300+ Club - 300+ And Getting Fit after 40 #283

This group is for those dealing with the challenges of being fit when you have a significant amount of weight to lose which becomes harder after age 40. If you're an old or new friend and not over 40 and feel this is the place to post, jump right in!

Glad January is over! Hope to see much different weather but same dedication to my health as in January. I managed to release 10.5 lbs in January - I'll take it!

Heather and Angela - looks like you're in the path for the worst of the storm - be safe!

Carol -- Thanks for starting the new thread!

I think I lost 3 or 4 pounds in Jan, but all in the first 2 weeks.

We are in the path of the storm, but I think we're all set for it...

Hi all!!

Just wondering if I can join you. I am not over 40 (only 30), but weigh approximately 392 pounds. UGH. I currently have a headcold, but can't wait to get better so I can start exercising.

Thanks!!

Good morning ladies, I hope all of you are safe and warm. We have rain only here in Ga. I feel for all of you in the path of that gaint storm! Please be careful and stay in.

Hi losingit, welcome.:hug: I think there is room for you here.:) What plan are you following if any? I hope you feel better soon.

I had a really good day yesterday...patting myself on the back here! LOL! Carol, the scale didn't go up from the carbs I consumed over the weekend, will wonders never cease? Staying the same for now.

I need to do some housework today. UGH! It is good exercise, that must be why I hate it so much. LOL! :p I hope you are all doing well. :hug: Ruth

I had a bad day yesterday - the storm hit and apparently I thought feeding it would stop it. Working from home today will present it's own set of challenges.

Welcome losingit - look forward to your posts.

losingit -- welcome!

We had about a foot of snow so far. Managed to clear part of the deck for the dogs to do a little business...

We had about 4" snow and sleet. I think it's over here.

Hi ladies! Internet was down much of last evening and this morning, but I'm back. We had about an inch of ice followed by a couple inches of sleet. It doesn't look like much but I'm told the roads are simply impossible, so I haven't even tried to go out. Our university actually cancelled classes two days in a row, which I think is completely unprecedented.

Carol and Heather: Congrats on your losses in January!

Me, I'm just restarting, so although I was journalling in January, I wasn't really doing anything to lose. No surprise, I didn't lose anything :) Here's to an exciting new start in February!

Ruth: Hope you're having a good time cleaning. I've been doing a bit of extra cleaning myself while snowbound.

Judy: I hope you're right that you're done with weather...we're still getting sleet here, so it might still be moving east :(

Losing it: Welcome!!!! This is a great place for support with some regulars who are always welcoming, even to folks like me who go MIA and come back and go MIA and come back. Hope you find it helpful.

Stay safe and warm and OP, everybody.

Angela

Hi everyone,

All of you who are stuck in ice and snow, be safe! Punxatawny Phil had good news for you today.

Sorry, but it is beautiful here today, sunny and about 65 degrees.

I have come to realize that I need to cut back a bit on my calories. I'm not as active as I was last time, and while I am verrrrrrryyyyyyyy slowly working on increasing activity, I have to create enough deficit to make a little more progress. OK, so the weekend long binge didn't help. But even still I think 100 calories less a day is necessary to balance out the reduced activity - at least until I can get my act together.

No time for personals but I hope everyone has a great OP day.

We were blessed and spared the worst of the storm. We still had lots of rain and horrible winds. We have been getting snow showers but arent amounting to anything. Winds are bitter cold.
Food and exercise have been great!! I can feel it in my body even though the scales arent showing much.

Carol-judy- heather_ please be careful if you get out.

battle- please send me some warm sunshine ASAP

angela- I think my nephew may be at your university. My neice from that town has came to KY to school.

ruth- have fun cleaning and yes it can be a good workout.

losing it_ welcome, this is a great place and so supportive! Age doesnt matter here!!!

We got all the snow cleared away! The sun came out, and that feels like a nice treat.

My homemade soup is bubbling away...

Good morning, Is everybody safe and happy this morning? Hope so.

Now I know you two had to be kidding about having fun cleaning, right? :p I hate housework. I have more of it to do today. Every day for that matter. I will be glad when we sell this place and get something smaller.:crossed:

Not much going on around here. We are to get more rain today, messy, cold weather. Spring where art thou?

Have a good op day everyone. :hug: Ruth

I'm with you Ruth - I hate cleaning!

I will endeavor again today to get a handle on the comfort food mentality - actually I just need to remember my comfort foods now are grilled poultry and fish along with steamed veggies.

Morning!! We're safe and sound here -- but COLD. It's -6!! Luckily, both dogs did their business. And I'm working from home today so won't have to go out much...

My food and exercise have been good the past couple of days. Yay! Got plenty of good, healthy food and movement planned again today, so I'll keep the February groove going.

