time I wanted to roll over it was excruciating! I finally got up at 2 AM and took some Tylenol and that helped a little. I got up, got ready for work and went back to bed for 20 minutes, got up and got the kids up and fed breakfast and went back to bed for another half an hour. Now I'm at work. The back hurts (not as much as yesterday) but I'm so tired from the painful night's sleep. Geez it sucks getting old!

Hi everyone, I've been missing for this past week. Just extremely busy. My birthday was last Tuesday and we went out to dinner and then to visit friends and mall shopping for me some new clothes. Couldn't find many shirts, they all looked like maternity clothes. On Wednesday we took a day off and went fishing all day, it was fun. On Thursday we had a Dr. appt. in OKC for Lacy. (They think her Vascular Ring that goes around the esophagus and Aorta is causing the problem again). More testing still to be done and a visit to a Cardiologist. On Friday we were back in OK City for my Hepatology appt. which went OK, but Dr. says it may take a full yr. to wean my prednisone back down.
Saturday we ripped up all the carpet and baseboards. Then went to a friends dinner party that we had promised to attend.

Sunday we completely put my new wood laminate flooring in my living room. Still have the hallway yet to do. I do love the new floors, but it is a lot of work! We're really saving lots of money doing all our own labor. I am very proud because it looks like it was professionally done.

DH goes back to work tomorrow. I plan to paint the computer room while he's gone and have it ready to lay the new floor when he comes home again.

Last Thursday DH's custody hearing was postponed. His XW didn't agree to the terms and was furious that we had claimed Shelbey on our taxes. OH Well! (She is now being audited for claiming both Shelbey and Taylor last year neither of which lived with her). Anyway I think we've resolved the issues now and can proceed with the custody of Shelbey.

Today DH will be gone . He has to take oldest SD, Samantha, to book her into jail for hot checks. (She has warrants out for her again for the millionth time). Then he'll get her bonded out and she won't see any jail time! Of course I'm mean and keep telling them "you aren't helping her by bailing her out each time, let her learn her lesson". But, no one listens to me. I absolutely couldn't live like that, I'd bawl like a baby if I ever had to go to a jail for anything.

Anyway , hope everyone has a good on-plan week (myself included). Maybe after DH goes back to work, I'll make good use of my gym membership again.

Hi everyone! I'm back from a weekend vacation in St. Louis. DH and I had a great time! I wish Indianapolis had as much nice stuff as St. Louis does. Anyway there was a lot of eating out obviously, but also a lot of walking. When we got back to our hotel Saturday night I had to peel off my shirt and sweatshirt because they were both soaked with sweat (eeew!).

I am very proud of myself because while I did not make the best choices possible at all the restaurants, I made BETTER choices. My calorie estimates (based on websites so not too accurate) show that I didn't go over 2000 at all, and only had one day over 1700. Woohoo! :cheer: That, combined with all the walking, should leave me in a good place weight-wise. I'm up only 0.5 lbs for the weekend and I know I'll have water weight from the sodium, so I may even end up with a net loss!

I am super-excited about this. I have NEVER been able to go out of town and make good choices. So maybe I didn't get the taco salad at the mexican restaurant and had a burrito instead -- at least I didn't have them put cheese or sour cream on it. Maybe I got chicken nuggets at Wendy's instead of a salad, but I had a side salad instead of fries. I ordered fish for dinner, skipped the french toast and sausage at breakfast (though I did sneak a biscuit), and resisted temptation most places. Yay me!!!

Shane - thanks for the info! I had no idea that was how nose piercings worked, I figured they were just like post earrings! :lol: I'm not planning on getting any more piercings (at the moment, you never know what will happen in the future) but I like to be informed. ;)

Hi to everyone else -- no time to respond right now, but hugs to those of you who need it! :grouphug:

This week is going to be tough foodwise. I leave on Wednesday for a business conference in Chicago, so I will have very limited control over what I eat from Thursday through Sunday. Saturday and Sunday I will be at my parents house in the Chicago suburbs, which is usually a complete eating disaster :o because they have so much junk around the house. My step mom makes this stuff called friendship bread; she showed me the recipe once and let me tell you, that bread is no friend of mine! :devil: And it is addictive; I could seriously eat a whole loaf in one sitting, all by myself. :o She has two recipes, and of course she makes the recipe that is absolutely the worst nutritionally.

So, here's the plan. On Saturday I dropped my calories back down to 1200 and plan to stay there until Wednesday. On Wednesday, I will pack sandwiches to eat while I'm traveling. I have bananas, Asian pears, apples, and Fiber One muffins for snacks. I'll bring energy bars to eat for breakfast or will order oatmeal from the hotel. I'll just do the best I can for lunch and dinner. I will not eat desserts at the conference and I will do my best to stay away from the friendship bread and other junk at my parents. The head trainer at my gym is arranging for me to get a free two-day pass to the branch local to my parent's house and I'll work out at the hotel fitness at the conference. If I do all that, then maybe I'll be able to get back to maintenance when I get back, instead of having to lose weight.

The good news is that my Dad is making corned beef and cabbage for dinner on Saturday! It's his specialty and, while it's not the best, it's not terrible calorie wise; when I've made it myself I've managed to fit it into my calorie limit while dieting. But it's a pain to make, so it's a special treat when I can get someone else to make it for me! Maybe I'll ask him to try to do an extra good job trimming the fat before he cooks it.

Robin: That's an interesting idea with the bananas. I love bananas but I'm always loath to buy them because you have to eat the whole banana and it is 100+ calories. Maybe I'll try freezing some slices. I'm sorry to hear about the three people in your life that passes away. :hug:

paperclippy: Great job staying on track in St. Louis! :carrot: I've never been to St. Louis; what did you do there?

alinnell: I hope your back feels better soon. Back pain is really miserable. :(

Megan: I hope things get better with your roommates or that you find a place you can afford.

wndranne: I don't understand some of things people feel it is acceptable to say to pregnant women. It's crazy! :crazy:

lilybelle: Wow! That does sound like busy week! You did so much I don't even know what to comment on!

Mel: At least it is only taking two weeks to recover from the PB disaster. I've had far worse disasters. :o Last year it took me six months to recover from the holidays (this year I managed it in 3 months; maybe next year I can cut it down to 1.5 months).

Hi maintainers,

Anne:hug: when you read this, only 76 days to go. Just hang in there, and take your rest. You definitely doi not want to risk another hospital trip. If you are needed to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself or you will not be able to. As for ceramic piggies ...if that is all the damage DD and DH are going to have in the next months, they are truly blessed and lucky people and should appreciate that.

gary - good to hear from you!

Lisamarie, shane - just keep hanging in there!

Lily - I.m exhausted to read your programme. I hope all keeps going well for you.

I had a very busy weekend , a birthday party for DS and for myself. i was so busy with arranging things that I managed to keep the food and wine within decent boundaries. 2 or 3 glasses for a BD party, and foodwise 1 piece of cake and a tortilla. That is reasonable I would say.

Today I did NRWL 2A2. I did not fall over on the 1 point row or on the woodchop alternative on the stability ball, but I find the moves very difficult. I might stick in stage 2 a bit longer untill I have at least mastered what the moves are about. And.. I might be loosing the tiniest bit of weight...and gaining some muscle. Loose pants, and the scale was a bit down, even after my party.

Hi to everyone,
Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Barbara - we went to a huge sculpture park, the botanical gardens, the AKC museum of the dog, the art museum, their big public park, the zoo, and the riverfront (where we took lots of goofy pictures by the arch). They really have a lot of nice parks there, and the major museums are all free!

Anne - sorry to hear you've had such a rough week. :hug: My DH sometimes insists it's my fault when he stubs his toe, so I sympathize!

Robin - sounds like you've been busy!

Megan - I hope you find a new place. Maybe you should bring up the incident with your roommates to get them talking about it?

Allison - Ouch, I hope you feel better soon!

Lily - You sure have been busy!

Rabbit - good job on the BD party!

Meg and Mel - Hi!

