LA Weight Loss - Friends and Losers Thread April 28th- May 4th

Ok, it's 10:30am and I am the first to post? Where is everyone??

I fell off the wagon this weekend for sure with a cheesesteak from Pat's in South Philly. I bought brand new living room furniture Friday night so we decided to celebrate. Talk about SALT CITY! I was thirsty for hours afterwards and couldn't get enough water! It was definitely worth it. Anyone who has had a REAL Philly cheesesteak will attest to that!

This is the last full week of classes and I am thrilled to death. I cannot wait for this semester to be over with!

Have a great POP day!

I toppled right off that wagon too.

My DS had a Pack Campout this weekend and it was almost 6 pm they hadn't started dinner and a storm was rolling in. We packed the tents and the boys up and went to Outback and had Cheese Fries and Bushman's mushrooms (which are fried). I had a salad too if that counts for anything. Oh well, I am back on track and didn't do too much damage it appears.

I did hike with the boys on Saturday and for the first time since my DS entered into Cub Scouts, I did a hike and was not out of breath when we got back. It was something to be proud of, but not something that earned me cheese fries (we did only order 1/2 an order and several of us ate them, so it wasn't like I ate and entire order by myself ... I really sound like I am trying to justify eating it).

WTF? Only 6 pages last week? COME ON PEOPLE....we can do better than this!!!!

Lettie and Felicia.....so good to see you. Lettie, while you entered Onderland.......I have sunk to my lowest point as a fatty. No more though.....I remember a girl filled with confidence......and she is pretty lost right now...........and I am taking this week to find her and remind her of who she is. OOOOps, sorry for the, "it's all about me moment." Felicia.......I can relate to how you are feeling.....and Lettie......I am super d duper excited for you!!!! Inspire me, girl!!!

Barbara.......what you said about DD's DBF is what I have been hoping for for a long time. My neighbor across the street told me that maybe this all had to happen because he needed us to help him grow up. I shudder to think that DD would have to endure all of this for his sake.......but who are we to question fate, right? You always have a way of putting a positive spin on things, and I want you to know how much I appreciate that. I tend to see the good things in people, but I also tend to get hurt often. I have to try to find that balance to help my DD......who hates me right now. I am not even kidding.......her poor little hormones are going insane, and she is soooo crabby. I swear, she doens't even remember what a decent tone is anymore....:lol:. Just imagine.........a 17 yo girl who is already angry at the world........plus mega hormones......eek. But anyway, thank you.........

And thank you to all of you for your kind words of encouragement and wisdom in regards to DD. I appreciate all of you taking the time. It truly helps me.

I only skimmed after being away for the last 5 or 6 days....so I know I missed a few things here and there....

But I did see your story about hell, Katie. Out of the mouths of babes.......I just love it :)

And Laurie.........congrats on your new Grandson. Pictures???

And Dan........have fun at your Rush concert :)

And where the heck is Amylou?????

Ok, I have to run.......I have to go to Walmart this a.m. and then to drop off a lunch for DD. I also have to check the flylady today and get with the program. I have been good and my house looks good, but I have not been taking on my weekly assignments.......and since I am really going to be good to me today......I am going to go check it out :) Have a great day everyone :)
XOXO

HI,
I hope I am in the right place? I am doing LA weight Loss
I am doing okay down ten poinds :carrot:
I only weigh once a week. We live aways from the city. Its working fine for
me.

Roma

Welcome Roma!!! You are definetely in the right place.. Post early and often.. Let us know if you have questions, but be warned, we may need your advice too as we wind down this path!! Nice job on your loss so far!!

Amy.. I can just about forgive you for having a "Pat's"... That's one of those cultural icons that everyone should experience at least once.. Do you have yours "wit" or "wit out"? :lol:

Our weekend was good.. Danny had a soccer tournament.. They dropped 2 and won one, but the two we lost were very close.. In fact, one team they lost to, had destroyed them the week before.. They made us look awful.. So we spent practicing last week in preparation for facing this team again and it paid off... We only lost by one this time around...

We're doing a pre-Rush BBQ tomorrow night at a friend's house, so Liz and I are taking some low fat chicken brats.. Should be a good time.. I'm getting really jazzed!!!

On the music topic.. If any of you are Asia fans from way back when, the original members (John Whetton, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and Geoff Downes) have gotten back together and have released a nifty new CD called "Phoenix".. It's got that great classic Asia sound, with a bit more maturity added in.. I recommend it!

I'm in training for the rest of the day, so I'll talk to you later!

I was on a rollercoaster this weekend, can't help but to weigh myself every morning, but at an all-time low this morning. Exercising really makes a difference when you hit a plateau.

I'm wondering if anyone has had problems skipping some fats every now and then, I usually only use fats when I have salad dressing and I'm not having any salads today. Let me know...

Hey, all! We actually did good this weekend. I went to WI on Saturday and had lost 4 pounds since Tuesday. That was good to see! DD's first dance recital was on Saturday and she did so great! Afterward, I asked, "Baby, were you scared when you walked out onstage and saw all of those people?" and said, "No! They were there to see ME!!" I'm deep in planning her 4th birthday (May 22nd) and I'm excited! Sunday, there was church and then DS and DH had track practice (DH is a coach and DS is learning to throw the discus and shot put.). We ate well and didn't mess up at all! I'm hoping to see some more results on Tuesday!