Rabbit, I never really "got" the woodchop alternative in stage 2, which I also tried to do on the stability ball. It didn't feel very effective for me. I kept re-reading the exercise directions, tried again... at least I can really feel all the other ab exercises! Congrats on the loose pants!

Blue, I know how hard it is to stay OP food-wise when traveling. It sounds like you are as prepared as can be. Good luck!

Jessica, sounds like you did a great job making those better choices. Being able to do that while out of town is a major victory! :carrot: Glad you had such a nice trip.

Lily, at work when we're bored we check our county's website for what we nominate "mugshot of the week" (there are some really good ones in such a redneck place!) and most of the people do, indeed, look really upset or mad. I would definitely be the one crying, too! Sorry about your SD's continued problems. She always sounds like such a piece of work.

Allison, sorry about your back. I hope it mends quickly!

Back to work... It it Friday yet? :dizzy:

Hello, all--

I've been reading (but not posting), trying to keep up with everyone's life.

Mel, glad the peanut butter problems are long gone. It's startling how fast the pounds pile off, and how long it takes to get them off.

Robin, how sad about all those relatively young people passing away. Hope you were able to fix your washer and not have to buy a new combo.

Megan, I read about your roomies and their guests--how rude! Hope a new apartment is in your future.

Anne, only 77 days! In non-pregnant terms that doesn't seem like much, but I imagine from your viewpoint, it seems like forever. Hope that your day ended better than it started.

Allison, ouch!!

Lily, after reading your posts I feel 1) tired and 2) lazy. Please bottle some of that home improvement energy and send it my way!

Jessica, WTG on eating out! That's a fantastic NSV.

Barbara, sounds like you have a plan for your trip. I'm now curious about friendship bread. Wonder what will come up if I google it.

Rabbit, I tried one of those ball exercises out of NWRL, and could not get it at all. I'll keep trying, however. Good news about the loose pants.

We're leaving in a couple of days for Los Angeles to visit my DH's oldest daughter. He was there to visit her last year, first time he'd seen her since she was six months old (she's 36), but I've never been. I've got this entire itinerary planned that includes probably way too much stuff. Has anyone been to the Huntington Garden in Pasadena? I hope it's worth the price of admission. My SD lives near Pasadena so we thought we should spend a day doing Pasadena things, especially looking at old houses, which is one of my favorite things to do.

While it's been colder than normal, the daffodils, hyacinths and cherry trees are blooming profusely. Spring looks like it's here--it just doesn't feel like it yet!

Sheila: You make the friendship bread with starter, which consists of flour, sugar, and milk, which sits out in a plastic bag on the counter for about 10 days (you squeeze the starter every day and add more flour, sugar, and milk every few days). The idea is that you use 1/3 of the starter to make two loaves of bread for yourself, then give the rest of it to two friends so they can make bread (hence the name "friendship bread"). When you make the bread, you take the starter you have left and add 1 cup of oil!!! :eek:, 1 cup sugar (remember, there's already about a cup of sugar in the starter), 2 cups flour (again, already about 1 cup flour in the starter), more milk, 1 LARGE box instant vanilla pudding :eek: (NOT the fat-free, sugar free variety), 3 eggs, spices, baking powder/soda, etc. Interestingly, I ran the nutritional analysis on this and it comes out around 220 calories per slice (assuming I'm estimating right on the amount of sugar, flour, and milk in the starter). So if my stepmom would make the healthier version (skim milk; non-fat, sugar free pudding; combo of applesauce and oil instead of one cup oil; eggbeaters instead of eggs) and IF I could limit myself to one or two slices, it might not be so bad. But I swear I end up eating like half a loaf at a time (and then eat the other half later that day :o).

It's supposed to be an Amish recipe but I have to say I'm pretty surprised to find the Amish cooking with instant pudding :lol:

If you google it, you'll find lots of recipes and websites on it.

paperclippy: Sounds like a fun trip. Way cool that the museums are free. We went to NY a couple of years ago and were in sticker shock from the museum admission fees!

Megan: I'm hoping that if I just head into the trip with the attitude that it's not going to be a free-for-all in terms of food, I'll make better choices. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't.

Happy April Fool's Day! :joker: I'm not one for practical jokes so am hoping I can slide by under the radar today without attracting attention.

Barbara, I've had that bread before and have the same reaction to it that you do! :o Stay strong!

Anne, sending you a huge :hug:. It sounds like it's been a terrible week, on top of your usual stresses and tribulations. :crossed: that you stay flu-free, and yes, you need your rest to keep your immune system strong. You have our permission to smack :frypan: anyone who says anything mean to you. No jury in the world would convict you.

Robin, so sad about your friends. :hug: I've never tried frozen bananas but they sure sound good!

Allison, you're not old!! How's the back today? And the shin splints? What do you think set those off?

Lily, I hope that Lacy gets some answers and relief quickly! As for your SD, she sounds completely hopeless, like she'll never learn. Just think how simple your life would be without XWs and SDs!

Jessica, your weekend was a huge accomplishment! It's easy for most of us to control our eating at home, but traveling makes it so much harder (and it's almost like permission to go off plan). You did great, and now you know how good it feels to come home without a gain, so it will be easier next time! :cp:

Hi Rabbit and :congrat: on the loose pants -- love that feeling!

Megan, I really hope that your own apartment comes along for you quickly. You don't need any more stress in your life! :hug: Interesting how you had such a good workout after getting a good night's sleep. I think we underestimate how much that adequate sleep is linked to eating on plan and exercising. For me, it's the biggest predictor of success (or failure!) in a day. :dizzy: Congrats on the cute little tush!!

:wave: Hi Sheila! Have fun in LA! I've only been there to connect flights (and get lost) in the hideous airport. It's now on my list of airports to avoid (along with O'Hare and anything near NYC).

Mel, just picture your PB jar covered in pus and maggots, burrowing in and out. :p (you weren't eating breakfast when you read this, were you? :lol: )

Time for the gym then a gazillion things to do. I'm tagging along on DH's business trip to Florida tomorrow and haven't even gotten out my spring/summer clothes yet, since it's still cold here. I think I'd get funny looks in Miami wearing thick turtlenecks! :lol:

Yuck, Meg! Thanks for that visual! I just finished breakfast, a giant vegie omelet with 1/4 cup of brown rice (I almost typed lice) as the carb.

Anne :hug::hug::hug:

Blue- I've had a much healthier version of that bread which is basically a gunked up sourdough recipe. I kept my starter going for about 8 years. I'll try to find it for you- of course it's not sweet, but it sure is good and crunchy!

Megan - Hoping for peace on the home front. Room mate woes sure don't make for stress-free living.

Robin- Sorry to hear about your friends :(

Me- I've been good :)

Mel

Happy April Everyone. Fools or not.

Meg, have a great time in Florida. I love my turtlenecks, but am definitely willing to give them up for a bit for some warmer weather.

Oh Anne, hang in there love. Better days are ahead. :hug:

Mel, you sound so positive about your food lately. Such a good feeling, I'm sure.

Jessica, way to go. It really is hard when traveling. Better choices. Yay!!!

Sheila, enjoy your trip.

Superwoman, umm, I mean Lily, you are AMAZING.

Megan, I hope things work out with you and an apartment. And the roommates.

Alison, Back pain can be so debilitating. I hope you are feeling better.

Yes guys, please, try those bananas frozen. Just a couple of slices is very satisfying and a nice treat. So try em, you won't be disappointed. And no, Chiquita is giving me no $$$ to say this.

Thanks for the kind thoughts on the passing of my friends. Hard to comprehend. I can't stop thinking about it really. 2 of them were heart attacks. And one of them was overweight. I just actually heard of yet another 42 year old in the neighborhood who passed away this weekend. Heart attack and he was overweight. How I wish my DH would lose some weight. It terrifies me. He could stand to lose at least 30 lbs. When I changed the food in my household, he initially lost about 30 lbs. Problem is, he eats plenty OUTSIDE of our home.

Anyway, washing machine repairman never showed up, laundry is piling up even higher :devil:, taxes were basically ignored yesterday, insurance guy never called me back, good news - as of today - I tried anti-perspirant again and yay!!! no stinging, and just Saturday there was - with only using baby powder, really odd, food was excellent now 2 days in a row and sure enough I am once again feeling majorly confident and very into it. Ahhh, I LOVE that feeling.

Have a super, terrific, fantastic, feel good day everyone. :smug:

Hi everyone, I read everyone's post, but can't remember much.

Unfortunately I have to go see my Dr. again today. Having major problem now with my Congestive Heart Failure due to the increase in prednisone. I am getting very swollen in my left arm and left leg. My coughing is again increasing. I know what the problem is cause it has happened so many times before. So, need some Lasix. Won't dare step on my scale with all the extra fluid I'm retaining. I'm taking Shelbey to the Dr. today too, she has what looks like a big cyst on her eyelid that won't go away.

Megan, that's funny about looking at the mug shots. With Samantha she probably smiles for her mug shot, cause she truly just never sees a problem with stuff like this.

Meg, I've thought literally zillions of times how much easier life would be without SD's and a crazy XW. Yesterday Samantha was complaining how she can't afford to pay her rent that is due today. I had agreed to pay her some money to help me stain all the new baseboards for the laundry room, kitchen, bathroom, living room, hallway and front entryway and install the new boards. She said she didn't have time to help me last night but wanted to know if I'd pay her in advance. She was offended that I refused to pay her in advance. Truthfully, I don't trust her and I wouldn't pay a stranger in advance for their services. DH agreed that I shouldn't pay her til she did the work. It's truly sad to have to be that way with Family.

I'm heading out to a consignment shop now to find DH some used jeans. He goes through jeans like crazy at the Oil Field job.

Rockinrobin, hope you get your washer fixed soon. Last summer our riding mower blew the engine. DH took it to a friend of his to fix. It still isn't fixed, so yesterday when my tax refund came in, I bought a brand new riding mower. (not an expensive one, but a new one). I just got tired of waiting for it to get fixed. (plus replacing the old motor was gonna cost almost as much as a new mower). Robin, also very sorry to hear about the passing of those that you mentioned.

Anne, people do say really dumb stuff to pregnant women. I can very well remember that same comment you mentioned being said to me when I was carrying my babies.

Jessica, I think you did a great job making reasonable choices while you were away from home. BTW, my old Hepatologist was at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, so I've made many trips there.

Just popping in to say hi!

Shiela - I loooove Huntington Gardens. There is an adorable tea room there that you can go to too but you need to make reservations a couple weeks in advance. Also nice in Pasadena is the Norton Simon museum, and I think the LA Arboretum isn't too far from there either. I love just wandering around Old Town and shopping and eating at the delicious restaurants (they have some good thai places out there). I went to college in Claremont (about 20-30 mins east of Pasadena) and if you drive out that way there is the best burrito shop EVER, and a wonderful donut shop that sells strawberry donuts - it's like a strawberry pie but in a donut instead of a pie crust. So bad, yet so good.

Hi all,

Fly by post, I am really really tired today, probabely worked too hard.

Lily - Please be carefull ? please??? It sounds like you are really not well at all with all the prednisone and did I understand heart related fluid retainment??? Get yourself some rest woman! You might be wearing out yourself too much and then it will take so much much longer to recover! I hope stuff works out the relatives!

Anne - if you are reading...Another day gone ! Only 75 days to go!

Hi to everyone else,
I am still sore from my workout & power class yesterday. I cannot wait for my 2B2 tomorrow...the first time I did 2b I could not walk without pain for 3 days. Amazing what those exercises with one foot on a bech do for you.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Good morning everyone.

I am on the mend. My back still hurts, but I am able to bend over quite a bit before the pain starts. I'm also quite stiff in my hips and the backs of my legs. I'm sure the backs of my legs is from bending over for so long and who knows why my hips hurt--I still think that when I got the shin splints while on my 5k, I must have walked/run funny which caused the hip pain. Needless to say, no run for me this morning (it felt good to sleep in that extra half hour). I've been stretching every hour or so, so I'm sure that is helping me overall. Plain and simple, it seems that running alone is not going to do the trick. I need to incorporate some other exercise in there to keep my entire body in good shape. Had I been going to the gym like I'd like to have been doing, I'm sure I wouldn't be in the condition I am now. Live and learn.

Mel: My stepmom has a healthier version of the recipe, she just never chooses to make that version. ;) I ran the nutritionals on the healthier version and, with a few adjustments including replacing half the sugar with splenda, it would come in at around 110 calories per slice. Unfortunately, that's still not very healthy if I eat half a loaf (7 slices)! :o It's too late for this trip but maybe for Christmas I'll see if I can get her to make a couple of loaves of the healthier version for me. Luckily my step mom is the nicest woman in the world and will do stuff like that for me. She's tried to foist off some starter on me but there is no way I'm taking it. The last thing I need to do is start making this stuff for myself! :nono:

Hi all,

Funny, a friend came over last night to borrow some loaf pans b/c she was making friendship bread too. My goals for April involve some "spring cleaning": NO ALCOHOL OR SWEETS (I won't cut these things out forever, but I need to get myself in gear). All. Month. Long. Get enough sleep to have great workouts all month! Reassess my expenses, budget, etc. and make sure my financial house is in order. Oh, and then literal spring cleaning - wash my car, and clean the house, at least my side of it.

The house was peaceful last night, and I'm continuing to feel more like myself, but that was 4 days of being really upset! I can only remember being this angry-upset twice in... well, as long as I can recall. Thanks for the kind words everyone. Though I don't feel it's an immediate necessity (as in, I have the time to look for something I really like and can wait for something I can afford), I'm definitely going to be looking for a different living situation.

Allison, that extra sleep will help your body heal. Glad to hear you're on the mend.

Rabbit, I know, who would have thought the foot on the bench would do so much? And all of those lunge variations??? I thought I did decent lower body before I started NRLW but I definitely didn't!

Robin, I'm glad your confidence is back! I do love that feeling! (I hope I get it soon!)

Meg, I know that sleep is also one of my biggest factors in success. It's so much easier said than done to get adequate sleep. It seems silly but I really do need to remind myself often.

Lily, take care of yourself! The scale is definitely not important right now, your health is! :hug: I wouldn't have paid Samantha either in your situation! She has certainly done everything she can to show you that she is untrustworthy.

Sheila, I hope you enjoy your trip.

Back to data crunching...

Hi :wave: Home yesterday and today, leaving at 1 am for Montana til Sat and then Grand Canyon. Hard to pack for those two - one is low 40's, the other near 80!

Week of conference and funeral was stressful, but somehow I managed to lose 2 lbs! :)

I'll be back 4/14, and I know I'll never catch up.

I've gotten that Friendship bread starter stuff a couple of times.

I killed it both times.

Hey, I do good to remember to feed the kids and the dogs, much less a bag of goo.

I admit it---I am a yeasticidal maniac!

PS Have a great trip, Pat. I love the Grand Canyon!

I've gotten that Friendship bread starter stuff a couple of times.

I killed it both times.

Hey, I do good to remember to feed the kids and the dogs, much less a bag of goo.

I admit it---I am a yeasticidal maniac!

:lol3: Ha Ha! So true! I always tell people the reason my SO and I don't have kids or pets is that it's all we can do to take care of the plants! I swear, it's always "water me, water me!" I probably wouldn't do so well trying to keep a bag of goo alive either.

I am trying to get to "know" you all by reading your posts, so I don't have a lot to say to you yet. I feel like the friend on the outside who isn't comfortable enough yet to chime into the conversation.

But.....I do want to try those frozen bananas. They sound delish!

And, Robin, it sounds like we have a lot in common. We also have Passover coming soon and we just completed our FAFSA. My oldest dd will be going to Gonzaga in Spokane, WA in the fall.

Last week was my Spring Break and weight wise it didn't go well for me (up 1.6 pounds). I find the gain very interesting as I worked out every day and stuck to my plan. My guess is that maybe I wasn't as active as I normally am at work?? I'll have to monitor what happens this week.

I've been trying to work out everyday but I didn't make yesterday which bummed me out. Dd and I walked the dogs to the dog park tonight. I try not to count that as exercise everyday, but the walk is about 2 miles each way and our two dogs weigh a combined almost 200 pounds, so it is quite a workout!