Hi Ladies and Gents! So guess what I discovered last night... it was kind of depressing. I need to be at 135 to be at a normal BMI. That makes me sad. Because once I hit my LA goal I will still have 20 lbs to go to get to 135. ugh! Guess I have a new goal huh?

Hope you all had a good weekend. We had a blizzard! Can you believe it? Ridiculous! Seriously! I heard we are supposed to get more snow this weekend. If this is true I am moving! HA!

Oh, Cecilia.......a blizzard? That is just gross. I was planting flowers and such all weekend..........

Dan.......did you see the movie with the Saturday night live dude, Andy Samberg, where he is a real dumb dare devil who thinks he is Evil Kenevil (sp)? I cannot remember the name right now........oh, Hot Rod? There is quite a bit of music from Asia in that movie :) The movie is kind of dumb, but funny......it all depends on who you watch it with. If you watch it with a bunch of teenagers.....it is pretty darn funny. Anyway.........I now associate Asia with really bad stunts.....and it makes me laugh, just a little too much.

Oh, and welcome Roma and Julie and any other newbies :)

Hi guys! I am busy playing catchup today. We took our kids to Helena, Montana over the weekend to mine saphires and garnets. It was fun, and we found some really pretty stuff. Today I am trying to work and get my laundry and housework done.

Have a great day everyone!!!

hey everyone. just thought i'd stop by quickly to say hi! :)

Hey there skinny, Jillian :)

Hey everyone....I don't know if any of you have checked out Jillian's link for her NAMI walk........but if you have a second or two...check it out :) It is at the bottom of her signature.

Ok, ok........I will get to work. I just bought some new bulbs at Walmart, and I am sooo excited. I want to plant them, but I have to wait until tomorrow. We are supposed to get our last (we hope, we hope) frost tonight after midnight. I should not get any, as I don't live in a valley.....but you just never know. I will be covering all of my plants tonight.......what a pain in the butt!!!
XOXO

Hiya everyone!

We're lucky there isn't a breaking news story today about a crazy woman throwing a scale from a helicopter...

It's been a strange week and it's not just the sclae because I've checked on more than one (obsessed much?) but there is a 13lb discrepancy between last Monday's weight and today's. Seriously WTF? TOM is here and we're going through a heatwave that does normally make me retain extra but I haven't seen a water weight fluctuation like that since I was pregnant with Mini-Me 17 years ago! I'll be really watching the salt and picking up some lemons at the grocery store on my way into work this afternoon I guess.

Hey guys!

Kelly- It’s funny how after you’ve been exercising for a while how anything physical gets much easier! Not as much getting out of breath!

Dan- I am definitely “wit”! My boyfriend is from VA originally and ordered a “cheese steak with extra cheese.” They went easy on him!

Nicole- You’re amazing, my mother wouldn’t be as supportive as you’ve been! I too have lost my self-confidence. There is NONE going on over here, let me tell you! I completely understand.

Roma- Welcome! Where are you from? Keep up the amazing work!

Julie- I eat almonds. They’re great for fats. I definitely fall short on fats though.

Felicia- Welcome back! What an amazing way to jump back on the wagon!!! 4lbs! That’s awesome!

Cecilia- that can be disappointing, I understand. Hang in there, baby steps! All towards a healthier you!

Hello to Katie, Jill, Liza, et al!!!!!

Hey there skinny, Jillian :)

Hey everyone....I don't know if any of you have checked out Jillian's link for her NAMI walk........but if you have a second or two...check it out :) It is at the bottom of her signature.

XOXO

thanks for the "plug" on my Walk, Nicole! :) you're so great!

Hiya everyone!

We're lucky there isn't a breaking news story today about a crazy woman throwing a scale from a helicopter...

It's been a strange week and it's not just the sclae because I've checked on more than one (obsessed much?) but there is a 13lb discrepancy between last Monday's weight and today's. Seriously WTF? TOM is here and we're going through a heatwave that does normally make me retain extra but I haven't seen a water weight fluctuation like that since I was pregnant with Mini-Me 17 years ago! I'll be really watching the salt and picking up some lemons at the grocery store on my way into work this afternoon I guess.

So, uh, are you pregnant, then?

Okay, I am ducking, Liza! Don't hit me, I was just kidding!

LMAO Katie... so not even a possibility....

I'm screening calls from convents asking for tips on celibacy these days....

Hummm lost that one:o
Will try again.
Hi all
Jersy......... I live in Oregon.

Moma Nicole....... Hi

Today was not a good day. WE had to put our GS in the hospital. He was trying to have cars hit him.Girl problems.
WE took guardianship last year. All he had to do was go to school ,and stay there. try to get something out of school!!
Not sure how long he will be there ,maybe a week. I sure hope they can make him see what he needs to do.
Roma

Good morning everyone
Well I had a good wi this morning down 4 lbs and its about time been stuck for 2 weeks:(. I spent the weekend doing flylady decluttering in our attic and basement . Guess it was meant to be because I packed up a whole ton of clothes and and old kitchen stuff and a couple sets of bunk beds to get rid of this morning . And on the evening news I see that the down the road a few miles a tornado did some major damage so all my "clutter" will be put to good use in a time of need.
Congrats to all who lost this week .
Amy I am so jealous ! I miss a good cheesteak sandwich once in a while. But here in VA they are pretty hard to find.
Well have to cut this short and get my family up and moving this am we are all pretty sluggish . No one wants to move away from the warm covers.
Have a great day everyone .

Good Tuesday morning everybody!!!

Liza-I loved the dog story! We cant save them all, but one at a time we can try!!

Lois-You are going to be one skinny woman if you reach your goal. You're 2 inches taller than me and your goal is 40 pounds lower, wow! LOL

Felicia-Great to see you back!
Hello to everybody else, have an amazing week!

My mom had surgery yesterday, had an artery 90% blocked but she did great!
My LAWL ad was in yesterdays paper. I'll try to get it scanned and put in my profile.

good morning everyone :) I hope you are all doing well today. I have a busy day, but will try to check in later :)
XOXO

Hi All,

Hey Michie, Glad that the exercise is working for you. It is not that you stop losing fat, it is just the muscle you gain makes the scale slow down a bit, but a firm body is a wonderful thing to have.

Cecilia, The BMI is just a number someone came up with. It really does not make sense that everyone of the same height should have the same goal. I have a dear friend, same height as I am... When she was very lean, she weighted something like 114 lbs. For me, last I checked I had close to 135 pounds of lean body mass... so 114 pounds is really not likely to happen for me. My friend got up to 135 and had a body fat reading of 35% I think it was... She was really FAT and her BMI was still just fine. For me last I checked I was 165 pounds, so just into the "overweight" BMI region and my body fat was between 18-20%. Which is considered the range for an athlete... So you really have to go with what is good for your body... It makes me mad that my friend is not nagged by the company health screening software to lose weight, and I am..... They even have you put in your body fat percentage... and I put in I was 19% and 163 pounds last time I took it, and its advice.... to lose weight down to a BMI of 22.... which I calculated and if I lost all fat, they were recommending that I get down to a body fat percentage of 9! Which really I believe is not healthy for a woman at all, and so I just decided to stop listening to all this BMI advice, since it is a bit crazy.

Hi Nicole... Glad you found my comments positive. Raising teen daughters is not an easy thing. My DD had major foot surgery at 15 where she could not walk for 10 weeks except on crutches... So when you talked about being snarled at and her perferring her boy friend , well I've been there and done that.. The thing is, now that it has been a few years, I see that horrible summer as a real turning point in our relationship... it brought us closer together, and I think it got her out of always questioning whether she was loved, since I know she noticed who was there for her and who was not. So just be sure that you are on the list of people who ARE there for her, and eventually your love and patiences will shine through.

Mornin' all...

Just a quick hello before I get some work done before heading out for the day...

Just a few hours away from the big concert!! Woo Hoo!!

Roma.. So sorry you're having to deal with that kind of situation... God only knows how the minds of teenagers work. I'm dreading the eventuality when I have two of them... Alexandra is getting close, but for now she's still my baby girl... Thoughts and prayers to your family!!

Be one with your POP today!!

hello all. just got home from work and now i'm off to get a workout in..i've been slacking the past few weeks..so it's time to get back into it.

hope everyone is having a good day!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

quick hi......... I am so ready for school to get out. I am really thinking that I should just stick with this job and not try to get a "real" one. this is the only job that I get the summer off and get paid!

I have been pigging out every since i went under 200! Sorry Nicole, no inspiration here. I don't even want to admit to how much I have gained! part of it is that we got our income tax return and after not eating out much we have been eating out alot and now I am just a little piggie!!!!! So I am going to stop that. I am going to give my self one week to get a handle on it before I move my ticker. one it is under 200 I just really hate to put it back up!

I need to run. i really need to clean my house and really all I want to do is take a nap........

Hey guys!

Quiet in here today! I am trying to get back on track still from this weekend. It was also TOM, so I am sure that affected everything too.

I am off for a 2 mile "brisk" walk. Talk to you later!

Hi all, :)
Well we are at it already this morning........in town and getting things done that have to be done. I dont know what happened to retirment. :devil:
Repo ........ Love to dig for anything. We dug star garnets one time. I have a ring and earings. Lovem

Dan2112 .... thanks :dizzy: I know we will get through this.

JL... I wish my knee would let me do more. I do PT twice a week to get the
old knee back in shape.
Well off to get something done.

Roma :cool:

Hey everyone!!

Just a quick check-in. I'm in a training class this week, so I won't be able to post much. I've been doing pretty well and keeping myself on track.

Hi everyone! I just wanted to check in! I had my first doctors appointment yesterday and everything is great. She moved my due date to November 25th and she said since I am having a repeat C-Section I will probably deliver around Nov 18th!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e257/bradleyaaron/sonoapril292.jpg

Awwww Kimberly what a great baby picture! Congratulations!!!

GRRRRRRR The search feature on here absolutely sucks! Everything I try it tells me its under the 4 word minimun and it isnt!!!!! What am I doing wrong??????????

Hey Kim- Try typing and asterisk in front or behind what you want **. that sometimes helps.

Hi Debbie!!!!

Kim.......are you looking for which numbered plan DH would be on? I tried to search it too, and it does suck. I will see if I can find that info.....