Today (April 1-- April Fools) would have been my dad's 82nd birthday. He died last September. He always loved having his birthday on April Fool's Day. I'm just thinking of him more today.

Hope everyone has a great week and I am looking forward to getting to know you all better!

Hi Michele and don't be shy about joining in! We're a big group and everyone's busy, so no one needs to feel obligated to personally address everyone who posts. It's perfectly OK to just pop in and tell us how you're doing, whenever you can. And the people and personalities tend to sort themselves out over time ... Baff is a gym maniac who just quit smoking; Lily is personally rebuilding her house, one brick at a time :lol: ; Pat/WaterRat is a librarian in Alaska; Anne has 75 days left to go until baby #2 ... it's like marrying into a large, crazy Italian family. I'm eccentric Aunt Edna with a mustache. :rofl:

I'm so sorry about your dad but his April Fool birthday is a great memory to cherish. :hug:

So tell us what two dogs you have that add up to 200 pounds? :fr:

As for me, DH and I are off to FL today for a few days. He has a meeting and I get to tag along. :D The hotel where we're staying has a fitness center that Men's Health says is one of the ten best in the US, so I packed my iPod and workout clothes. Honestly, I'll just be happy with a little sunshine and warmth. :sunny:

Howdy howdy! :D

Guess what, everyone!! I have a new job now! I posted my resume on craigslist, listing my qualifications and my piercings :lol: and I got a call from this guy who seemed absolutely AWESOME. He was very impressed with my web design portfolio, my way with words, and my phone voice, so he agreed to meet me. Then, he hired me as his office manager. I'm getting almost as much money as I did while working for the city along with 401K and health benefits! He also volunteered to me that he would give me periodical raises based on merit AND the schedule is very flexible as long as I come in sometime during every business day and accumulate 40 hours (so, I can work 9-5:30, 7-3:30, or whatever! :D)

On a not so happy note, the GF and I had an emotional argument yesterday. We discussed the prospect of long term commitment and I said domestic partnership, civil unions, marriage, and the like all scared me. I said that we are still young and I hate looking so far into the future. I made her cry. :( She also really wants to meet my family, but I KNOW that is a bad idea because they are overly religious and the last thing I want is more drama. Oh, did I mention I HATE DRAMA? :lol: Then, she called me a coward because I just want everyone to get along.

Michele - as Meg said, you are more than welcome here. Feel free to butt in any time - that's what the rest of us do! :D We really are a very friendly and welcoming bunch.

Meg, where in Florida are you going? It's still beautiful here right now and the heat isn't going to kill you just yet, so you are visiting around the perfect time. :)

BluetoBlue and midwife - friendship bread *laughs* That actually reminds me of those gigapets/nanobabies... does anyone remember those? I was crazy about them in middle school, but I always eventually ended up neglecting them and letting them die. Infact, I remember being a cruel little evil soul and killing the Nanobaby on several occasions by spanking it to death :devil: THEN, I felt really guilty for killing it, even though logically I knew it was just an electronic object ;)

Lily - EEEK! Feel better! That does not sound good! :hug: You're in my thoughts and I have my fingers crossed for ya :)

Megan - Your goals strangely remind me of this kid I met while working for the fire department, though he said he was giving up sweets for lent. After I raised one eyebrow, smiled, then said "okay," he replied with, "Well, uhh, it's really to get rid of my Christmas weight so I can gain it back on Easter, but I'm doing it under the guise of lent."

Shiela - have a great time on your trip! :)

Thanks everyone for your good wishes. I found out my maternity leave can start May 20th and I'm so done then. I think a couple of weeks of rest will really help. I think I will manage to get through the 6 weeks until then somehow.

My counter does indeed say 75 days. At my appointment today I'm going to talk to the OB today about getting an actual date scheduled for the c-section, and I'll update my counter then. Should be more like 68 in real life, since the surgery will happen at 39 weeks, barring complications. June 9th-ish. Two months.

OK, I have a little bit of time and energy today for once, so trying to be a better forumite:

Robin, I don't know how you wait for a banana to freeze! As soon as the peel is cracked for me the banana is eaten. Of course it is one of my two major cravings right now, and I'm probably going through a dozen a week! Please also accept my condolences on the passing of your friends.

Megan, good vibes on your sugar/alcohol blowout. I'm so sorry about your roommate situation.

Allison, take care of your back. That sounds so painful.

Lily, you always amaze and scare me! Please take good care of yourself.

Barbara, I must say the friendship bread sounds pretty funky to me. I just have a picture in my head of an oozing ball of goo. Corned beef and cabbage sounds yummy though. Enjoy your trip!

Rabbit, you are always so nice to me! Thanks. Congrats on the scale dipping after your party. An accomplishment!

Jessica, I grew up "near" St. Louis and love to visit there. I'm glad you had such a good time.

Sheila, have fun in Pasadena.

Meg, have fun in Florida at the super gym. Everybody's traveling!

Hi Mel. Thanks for the hugs.

Hi Pat! Montana and Arizona, huh? Well, it has been hot here already. Or perhaps it is just me. 80s in Tucson every afternoon anyway.

Hi midwife!

Hi Michele, and a belated welcome.

Welcome back Shane. We missed you. Great news about the new job! Sorry about the fight with your SO.

Hi everyone, I made it to the Dr.'s appt. yesterday. They gave me some Lasix and I was awake all night having to pee. Lol, my weight is down by 4 lbs. this morning. I have to see the Dr. again this afternoon for a recheck. My old family physician should never have taken me off Lasix in the first place cause I was diagnosed with CHF over 5 yrs. ago. I do pretty well most of the time until I catch a cough/cold or FLU and then I fill up with fluid that just won't go away (especially since when sick I always end up with increased prednisone which causes water retention and puffiness). Seems like a losing battle, but I can tell this morning that I do feel a little better.

One of my big problems is dining in restaurants, they put too much salt in the food and this causes water retention big time for me. At home, I'm super careful to avoid salt in my food. It should teach me to not eat Out, but it hasn't.

I'm loving my new floors, but my doggies aren't liking it much. They haven't quite mastered yet how to keep from sliding on the wood laminate. I know there are little clip-on things that can be ordered to put over the dogs nails. But, my Lucy would chew them off and eat them.

DH went back to work yesterday. The girls wanted to ride the new mower, so they mowed the whole yard for me yesterday. Yipppeee.

After my Dr. appt today, I'm going to shop for new kitchen and living room furniture. Hope I can find some that I love. Lol, with my new floors , I need new furniture so it will all look beautiful. Majorly hoping that whoever delivers my furniture will haul off the old furniture.

Meg, LOL, at you say I'm remodeling my house "one brick at a time". That is what it feels like. I told DH just the other night that with all we have learned to do, that we could build our own next house with our own hands.

Michele, jump right in here. What kind of dogs do you have? Mine are labs, Molly weighs 110.7 lbs. and Lucy weighs 65.7 lbs. I do a lot of dog walking too.

Shane, so glad to hear that you got a new job that you are happy about. Congratulations.

Blue, my mom used to make the friendship bread too. She tried giving me the "starter" stuff and I didn't take it. Looked like way too much work for me. LOL.

Megan, I thought since you and I always talk about "redneck" living that you could appreciate this. Since my old couch had a broken spring, I had the girls move it out on to the deck yesterday. Plus, DH had replaced a commode and a water heater and set it out there. And, my Christmas tree is out there waiting to be put in my storage building. LOL, I need to take a picture and send it into Bill Engvalls Redneck backyard picture contest. LOL.

Anne, I can feel your excitement at wanting that maternity leave to hurry up and arrive!

Pat-- I am a librarian too! I am at a large elementary school in N. California, and when we lived in Houston I was at a small private school. What type of librarian are you?

Shane-- that is great news about your new job. It sounds like a perfect fit.