Amy- the real philly cheesesteak sounds delish.

Kelly- Doesn't it feel really good when you do something that you didn't think you could. Just a few cheese fries isn't all that bad. ;)

Nicole- How's things with DD going today? Wow, hard to believe, almost 3 weeks until you are a gma!

Roma- Welcome to the group. So sorry to hear about your GS, I hope they can help him out.

Dan- How was the concert??

Julie- There are days where I don't eat fats, but I love almonds and buy them in bulk at the HFS, so I usually eat those. I find that if I have the fats, things (ahem) seem to move better.

Felicia- Good to see you. Great job on getting back on plan and the 4 lb. loss. That was so cute of your daughter to say everybody was there to see her. Not a shy one I take it?!?

Cecilia- Like barb said, I wouldn't worry about the BMI, it's just a number. We are supposed to get snow today too, but I don't think it will happen. We still have some snow from the last storm. Before we know it, it will be in the 90's and I will be wishing for cooler weather.

Lois- WTG on the 4 lbs.

Liza- I hope some of that 13 lbs. is gone today. As far as the heat, just imagine you are here in Great Falls, it's currently a brisk 37 degrees and only supposed to get to a high of 47. BTW, I loved the dog story and the pictures. I think you really did your friends heart some good.

Kimberly- What a great picture. Congratulations.

Katie- You picked a gorgeous weekend to come up here huh? Sounds like you had a good time. I have always wanted to go to one of the yogo sapphire mines up here, but never have been.

Jillian, Lettie, Paula, Barb, Kim and everybody else - HI!!

My knee is getting better, there is still some fluid around the knee cap. I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow for a female checkup and I will have her look at it too. I haven't been to the center since I hurt it, I will probably go before the Dr's visit, then I will update my ticker. I have been logging about 12,000 steps a day just at work lately, so that will help my team out on the 6 week challenge.

Hey, guys. Not much going on around here - just trying to survive these last few weeks of school. To make it even harder, I arrived yesterday, ready to run off work for my kids, only to find that our school is totally out of copy paper!! They have ordered some more, but I will likely go and buy a case with my own money this afternoon so that I don't have to wait. At this point in the year, we're running off tests and end-of-the-year stuff, but I'm also trying to run some stuff for the beginning of next year so that I won't have to come so much during the summer!

Our 2nd grade Fun Day is tomorrow and the kids are excited. We have rented 5 big blow up jumpers and slides and will be outside from 10-2. We have plenty of water and juice for them and will also bring the school's popcorn machine out and let them have that as a treat. It's always a fun day and I take lots of pictures that the kids love taking home at the end of the year.

Gotta run. Only a few more minutes before the kids are back from P.E.!!

Hello all. Congrats to all the losers. Last week some of us discussed adding the bars back to our daily plans. I did that on Sunday and I can say that since then I haven't had any cheat days. It has been easier to stick with plan since I am getting that "treat". Just FYI.

Still no other movement on the house building. The builder was suppose to call me last week and let me know when he thought he could start in May and I haven't heard from him. So that has me concerned. I guess that is probably normal behavior, but I hate to keep pestering people.

I have also decided to stay off the scale until I have about a week of successful POP days behind me. I think the scale movement up and down, up and down was hindering my focus. Since I was staying in the neighborhood of the weight I wanted to be, it was not a big deal. We will see if that helps.

Good Luck to all with POP this week.

Yeah Nicole thats what I was looking for. I googled it and found some old LAWL posts that said men shouldnt be below red because they need so many more calories than women. I may just ask my favorite counselor at the COD and see if she'll tell me.

Cecilia- according to the charts I'm still considered overweight. I would have to get down to 145 to be in the healthy range but ya know what? Dont care, I'm completely happy where I am.

Just a shout out......

I miss Cassi and LeAnn and Evette and Julie Marie and the original Kim and Pearl and Joni and Nanci and Angie and Katy and Tina and Kristen who pops in occasionally and Lynn who disappeared when she reached goal and Megan and Libby and KatieBug our newlywed that went MIA and Erika and Candice and Wendy I and II and Sherry and and and….I know I am leaving a bunch of people out but these are a few that I remember since starting my LAWL journey!! Hope they are all doing ok!

Me Too!!!!!!!!!!

hey everyone. just checking in for the day.
not much going on with me really..

Hey, guys. Here's a short video that I made with Elizabeth's dance recital photos:
http://animoto.com/play/JfFQ0hoML2mxb7gMV0MOIA

Nicole-Can ya tell I was bored? LOL I started searching through some really old posts to see who all used to be around that arent anymore!

Good afrenoon,
My mind id not working right now,so will just flyby:D
Roma,

Love the baby picture bradlys mom:D

See.... shout outs work!

(nicole clued me in)

Thanks for missing me, Kim! I see you are doing well still, as are a lot of my old buds!

I have occasionally lurked, but was really not on plan....AT ALL. Not ready for ticker honesty yet, but I did get back on the wagon this weekend and am seeing some results. My centers closed down too, but no biggie - I have a ton of lites and the center would not have been convenient to where I work now.

SO - some search tips, for those of you trying to use it.... put your search words in quotes, with asterisks between the words. There is another board that I am on a lot and they use vbulleting too, it works like that there.

Anyway - now that I am doing LAWL again, I will try to stay on here.... it really does help!

Numba One KIM!!!! Great to "see" you chickie!!! Thanks for the tips on the search thingy, I was ready to scream this morning, nothing worked!

There IS a noticable lack of search tips! Glad to help.

Kimphin!!!! Long time since we've seen you post. I was feeling major pudgy and like I was in ticker denial myself this morning (PMS is not my happy place) and recalled something I read. Any weight that you gained can be lost again... Don't beat yourself up, just get back to doing what you know works for you, or figuring out what does.

Liza, I must be feeling your pain, since I just kind of bloated up over night and nothing even felt like it fit today. Not getting on the scale to see how big that number might be, just decided to drink lots of water and hope to unswell soon. I've not been good about drinking my water and I've been eating all kinds of salty stuff... Darn that Amy and her delicious organic soups.... I too loved your doggy story. I miss having a dog so bad, but my DH made me promise about 10,000 times (literally) that after my dear Jojo was gone that we would go awhile without a dog. I don't think he meant 2 months. Oh well, Jojo's constant illnesses did wear us both out, and I love my two kitties, who now are hardly ever far apart and constantly chasing each other around. My original kitty just seems to be so much happier now, and I get my bit a lot less (he is a big sneaky bite on the back of the legs kind of cat). So worth scooping double the kitty litter just so occasionally I don't have bite marks on the back of my legs.

Amy, I too have been doing better since adding the bars back.. well not with the salt and the water... but I was just kind of slipping more and more out of control there for a few weeks. Too much stress I think.

So we closed on the condo for our daughter and Monday and yesterday were consumed with getting her out of her apartment and into the condo. I think she has everything out of the apartment now. As her bunny was the last thing to go... Somehow I ended up on the downhill side of carrying the bunny cage in and she didn't clean it all that well before moving... ew!!!! Just glad to have it a done deal as it was stressful knowing that she had to be out by today and the place hadn't closed yet. Moving once is bad enough, but twice is just painful. So I got the great joy of assembling all the stuff I bought her from IKEA. I think she will be very happy there and she was so excited to move.

Oh, Felicia...........what a doll :) You made me misty............but it's all good......a happy misty is a good thing!!!!

We love Kim, we love Kim!!!!
XOXO

Nicole-Can ya tell I was bored? LOL I started searching through some really old posts to see who all used to be around that arent anymore!

whew..........thank goodness.........I was starting to think that was all from memory......and I was sooo jealous!!! :lol:

Hope you all are doing well. Great to read all the updates on your family and working through Weight loss too. It all ties in so much. Love the photo show felicia, Kim.. heard lots about you.. glad you are back! Jillian.. you sure are inspiring.. keep up the amazing changes! I have a busy weekend so I am still tackling the piles and piles of pink laundry along with spring cleaning. Hope you all have a super middle of the week!

*hugs*

Elizabeth

Kim - Good job pulling everyone out of hiding! I miss them too!

Barbara - I'm still swollen as ever. I've done hot lemon water, fruit and salad, nothing but water, etc. to try to get some of this out of me. I think I just overdid it with salt for a few days. For some reason I was craving salty things so bad... now I've learned my lesson! (You hear that Dan?) Your kitties sound like fun, even with the extra poop scooping. There is a cat up for adoption at Petco that is so hard for me to resist, but I do. She doesn't look anything like Oliver, but has that same "Who the hell do you think you are????" look on her face that he always did. My Mini-Me really misses having at least one animal who is continuously plotting our deaths.

Debbie - The weather actually cooled way down. Today is grey, windy and a little chilly for us. When I say chilly for us, it's 57 degrees. Two days ago it was 97 degrees. This is not normal for San Diego.

I'm happy to say that Rick and Roxie are just as happy as they were in the pictures. She glued herself to him the moment they met and is still stuck to his side, with her tail wagging constantly. Tanis has a friend to play with now, so he's pretty happy too. We all meet up for morning and night time peemail checks.

I hope this swelling goes down by Friday. The TV station has been on me for several months, probably more like a year to get a new head shot done. I finally scheduled with a photographer to come out and take some of me with the chopper on Friday. I'd like to have just one chin for this, and preferably an actual chin... not just an extension from my face to my neck. I'm going to go buy some more lemons on my way back into work this afternoon. I'm really dragging this week too. *yawn*

POP thoughts everyone!

Hey all...

Been a busy day and frankly, i'm still a bit draggy from last night...

The concert was amazing, of course!! The band was in fine form and I'm happy to say I stayed away from the nachos and giant pretzels... Prior to the show we BBQ'ed at a friend's house, where Liz and I ate low fat chicken brats... Still plenty of sodium, but no where near as much as the real thing..

I did have a couple of beers last night, but we were careful not to over do it.. Liz, actually just had water all night long...

Great to see you Kim!!! Just hope back on board.. You know you're always welcome here! Great to see more newbies coming in as well!!

Yahoooo Kim!!! Good to see you! Did you change jobs, then?

Liza- Loved the cat comment. "Who the hell do you think you are?" is perfect for "cat face". Hmmmm, now I think that some of the toddlers I care for are actually cats........