My dogs are Ozzie, a 6 year old Doberman who weighs about 75 pounds, and Jozi, a 4 year old Great Dane who weighs about 115. We got Jozi when we lived in S. Africa, and we joke that she speaks Zulu and that is why she doesn't obey us well. Jozi is what the locals of Johannesburg call their city, so that is where she got her name. They both get so excited when we go to the dog park that they practically drag us there. Coming home is at a much more normal pace! I've never lived anywhere with a dog park before and we are all loving it.

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I was faced with a lot of temptation of leftover pastries, cookies, beligan waffles, and sticky buns from the staff meeting. For a second I almost reached for one. I made myself stop, I wasn't even really hungry! It's just bad habits I've fallen back into that make my hands do that. 30 more days like that. I had a really good NRLW workout, too.

Lily, lol, you're so right, I love the visual of your porch. I never thought redneck comedy was particularly funny until I moved here and then I started "getting" the jokes - I wasn't extremely sheltered as a kid but life was different where I grew up! On that note, my BF's old truck has been sitting, dead, in my "yard" (er, sand pile) for the past 8 months. I finally told him to get that hunk of !@#$ out of my yard, that he may be a redneck but I'm not. He towed it 10 feet into the neighbor's yard, who is so redneck he doesn't care at all what is there (already has a bunch of junk). sigh. :dizzy: Glad you are feeling a little better today.

Anne, 6 weeks! Hang in there! You can make it. Remove all ceramics from the house.

Shane, congrats on the job!!! Sounds like a great deal, decent pay and benefits and flexible hours! I'm sorry you and your GF had this argument. I hope that she calms down and can see the situation from your perspective.

Pat, have a great trip!

Meg, enjoy your trip! I second what Shane said - it's the perfect time of year to visit Florida. Warm but not too hot and humid yet.

I have gotten better, but you don't even want to know how many plants I've killed, let alone fish in the fish tank. It turns out a lot of plants don't like the salt spray from the Gulf. But I want fresh basil. What am I to do but try, try again? :shrug:

we just completed our FAFSA. My oldest dd will be going to Gonzaga in Spokane, WA in the fall.



My oldest is heading to college in the fall, too. Filling out the FAFSA was a joke. I don't know why they require it when it is painfully obvious that we make WAY too much money for her to be considered for any financial aid. Unfortunately, she won't even qualify to get an on-campus job based on our FAFSA forms.

Gonzaga! One of the BEST Utah Jazz basketball players ever (John Stockton) is from Gonzaga (and I had a friend who went there for a couple of years in the 80's).

Shane~great news about that FLEXIBLE job!

Lily~if you take a picture of your porch, be sure to post it here, too. We could use the laugh!!!

Update on my back: it still hurts. Yes, it's getting better every day, but it still hurts. I went home early yesterday, iced it for an hour, heated it for an hour and then stretched for 15 minutes. Then back to alternating ice and heat. I took some Tylenol before bed and I felt great when I got up, but just the nuisance of getting ready for work made it hurt again. I stretched just before going to work and that helped. Too bad the carpets here at work are so disgusting--I could get down and stretch here, but no thank you! While I'm not as stiff as I was, it is still bothersome. At least it's getting better.

[QUOTE=alinnell;2130017]My oldest is heading to college in the fall, too. Filling out the FAFSA was a joke. I don't know why they require it when it is painfully obvious that we make WAY too much money for her to be considered for any financial aid. Unfortunately, she won't even qualify to get an on-campus job based on our FAFSA forms.
[QUOTE]

Where is your daughter going to college?
Yes, I knew the FAFSA was a waste of time too but Gonzaga said we had to do it to get merit based scholarships (which she did get some).
I didn't know you could be blocked from an on-campus job based on your FAFSA-- we were kind of counting on that!

Hope your back continues to improve. My neck has been hurting for awhile-- though it isn't too severe-- it sure is annoying!

Michelle~DD will be going to Cal State Fullerton. I believe I heard it from another member (currently in college) that the FAFSA she and her parents filled out caused her to be ineligible for an on campus job. It may or may not be true. DD did get a "job" on campus, though--she'll get $2000 a year to tutor music students (they didn't indicate how much tutoring she'll need to do for this).

Michele, I have a friend that has a great dane and it is such a sweet dog. My dogs are usually so excited that they try to drag me too when I walk them (especially if they see a rabbit).


Megan, LOL, at your BF's old dead truck sitting there (well now in the neighbors yard). DH and DS had bought an old Volkswagen to use for spare parts to build a Dunebuggy with. They left that piece of @#$%%^ flipped upside down in my backyard for about 6 months, til I finally threw a fit.

Allison, no such luck on the picture. Me and the girls moved all that junk into the storage building today when they got home from school. Now it's DH's problem til he gets the gumption to haul it off. (which will probably take him at least a year, LOL).

I feel broke now after spending a fortune today on a new dark brown leather living room set and a new dining room table and chairs. I still need new end tables and lamps but they will have to wait til next month. My new furniture was just delivered about 20 min's ago. Lol, DH just called and said "so did you go look at new furniture?" and I said "I'm sitting on it". He cracked up laughing. He knew I wouldn't wait til he got home next Tuesday. LOL.

Allison, glad your back is getting a little better, but sorry you are still in pain.

My chest X-ray was improved on today's Dr. visit. I'm also on Zithromax for an increased white blood count. I'm starting to feel a little better.

Shelbey's eye problem is a sty. She wants it surgically removed, but I'm not sure that insurance would even cover that. The Dr. said it may take 6 months or so for it to go away. Has anyone else ever had a Sty and what did you do? For now she's supposed to use antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day and hot compresses to her eyelid. I had one before and it went away on it's own after a few months.

Hi Ladies, can I come and play too? I got to goal 3 months ago and it took me this long to accept the fact that maybe this time I really can maintain. I've lost the weight before but always regained it. I am trying to make this a lifestyle, not a diet. I eat healthy, normal portions. I try to exercise every day, at least some kind of exercise, even if it's just walking around the halls at work. I lift weights every other day.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone, Freda

Freda, we've got plenty of room in our sandbox so please come and play! I can tell you that hanging out with this group is the very best way to keep the weight off. :D

OMG. I'm sitting here cracking up picturing all of us playing in the sandbox. Little Lily is rearranging and recontouring the sand dunes and dying them to their best advantage. Little Mel and Meg are doing insane HIIT and sandbag weightlifting exercises. Little Jessica is making mud pies (light of course). Little Shane is ditching the sandbox for the bike stand. We would be an entertaining group of kids, that's for sure.

Bwah ha ha ha ha! :rofl: Megan, you completely crack me up!!

Of course, we'd all be having carrot sticks and hard-boiled eggs for snacktime. :D

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I was just getting to the end of a long, respond-to-everyone post and I closed out the wrong window.

All of my thoughts and well-wishings have evaporated into the ether.

Another day then. :hug:

Lily~I've never known a sty to last more than a few days with ointment and warm-wet compresses. 6 months, seriously? Weird.

Baff~how many times this week have you messed up your post?!? You crack me up!

My back is feeling better, still, but not 100% yet. I wake up feeling GREAT, but within an hour or so of normal activity it gets all tight and sore again. I hope I'll be back to normal Sunday or Monday.

Hi all! I had my first visit with an occupational therapist for my wrists today. I'm supposed to go twice a week for the next six weeks. He seemed really thorough on his intake examination so I'm hopefully he'll give me something that will really help. Today he did ultrasound and "massage" -- basically he put cocoa butter on my wrists, then took a piece of plastic and scraped it all over, so that the areas of inflammation and scar tissue turned bright red (and it hurt!). Plus he gave me some stretches to do and wants me to use an ice pack for 5-10 minutes during lunch time. Mostly I am kind of excited that he told me NOT to wear my splints anymore! Apparently they are useful in acute injuries, but mine is so far in the chronic phase that they may actually make it worse. I'm perfectly happy to not have to deal with them.

Freda - welcome!!!

Allison - glad to hear your back is improving. I am guessing that the on-campus jobs thing means that the FAFSA says she is not eligible for "work-study" jobs. This is where you do some job on campus that is federally approved and then federal money is put toward your tuition for it. When I did FAFSAs for college, they gave me small loans ($2500/year -- tuition was $40,000) and said I could do a work study, but my parents wanted me to focus on schoolwork so they declined the work study (but took the loans).