Whoa that shout out was so loud I heard it in Canada! Hello girls!
Nicole thanks for tipping us off the old timers were missing us! Nice to see all of you again. We bought a house last week in a competing situation so the past two weeks have been mayhem trying to get ours ready to show this weekend and praying it sells fast. I planted 150 pansies on the weekend and of course we are now dropping in temp and getting frost!
With the house stress I'm so far off POP it's laughable and have daily dreams of chips and dip... but we're trying to stick to salad! Once we get our 'normal' life back we'll be working hard on a 6 week crash course to get back to my low weight from last year of 154.. ahhh bliss!
I hope you are all doing well and glad to see so many new furbabies have joined the club.
Take care of yourselves and your waistline!

Kristen

Hope you all are doing well. Great to read all the updates on your family and working through Weight loss too. It all ties in so much. Love the photo show felicia, Kim.. heard lots about you.. glad you are back! Jillian.. you sure are inspiring.. keep up the amazing changes! I have a busy weekend so I am still tackling the piles and piles of pink laundry along with spring cleaning. Hope you all have a super middle of the week!

*hugs*

Elizabeth


awww thanks elizabeth--that totally made my day! :)

Hey guys, thanks for the welcome back. This is just too difficult to do on your own.... DUH!

Dan - glad the concert was good (of course it was good!) Rush is coming to Saratoga this summer too. I am waiting for DH to sugggest lawn seats. My co-worker is a huge Rush fan. All of our passwords are either songs or albums. I had to bone up on my Rush trivia just to remember how to log into things!

Katie - yeah, I changed jobs. At one stressfull time around Thanksgiving, I had 3 full time jobs! I had originally taken a job about an hour away from home, and the day I was supposed to start, I got a job at my home district, about 2 minutes away. I have to say, quitting the hour away job on the day I started was the most unprofessional thing I have ever done in my life, but I'm sooo glad I did it.

OK, DH is breathing down my neck to use the computer - gotta go!

I am such a happy girl.....Kristen.......Kim......man.......doesn't get much better than this!!!! More later......
XOXO

Good Morning everyone,
Off to PT for the knee.
Try and post later today
Roma:carrot:

Hi friends! I'm here-alive, barely. My last final is tomorrow morning. I have NOT been studying as hard as I should be and the stress is causing me to eat things I shouldn't. I'm really missing the old me who was able to stay on program even when things got stressful.

Kimberly-so good to see your baby!!! So exciting!

Felicia-gosh it's good to see you posting!

I stil have to catch up, but I better get back to "studying"---I have a 30min attn. span these days which is not helping!

I'll be back after I'm done tomorrow!

22 more days of school!!!!!!!!!!!!! and work!!!!!!!!!! yay!!!!!

amylou, Good luck on your last final. You are almost done! You can get back on track in a big way tomorrow.

Liza, I'm feeling slightly less bloated today, but it is my DH birthday so I think there is likely to be a dinner out tonight and a piece of cake tonight. Although I'm contemplating just buying one or two cup cakes and not having a whole lot of cake around the house... we don't need it.

Good luck tomorrow Amy!

Lettie - It's so good to see you posting here again!

Debbie - I hope your knee is getting better!

Barbara - Happy Birthday to your DH! The cupcake idea sounds ideal. Believe it or not, cake goes stale in our house. Mini-Me and I just don't eat that much of it. I gave half of her birthday cake to the neighbors and we had ours and I still ended up throwing a good amount out. Now if we're in the mood for cake, I just pick up a single slice at the grocery store and we split it. Now ice cream... that's another story....

I'm still bloated. I've lost a little of it but not much. If I can find time, I'm going to the doctor. When I was pregnant my kidneys failed and that's why I retained so much water then. No chance of me being pregnant now, but who knows what the damage is after going through something like that later down the road... I'll blame the doc at the hospital from the other week because he asked me if I've been getting continuous care regarding the kidneys and I said no because I didn't need it. He just HAD to bring it up huh?

I get to fly again tomorrow and have the photo shoot. Keep your fingers crossed that I lose a little more of this bloat by the morning so I can look decent. And find that lavender blouse...

14 more days of school here! Woo hoo!!!!

Today was our Second Grade Fun Day and it really was fun - but I'm pooped and glad it's over! We rented 3 big jumpers and 2 slides and were outside with the kids from 9:30 - 2:30, only coming in for 30 minutes for lunch. We had bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and even wheeled out the school's popcorn machine. The weather was great - overcast and breezy.

There's a new student in our grade level and he and his family are homeless and living in an motel close to the school. He and his little brother came to our school about 2 weeks ago. Today one of the teachers was complaining about how he wears the same shirt every day and how it smells horrible by Friday and how he never wears socks and how bad he's going to smell tomorrow after being outside playing all day today. I was so angry! Where's the compassion?! He only has ONE shirt! And he probably doesn't have socks! So I covertly (Honey, come here and let me straighten your collar) found out his shirt size and will find out the size for his little brother tomorrow. I'm just going to buy them 3 or 4 uniform shirts each and some socks and put them in a brown paper bag with their names on it and leave it in the office. I just can't take the fact that they have nothing when we have SO much. I don't want anybody to know where the clothes came from, but I can't stand that the other kids may pick on him and that his teacher dislikes him instead and trying to love him!