Megan - :rofl: Mmm, mud pies!

Lily - LOL about DH and the furniture! That was a great response. I hope your new meds will clear up your problems.

Speaking of redneck backyards, let me just tell you - you don't have to be in the boonies to have one! Or I should say, a redneck FRONT yard! On our way to work, right after we pass through an expensive neighborhood and right before we hit the industrial parks, there is this totally redneck house. They have about 16 cars on their front lawn!!!! I'm not exaggerating, I counted them! One is a pickup truck full of tires. :lol: Our homeowner's association has lots of rules to prevent stuff like that (like "no parking broken cars anywhere in the subdivision" and "no parking on the street for more than two consecutive nights").

Michele - I love dogs! My parents had a great dane before I was born, and a great dane/rhodesian ridgeback mix when I was a baby/toddler. I always considered labs to be "small to medium" in size! :lol: I used to ride that dog like a horse when I was 2 or 3.

Hi everyone else! :wave:

Hi everyone,

Welcome Freda glad you came to join us.

I had a long post typed up but decided that it was too depressing so I erased it.

I will say that I'm on plan with my eating and hoping the diuretics and antibiotics help soon so I can exercise again. I think my body is exhausted and that I have overdone it lately. Today I slept til 11AM and I plan to take a total rest day all day.

Hope everyone else has a great day.

Michele - I love dogs! My parents had a great dane before I was born, and a great dane/rhodesian ridgeback mix when I was a baby/toddler. I always considered labs to be "small to medium" in size! :lol: I used to ride that dog like a horse when I was 2 or 3.


Every time we go to the dog park about 10 people ask where her saddle is or ask if they can ride her! And she is a fairly small Great Dane!:joker:

I am hiding out in my computer room now to avoid seeing the brownies that Lacy and Shelbey are baking. I just don't feel enough in control to stop at one, so I will avoid them altogether.

Jessica, I too always thought of labs as medium size but no one thinks that when they see my fat Molly.

I am so tired of looking at the numbers on my bathroom scale. I've been going up and up and up, yet I haven't changed the way I eat. Ah, but I have a raging cold--my head hurts, my face hurts, and I just want to lay down and pull the covers over my head. So, I THINK I know that the weight gain is because my body is sick and focusing on getting better or fighting off whatever this dang bug is. On the other hand, I DON'T LIKE THAT SCALE GOING UP! I don't deserve a weight gain. I've been on program! UGH! If I'm going to gain, why can't I enjoy the food that would give me an honest gain. I have to be patient. I know that I'm sick, and I've learned that my weight will return to "normal" when I finally get better. Someone, reassure me!

Sorry you are sick! I hope you feel better soon! Remember, if you are drinking lots of fluids, you will be retaining water. It probably isn't a good idea to weigh yourself when you are sick.

That being said, how often do the rest of you weigh yourselves? I think I am scale obsessed. It is in my bathroom and I find myself weighing at least once a day and sometimes more. I try not to let the numbers bother me, but rather motivate me to go to the gym, etc. I weigh in at WW once a week so I know I shouldn't weigh so much at home, but I can't seem to help it!

goalsuccess, sorry you are sick. I've been sick quite a lot the last few months and I've also noticed that it hasn't shifted the scale in my favor either. Some of it was poor eating on my part. Some of it was not eating at all. No real exercise for me lately other than working on my house. I really think once we are well that the weight will start coming back off. I keep telling myself that.

Michele, I only weigh once a week. The daily fluctuation drives me nuts and makes me feel bad even when my eating is totally on-plan.

I am so proud tonite, I resisted the brownies that Lacy, Shelbey and Laura were eating while we played cards. I was hungry too so I ate an orange instead. Now, to just do that a million more times and I'll be back at goal.

goal, a weight gain does not necessarily equal a fat gain. I'm sure you are just experiencing some of the normal fluctuations in hydration levels if you are eating and exercising on plan.

Michele, I weigh myself daily. I find I need to see the fluctuations to understand what is normal. The truth is that weight is never constant, and if I see a high or low number, I want to know if it is in the normal range or if it is something I need to take action on. That way I don't stress over every blip, at least when I'm eating on plan.

Lily, way to go on the orange.

Ah, a day off today. I plan to rest, have lunch with a friend, do a couple loads of laundry, rest, and put together my new double jogger, and oh yeah, rest some more. I'm sure I'll be going back and forth between birth shows and the Food network on TV.

Anne

Hi everyone,

You know, I'm happy it's Friday, but usually I'm so relieved it's Friday b/c I'm sooooo tired. This week, I'm not tired. Hooray for sleep! Food is good. Plan April NANS (no alky no sweets) is going well. My roommate doesn't think I can do it, so I'm even more determined. :p Workouts are good. The body-weight matrix is still kicking my behind, in a good way.

Anne, enjoy your day of "rest"! Sounds like you are planning to get some chores done, too, but do get some extra rest in.

Lily, congratulations on resisting the brownie. Don't be so hard on yourself - you are sick and need to focus on getting your body well. That is your first priority. And don't worry about being "too depressing" - we are here for you! :hug:

Michele, goalsuccess, sometimes you need to just hide the scale from yourself, it can play too much with your head. Sometimes I weight daily, every few days, and occasionally I need to hide the scale in my closet and just weigh once a week. It can be a useful tool, but not if it's doing more psychological damage than good!

And like I told Lily - when you're sick, while you do need to think about your health, you don't need to be thinking about a number on the scale!

My parents lab is really fat too! He is small framed for a lab, but fat. There is no nice way to put it.

Jessica, I don't have experience w/ occupational therapy but it sounds like he, along w/ your new dr., are really taking you seriously and trying to help. I'm glad you finally seem to have found people who are helping you in the right direction.

Allison, how's your back today? Continuing to get better, I hope!

Baffled, lol, sorry about the post. Congrats on being smoke-free for 7 weeks!!! That is really an accomplishment!!!

Meg, we'd definitely have the healthiest sandbox snacks.

Freda, welcome! Hop on in. :)

Does anyone have any exciting plans for the weekend?

Hi maintainers,

No exciting plans for the weekend.
I am somehow dead tired. But I had a great moment in Yoga class today: I was able to put my head to the floor while standing widde legged with stretched legs. I think that is great. Also, I went to get a haircut and i bought a gazillion cute clothes for DD and myself in the thriftstore.

Now let spring begin, I am so ready for it !

Have a great weekend all,
rabbit

Hi, I'm reading the posts, trying to get to know everyone a little better.

I think when we're sick our bodies kind of tell us what to do. It needs more rest, usually not more food, but something comforting. Chicken soup seems to work, old Jewish Penicillin. Just take care of yourself. Sometimes I find myself trying to medicate myself with food just to feel better though, I eat too much thinking it will help. You know it's not going to, but those bad habits die hard!

I'm a rehab nurse. We work with the therapy department. I hope you get some help there. I know all our therapists are very dedicated and caring. Some of their methoids seem a little outlandish, but they know what they're doing, so I don't question.

I weigh myself once a week. Any more than that drives me nuts. If I gain a pound (I haven't yet) I would wait a bit longer and maybe weigh every other day to see if it was a real gain and then get to work taking it off.

Congrats on not eating those brownies! Not sure I could have been that strong. And, besides, the "flat belly diet" says that you should add chocolate to your diet. I'm not really on that diet, don't know THAT much about it, but I have added some things to my own diet. Like using the good fat, and trying to incorporate some into every meal.

God make it a good day, Freda

Now that I am at goal I weigh every day and write my weight on my calendar each day, hoping I can see a pattern developing. I want to maintain my loss and have found that I have to be on red alert to keep my weight loss. This is something I have not been able to do in the past. These forums are so full of great information. I follow the advice by those who have been able to maintain their weight loss.

Lily-- that is impressive on the brownies! Brownies have to be one of my major downfalls. Willpower!

Anne, I hope you get to have a nice restful day.

Megan, I'm trying to be more cheerful about my current weight. It is starting to come down a little since getting back on the diuretic. I sure was retaining a ton of extra fluid. Right now, I badly miss going to the gym and am seriously hoping to be well enough by next week to start going again.

Baffled, big congrat's on 7 weeks smoke-free.

Thanks ladies about the brownie situation. I feel even stronger in my willpower today after being able to resist them.

My DD told me yesterday that when I went to the school that some of her friends that hadn't seen me in a long time commented on how "skinny" I am. This made me feel good cause I certainly haven't felt "skinny" in several months.

bargoo, that's a good idea that you have there. I admit that I am struggling right now, but feel like I'm back on track.

The bad news today is the school called and I had to go pick up Lacy. She couldn't quit vomiting again. I pray the Dr.'s can help her soon. It is causing her some major problems with depression. She cries and says "I just want to be like a normal teenager".

I've procrastinated as long as I can, so today I must go pay my bills.

Good morning.

No change in my back today. I actually woke up in a little pain which isn't normal. But it hasn't gotten any worse--just kind of the same as yesterday. The only thing I did different is I used my massager on it for a few hours last night. Perhaps that was too much.

Anne~have a great day off!

Megan~isn't it funny how when someone says "you can't do it" it makes you more determined to do it? Just to spite them, or just to prove them wrong! My DD does this all the time!

Hi everyone, TGIF! This week has gone by fast but I always like that better than weeks that drag on and on. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Freda and Megan - you're right, I do seem to finally have some competent people taking care of me who are doing something rather than sitting around saying "maybe it will get better, or maybe you have a terrible disease, so we'll just wait and see you again in 3 months." :P

No loss for me this week, second week in a row. I blame the recumbent bike (or maybe constipation :o ). Eating has been pretty on plan, but I just don't get a very good workout on the bike unless I bump up the resistance, but I'm afraid to change the resistance because it makes my knees hurt more. I must be the only person in the world whose knees hurt on a recumbent bike and an elliptical. I almost wish they were sending me to therapy for my knees instead of my wrists -- the wrists have been frustrating for longer, but if my knees felt good at least I could do half of the things I've had to cut out.

I'm thinking about signing up for a water aerobics class through our local parks department. The only problem is that it's at 7pm, when my ideal time would be 6pm or so. I don't really want to have to wait until 8 for dinner. Plus DH doesn't want to spend the money on it (don't tell him how much my haircut and highlights cost last night!!! :o ).

Anne - I hope you enjoy taking a rest!

Lily - great job avoiding the brownie! I wouldn't have been able to!

Michele - I weigh once a day (in the morning, naked). Sometimes I hop on the scale at the gym too (around 5:30pm), just to get a second monitor. My afternoon weight (with all my clothes on) is pretty reliably four pounds over my morning weight, so I figure that is pretty standard. It is nice to see that when my home scale goes down, so does the gym scale. :)

I finished reading Mindless Eating the other day. I posted about it on the Maintenance Library forum, but I just have to say that I used some of his techniques today! We had lunch provided at work again, and while I ate a big salad and a piece of bread instead of sandwiches and chips, I was really tempted by the cookies (as always). I almost went to get one, but I decided that I had both a "food policy" and I made a new "food trade-off." My policy is that I do not eat sweets or desserts on weekdays. Since that didn't seem to be helping me avoid the cookie (Panera bread double chocolate!), I told myself, "If you really want that cookie, then tomorrow you can go to Panera and get one." That was enough to convince me not to eat it right now, and I'm sure I will have forgotten about it by tomorrow.

For the record, this is my THIRD project meeting in a row where I resisted the cookies!!!

I have chosen to weigh myself daily. I don't get too crazy about the numbers on the scale, but I do watch to see what they do. If they go up, and up, and up, I start looking to see what I'm doing that could be encouraging that up and up and up. At present, though, with this nasty cold, I'm CERTAIN I'm eating as I usually do and yet am watching the scale go up. I'm choosing not to eat to make myself feel better; I just continue to eat as I do though I'm thinking soup will be a great choice for tonight. Today, the cold has now moved into my throat--feels like strep--lovely! I'm headed for walk in care on Saturday morning to get something to shoot this out of my system. With my luck, the meds they give me will make me gain more weight and then I'll really be upset. However, I am confident that once I am on the mend, the weight will go down. I've seen that happen with my weight firsthand, so I DO understand what's going on; I just don't like it :(
Lilly--way to go on the brownies, lady! I love chocolate, so I know that it takes a lot to say no over and over again. Yesterday, I had my first piece of chocolate in 15 months---one small square--a staff member brought me back a chocolate bar from Russia. I wanted a piece really bad, so I broke the bar into tiny pieces, took one of the smallest for me, and then took it around to everyone in the room and offered them the opportunity to try Russian chocolate. It worked. The entire bar was gone. I took slow small bites of my piece and actually left half of it beside my computer where it will still be on Monday when I go in and throw it away (unless there are mice at work). Was the chocolate fabulous? no. In fact, though it was dark chocolate, it was kind of flat. Not worth more time and attention than I gave it, but I kept the pretty Russian chocolate package :)
FYI: Though the scale says I'm gaining, I bought more smaller size pants today which fit nicely, so I'm just hoping and praying that this is my body fighting off this crud. Gosh! I hate being sick. I can't make myself take a break when I have homework to do, a house to clean, and the sun's out! My homework assignment is due on Wed, so have to work on it piece by piece this weekend, no matter what!

Lilybelle-- I don't know what's been going on with your daughter, but I hope she feels better soon. My older daughter was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome last year and I know all she wanted more than anything was to be "normal". It caused a great deal of depression and weight gain for her.

I am so glad it is Friday! Don't have big plans for the weekend. I weigh in tomorrow. There are several of us who go out for coffee afterwards so I always look forward to the socializing. My weight was up last week so I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow. I try to eat a small dinner the night before a weigh in and no breakfast in the morning!

I have an issue and since I'm new, I'm not sure where to post it. My husband has been making comments to me about my weight and my continued motivation. He thinks I am becoming obsessed with losing weight. I am trying to explain to him that I am maintaining and this is what I need to do to maintain, but I think he is seeing that I'm still "dieting" so he thinks I'm still trying to lose (I would like to lose a few more pounds but I'm okay where I am if I don't). I think part of it is that he saw me heavier for so long and loved me that way and he may not find me as attractive lighter. Another issue is that my "girls" (if you know what I mean) have all but disappeared. I've lost 30 pounds and I swear 25 of them are "up there". I know he doesn't like that. Has anyone dealt with similar issues? He is acting like I'm anorexic but I'm still at the upper range of normal. I weighed a little bit less when we got married than I do now so he has seen me at this weight, but after two kids (and much more exercising), things are probably proportioned differently!

Poor men, they are so insecure. Sometimes they worry that you may look too good and someone else will think you are attractive.On the other hand he probably just doesn't understand that we can never go back to our old way of eating, if we don't want to gain it all back.

Allison, I have also noticed that if my back is hurting and I use the massager on it for more than 30 min's that my back seems to be worse instead of better. For me, it's more like a burning pain. Maybe cutting back the time of it would help.

Jessica, I always feel like the elliptical doesn't cause me knee pain, but it feels awkward on my knees. If that makes any sense. But, the treadmill, recumbent bike , stair-stepper and such doesn't seem to bother my knees at all. So, you're not alone. Oh, and big congrat's on resisting the cookies 3 times, that is great. That was brilliant to skip the cookie and tell yourself if you really want it that you can get it tomorrow.

goal, hope you feel better soon. This crud stuff is really nasty. Mine has been lingering for several weeks and I'm now on my 3rd round of antibiotics. I'm very hopeful that this is the end of it so I can get back to the business of exercise. That is great too how you handled the chocolate. I never have liked dark chocolate myself, but would probably eat it now if I got a chance.

Michele, my DD has problems with chronic vomiting. She has had a previous heart surgery when she was 8 yrs. old and a hiatal hernia repair at 9 yrs. old. She is getting more testing now both on her stomach and her heart problem. She misses a tremendous amount of school due to being ill. Her waist is larger than it should be, but her BMI is in the "normal" category. She told me "It doesn't matter what I accomplish in this town, I will always be remembered as the sick kid". She is now on an antidepressant. I'm very sorry to hear of your DD's diagnosis too.