Alright! Enough jabbering! I guess I'm making up for lost time by writing too much. I have missed all of you so much! It's been nice to be welcomed back by so many of you! I'm off to clean house since we have a sitter for tomorrow night. DH and I are going to a gallery debut presented by the super-talented daughter of a good friend. I think we're going to sneak in dinner, too, while we're out!

Oh Felicia......you are such a dear. I would do the exact same thing!!! We all do have so much when you put it in perspective.....and the small sacrifices we can make can mean the world to someone else. Good for you, and don't ever change. I really doubt that you can........I don't think it is possible :) :hug:

Well, I got some bad news today. My poor little furbaby, Maggie, has a horrid uterine infection. Her white blood cell count was 66,000, and normal is between 4,000 and 16,000. Don't quote me on the numbers exactly.....as I was in a lot of shock when they told me. We have to put her down. The vet said there are other issues with her blood tests as well, and he said he could do emergency surgery, but he was not very hopeful that she would survive. She is 9 years old, and full of infection. She has been mopey all week, but I had NO idea she was that sick. My kids are very angry with me. I am trying to explain to them what humane means. Not super easy. They don't understand because she just acts tired. :( I told them it is not fair for us to put her through surgery and suffering so we can have her for a week or a month longer. If the vet would have expressed a bit more hope, I would consider it.......but what can a girl do????? I know death is a part of life.....but man.......there is nothing I hate more than to decide when a life is over..........and even worse....to have my babies cry over it.

Hello everyone! I have been busy and bogged down with the "I do not cares". Stuck, stuck, stuck! This time of year is supposed to be great but I am in a fog. Trying to get back to myself.. Give me time.
Glad to see everyone else here. That continuity will bring me back, soon.
Love, from Cali...

Nicole - I'm so sorry about furbaby :-( Is this a cat? My Champagne had a horrible UTI a year and a half ago that put him in kidney failure and seizures. He had to go into emergency surgery and it didn't look good but after a couple of days on an IV, he was back to his old self again. He was 10 then and is almost 12 now. You'd never know anything had ever happened. That said, it wasn't cheap. His bill was the equivalent of a house payment. I was fortunate that my Dad actually paid the bill for me (that had never happened before)

Anyway, good luck with the kids and getting through your grief. We're all here for you. *hugs*

Oh, Nicole, I am so sorry about Maggie. DH and I made a pact when we got Dodger that we would do exactly what you are doing in that situation. Now that he's 14, I dread the day it happens.

Felicia - people make me crazy about stuff like that. My old district had a homeless "shelter" within its boundaries (it was an AWFUL place - an old motel that people were being put into) and I would get so MAD at some colleagues, parents, and even our Board members talking about the "shelter kids" adding to our special ed costs..... Uh, hello? being homeless does not mean that they are learning disabled! I was the Homeless Liason under the McKinney-Vento act, so I had to educate everyone about FEDERAL LAWS regarding the homeless. Thankfully there are people like yourself out there that take the time to help.

Yay for all of you who are weeks away from summer break! Our school/offices will be under construction for the summer - so, yuck for me.

OK gotta get to bed - heading to NYC in the AM (6 am!) for our anny (15 yrs)and our BFF's anniversary (20). Yankees Friday night, and seeing Young Frankenstein on Saturday. Too bad it is supposed to rain both days....

GEE What a week around here !! Lots of love flowing everywhere how wondefrful is this? We had a "family" reunion of oldies and us newbies and so much giving from the heart from people like Felicia. There is no wonder this is such a busy thread we all get to leave purple puddles everywhere.
Life has been crazy around my world this week. We have a new department manager that has decided her "department" is the whole store. As a result we have have had 5 people walk out in total aggravation since monday and we only had 16 to start with . And of course our store manager , our assistant store manager and our HR person are all off for various reasons this week .
Ok sorry about the rant there just had to vent a little.I am just keeping my eye on what will hopefully be my day off on Monday . And my DS and his GF are starting thier "cooking like mom" lessons this weekend which should be really fun for us. Neither one of them can do much more than boil water and they are wanting to take on lasagna and milky way cake . HMMMMMM wonder if my kitchen will ever be the same lol.
Well I am off to my morning routine and then to work for the fireworks. Everyone have a great weekend and stay POP !

Nicole- Oh, I am so sorry about Maggie. What is it lately about so many of us losing furbabies? There are some great childrens books on the subject. One of them is called "Dog Heaven", but it could apply to any pet. Love coming from me to you!

Nicole - I'm so sorry about your furkid. I'll be thinking of you.

Felecia - you are such a wonderful person. The way you pay it forward is so encouraging to me!

Tuesday - I was exactly where you are, about 2 months ago. I just basically ate what I wanted - within reason. Gained about 7-10 pounds. It just seemed like something I had to do. After about 3 weeks of that, I did a take off and got back on track.

I have a question for those that have gone through stabilization. How do you wrap your mind around NOT losing weight! I started almost one year ago with weight loss and now that I'm in my second week of stabilization, I still want that scale to go DOWN. LOL (OK today it went up, but I went over on starches yesterday at Chili's and we also got dessert but it was split three ways - am drinking HLW today... :)) anyway, I just thought I would ask, because I seem to be having difficulty with wanting the scale to keep going lower and it's all in my head!