I managed to get my grocery shopping done and my bills all paid today. Lacy helped me pick out groceries and I was proud that she opted for all healthy foods. So, no big temptations in my house this time. Plus we ate dinner out, both of us had a grilled chicken salad with Fat Free Dressing. I tried the dip each bite in the dressing instead of pouring the dressing on my salad. I noticed that I only ate 1/2 as much dressing as I would normally eat and I left almost half my food on my plate. I feel much more in control again. Thank Goodness.

Michele, after I reached my goal weight my DH used to nag me about "still dieting". It wasn't that he didn't like how I looked, it was that he thought I was trying to keep losing more. In time he learned that it takes vigilance to maintain a weight loss and I can't eat like I used to. As for the size of the girls, mine are much smaller now than before, but it's a fair trade-off for the rest of my body being smaller than it was before too.

Hi everyone,

I'm at work and I will probably be here for a long time - I have a big deadline coming up (April 15) and though I've already been working late all week, I'm going to have to do a lot more working late/weekends to make it! I let myself "sleep in" until 8:00 this morning, went to the gym, and here I am at work. I was supposed to work tomorrow but a friend had a baby last night, so I might go see them in the hospital.

Not only does my roommate not think I can go all of April without alcohol or sweets, my BF doesn't think so either! They were talking last night and they both think I can do the alcohol, but sweets will be my downfall. Oh!!! I am doubly determined to prove them wrong. My stubbornness is much stronger than my love for chocolate. Seriously, have they met me? (As a side note, I remember when I was a quiet, agreeable child and marvel at how far I've come... I call those "the doormat years").

Michele, I did have to deal with a lot of friends and family making comments along the lines of "now you don't need to loose any more weight" even after I'd stopped losing. My co-workers who see me eat every day finally realized that this is a way of life, and I wasn't going to become anorexic or anything, but it was quite annoying for a while. I tried to just smile and respond as politely as I could. My girls did disappear but they regained a little bit of their shape as my body settled into maintenance. I just use a push-up bra if I really feel the need to make them bigger. ;)

goal, hang in there with the scale. Your "crud" sounds nasty. I hope you feel better soon.

Jessica, it sounds like you're making a great habit of avoiding the treats your work gives you. They feed you a lot!

Rabbit, there's nothing like a new haircut and new clothes! Just ask Shane, lol. jk, we all love a nice haircut and new clothes. Sounds like a fun shopping trip! Congrats on the new yoga abilities.

Happy Saturday everyone.

Ladies I went to the Dr. again today so he could recheck my lungs and my white blood count. Both are now much better. The water retention is now leaving me and my left arm and leg are back to normal size. The greatest news in the world is I'm down 9 lbs. since Tuesday. I was so worried about my weight but now see it was from the extra fluid that I was carrying. This makes me so happy and I'm even more motivated again to stick 100% on plan and be back at my goal very soon. Just thought I'd share the great news.

WOW lily that is great news!

Megan - you have to work the whole weekend? Ouch! I'm sending good vibes your way, i hope you will be able to finish quicly and enjoy some time off

A good thing happened today ... I was driving DS & his teammates to a field hockey game today...and one of the kids mentioned how DS mom (I) sounded like real smart, like he was joking. And my son actually retaliated like a lion...immidiately jumped in with that his mom was really awesomely smart like you would not believe. I was utterly amazed, and flattered.

Have a great weekend all,
Rabbit

Lily~glad the water is leaving you. I think I'd go crazy with that kind of a gain even knowing that it was due to meds. Hope your DD feels better soon and the doctor can sort things out for her. I have a friend who's daughter spent several years in and out of hospitals without anyone knowing what her problem was (she ended up on a macrobiotic diet and it helped a lot). Anyway, it all resonated with her and now she's in college in hopes of becoming a doctor.

Megan~I can't believe your BF is not on your side! Prove him wrong!!!

I'm down a pound--I'm feeling good. I didn't use the massager last night and I woke up feeling good and DS and I took the dogs on a 2 mile run and that didn't hurt either, so I'm considering myself "healed." I took DS to the ortho this morning, followed by the pet store for dog food and then to the running store to get DS some proper running shoes. He's excited to try them out tomorrow. I've run a few other errands and now I'm slowing down to get some computer work done (which I don't want to do but bills must be paid).

Everyone have a great weekend.

Thanks ladies, I was definitely scale shocked when I first went to the Dr. and his scale read 164 lbs. I knew I was terribly swollen, but I just wanted to cry and give up. Instead I went back to reading labels, avoiding all salt and taking my diuretic. I again was writing down every bite I took and keeping it at 1400 cals a day. My 2nd appointment showed me at 160 lbs. so I was thankful that it was starting to come off. 4 days later I was back down to 151 lbs. (which is still above my goal, but something I can mentally deal with). My Dr. wasn't at all surprised that the water weight left that quick. As fast as my weight soared up there, I knew there was no way I had eaten 10,000 cal's a day for it to be fat. Even my face looks much thinner than it did a week ago. My blood pressure is again back to normal now that the water is gone. On that first visit it was up to 176/106.

My pants-o-meter had failed me cause even with that huge jump in weight , I was still able to wear my size 5's.

My plan now is to continue to log every bite, avoid salt like the plague, take my med's and walk my dogs outside a little further each day until I can make it back to the gym for my regular exercise. Here's hoping to see the 149 lbs. again within a month.

Allison, I think Lacy is acting a little happier right now. She was smiling and playing cards with me after dinner last night and she is now logging down her food too and watching what she eats again. She is grounded right now and her misery had definitely spilled over onto everyone else for a few days.

DH will be home on Tuesday, I sure hope he can use a tiller and get my ground dug up for my garden. I need to start planting.

HI GALS ~

Well I am maintaining...mostly....I keep going between 173 and 175...which is up a little from when I was able to stay around 171-2. I have been out of town so much though so I think I have done pretty good...but...I need to step it up a bit!

Angie and I did a 5K this morning with my daughter and nephew. A few other family members had to miss because of work and sickness. We had a great time as usual. Angie whipped me good! There are pictures in the Weight Loss Support forum under C-N Nothing But Butt in case you want to see our team shirts :) Feel welcome to join the 3FC 5K too! we need you to reach our goal of 100...it's under Angie Leaves EZMONEY also in Weight Loss Support!

MEGAN ~ I can't help you out with advice on the alcohol ;)

LILY ~ Praying for your daughter's health...and yours! You can do that 5K in the installment plan ;)

ALLISON ~ I hope your back is better. Angie and I live (I have for 42 years) about 5 miles from downtown Carlsbad...it is nice down there...we spend a lot of time there walking along the beach or going for dinner.

RABBIT ~ :carrot: for your son! Oh and that yoga thing...Angie has done yoga for years...and at 48 she bends pretty darn good! :);)


Well ladies I gotta run....have a great week! Gary

Traveling Michele,

I, too, have heard from LOTS of people that I've got to stop losing weight. I try to reassure them that I'm no longer trying to lose weight, I am toning up the same pounds and that has made me appear, happily, slimmer. I also try to kind of ignore their comments as I KNOW they don't know the slimmer me--how could they recognize her when I look in the mirror sometimes and don't?

As for my husband, he likes the slimmer version of me--not necessarily because of how I look but because of how I FEEL about ME. I like the new me, and it affects how I act with everyone. I wasn't a total b---- before, but I'm happier and feel attractive/sexy and it affects how I act, I think. I'm not one to give advice, but if it were my husband, I'd be talking with him (gently) about how important my weight loss is and how I really need his support. Perhaps he is concerned that others will find you attractive (as he probably does) and feels threatened, or maybe he, too, needs to get used to the new economy sized you :) I just think that the support of family members is so important. Perhaps if you explained why you lost and how you feel about the new you?

WooHoo, Lilly! Down 9 lbs. That's absolutely fabulous. Hope once I get off these meds for my cold I, too, see a water retention loss. For now, I just know that my clothes don't reflect the weight gain now of almost 6 lbs. UGH!