Hello to everyone else - glad to see some of the people that were here when I first started. This site really keeps me on track and you always have great ideas.

thanks guys :) Maggie is a miniature schnauzer. She is a big sweetie pie. We are going to take her either tonight or tomorrow morning. I thought we might take her this a.m., but the kids begged us to wait until at least tonight. She doesn't seem to be in any pain.....just really really sleepy......so I will wait until then. Also, my mom and sis are comming from Wisconsin to bid her farewell. She had been the only extended family dog for a long time....so it is hitting everyone really hard.

I do plan to try to stay OP today. I really don't need anything else to feel bad about. I will take a picture of the kids with Maggie Mae (yes, after the song..........i LOVE Rod) later today and post it soon :) Thanks again everyone :)
XOXO

I got on an e-mail list from "Losing it with Jillian Michaels" the hard core training gal from the Biggest loser and thought I'd share what she had to say today.

Your body is trying to tell you something, but you're just not listening! To win at the weight-loss game, you've got to make some changes. One of the most important ones is to stop listening to anything but your body to establish a realistic weight for your specific build. Forget about what you see and hear from pop-culture sources.
Another thing not to rely on is the body mass index (BMI), which determines the amount of fat you have on your body according to your weight and height. Here's why you're not going to use it: It fails to distinguish between fat and muscle, so the BMI will ultimately give you an incomplete sense of the shape you're in.

Today, the medical industry has set its weight guidelines according to the waist-to-hip-ratio method, which is a much more accurate way of arriving at an ideal goal. Follow these steps to find yours:

Get a tape measure and measure your waist right at the belly-button line.
Standing with feet hip-width apart, measure your hips at their widest point.
Now simply divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. This is your waist-to-hip ratio.
The ideal waist-to-hip ratios are 0.80 for women and 0.95 for men.

Stephanie, There is a big mind shift when you decide to stop losing weight. I think part of that is self acceptance. For me that was hard, to turn of the constant tape in my mind that went. YOU MUST LOSE WEIGHT, as I must have told myself that every day 100 times for years. I have been trying to reprogram all that negativity into positivity for myself. Really try to stop focusing on the weight and focus on your new healthy eating and exercising... So instead of the I must lose weight, I must continue my new lifestyle. Anyway, it sounds like a small thing, but not when you've been berating yourself and change it to encouraging yourself.

Hi gang..

Back from the fire and really slammed.. Liz and I determined to keep it POP this weekend, so we're really going to be watching each other.. Nothing like being encouraged to be a tattle tail!!! :lol:

No time for personals today, even though I rare do many of them anyway..

Just wanted to pop in and tell everyone to have a good weekend and keep being great losers!!

Hi,
Iposted and I guess I didnt do it right :(
well I am not going to do it again.
Got things to do right now

Moma :hug: sorry about Maggie. love Schnauzers

BarbaraB Im in Oregon City:carrot:
Later Roma

Nicole-You schnauzer had a uterine infection and they did surgery and she recovered great. She was so sick I didnt think she would survive the surgery but she did. I'm sorry shes so sick. We're big schnauzer lovers at our house!

hey there everyone.

I wanted to let you know that I am doing pretty well on the South Beach Diet. So far I have lost 6.6 lbs in 2 weeks. Not bad for someone who has a hard time losing.

Nicole - sorry to hear about your precious baby. I know how you feel. i have a 17 year old and am not looking forward to the day... I do think it is best to not make them suffer if they are really sick and no chance of recovery.

Well I need to go. Talk to you all next time.

Liz

Hey all.
I am holding my own so far:carrot:
I am having chicken and cauliflower for dinner. I have checked out the Dessert area...........Some sound really good. Maybe tomorrow I will make something :o
Thats it for now,
Bye Roma :)

Hello all. I am sincerely trying to get back on track. I stayed OP all day, walked for an hour and played catch with the dogs. Not back tracking anymore just trying to stay still.
Perhaps this is the dog days of diet. We all start the year with such gusto and five months later burnout hits (hard for me) When I was losing I felt like I could do this forever no problem but right now I cringe when I have to measure my pasta. God, I love pasta...
On a nice note I have not had a single craving for fast food. Even when I had a chance I chose to go with something less gruesome.
I realized while lying in bed last night that my muscle and joint pain was back. I had been so happy because for months after losing weight I had no pain and now I hurt constantly.
BarbaraB, thanks for that posting. I measured myself and came up a 0.89! Guess I gotta keep going...

Hey guys! Hope everyone is doing well!

I should be studying, but am procrastinating. I have an exam/final tomorrow in my Finance class, ugh headache!!! I get stress headaches so bad. Any suggestions? They're awful. The only relief I get is if I lay down. I somehow remember us talking about this before but couldn't find it.

I have 3 finals this week and some papers due. Then one NEXT week, then totally done on the 13th. Which so happens in my birthday. It will be nice to wake up on my 25th to no more classes!

Guess I better bite the bullet and get back to work.

Any help at all regarding stress/tension headaches would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys!

I bet Katie will have a good remedy. I wish I could help..........

OMG..........21 days until I am a Granny!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well today was a hard day . We had a lunch to attend.
I think I made some good choices.
That it for tonight:carrot:
Roma