We are cold this morning but going to be SUNNY!! We have more snow coming friday night and again sunday monday and wed next week....ENOUGH!!! I did hear that mid month we should start warming up.
Food has been good this week and exercise is daily. I didnt make my jan goal of minutes but alot better than my normal. I can tell in my body that Im exercising. My energy is sooooooo much better!!

Had a bad day yesterday. I have been doing fairly well managing the excessive stress from work but yesterday I didn't hold it together. Fortunately I have a plan for handling both the food and work.

Totally out of kilter last night. Had pbj for dinner cause I was lazy and not too hungry. Later was starving so had another one. Healthy????? I don't think so.

Howdy! Way OP today without having to think too much about it, which I like. Exercised, stayed well under my calorie limit, wrote it all down, and here I am checkin in. Tomorrow I actually have to teach a class--first time since Monday!

Ruth, Actually, my place has been so out of control this whole school year that I really do appreciate having some time to clean. You know from March to August, when my mother was hospitalized in Ohio, I would be here for only a few days at a time, and while I was here I was in such a rush that my place ended up really trashed. Then when I came back in August, I brought all this STUFF which was my Mom's, a lot of which is still boxed up. And then when I got back here in August, I was way behind with work. THEN, in October, a truck arrived with a bunch of furniture (that was my mom's). So now I have an extra couch in my living room, had to make space for a piano, etc., etc., and everything feels OUT OF CONTROL. Then, you know, DH and I have separate residences, 50 miles apart, so every weekend I bring him down here and he keeps me busy. Wow, probably more info there than you wanted. But you know, when I get this place really settled, I'll be dancing for joy, so you all might as well know about it.

Carol, how did the new comfort food mentality work out for you?

Heather, sounds like you're feeling good. Hope you stay there!

DG: That exercise energy is pretty great, isn't it?

BattleAx: How'd the plan go today?

Judy: Hope today was better than yesterday.

Sleep tight, all you early birds!

Angela

We have snow in the forcast for the next week!! YIKES!! Guess I better get to the store today and stock up again.
Grandson bday party is sunday, along with superbowl. Lots of challenges ahead!

Nice OP day for me, too. I seem to be getting into a groove working at home. The key is to stop myself from snacking all day, and it's working!

Course, the scale, which had been down a pound, went up 2, so that's always fun. :p I know it's not fat I gained, so I'll just keep on keeping on.

WTG, Heather, hang in there. I'm dreading weighing in Monday, because I doubt I'll see any change, but I feel pretty good about the week so far.

BA: Hope the snow doesn't amount to much. Enjoy partying this week and stay OPP (on the party plan)!

Had a reasonable day myself. I didn't get a chance to eat lunch, so I ate a combined lunch/dinner late afternoon, then tried out a new yoga DVD and WOW... I finally found the right one to get me started. That was F - U - N FUN! My elbow tendonitis wasn't so sure about it, though, so I think I'll do something else tomorrow and wait a few days before I try the yoga again.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Angela

Quick drive by this morning. :wave: to everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I am trying to get through the weekend without going overboard on carbs this time! :p May not be so easy. Dh always wants something that is a nono for me!:devil: I must be strong! LOL! (now if I was strong I wouldn't be in the shape I am in).

Have a good op weekend everyone. :hug: Ruth

The last few days have been a struggle for me. DH is having some health issues and I'm feeding my stress. Today is new day!

Yesterday was a pretty good day.

I'm shooting for a better one today!

I'm watching the weather. Since Thursdays here have been awful I'm going to try to get to WW on Tues. I need the help I get from meetings. Lord knows I've been to enough of them over the last 40 yrs.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Carol -- Poor DH! He going to be okay? Remember that feeding the stress might just strengthen it -- it certainly doesn't reduce it. What else can you do instead?

Angela -- I'd love to get back to yoga, but my instructor moved and I can't bear to find another.

I had a small binge yesterday. No idea why. Back on track today. We will have a busy day as we are working on a bathroom renovation!

Angela- I can so relate the the elbow issue. My right one kills me and the increase in weights Im using on the dvds are causing it to really bother me. That along with lifting on babies all day long.
Carol- HUGS!! Please take care of yourself!!
judy- im so ready for spring!! We have snow falling again.
Ruth- having hubby eat right along with me has sure made my plan so much easier. HOpe you have a great day!!
battle- hope you hve a great weekend and please send us some sunshine and warmer weather.
heather- you will get lots of exercise working on the bathroom ...shake off the binge and keep going.

I had a great week. I weighed this morning and IM down 2lbs for the week. I increased my water and exercise this week. Eating has been about the same but Im trying to eat less at a time and eat a bit more often. Im back in the 20s now:carrot:
Anyone got superbowl plans? Menu plans?

Hi ladies. Found a decent 100-calorie treat: sugar-free international coffee with a splash of whiskey. I know, empty calories, but when I'm home alone all evening, I need something to get me through to bedtime without going nuts and eating anything I can get my hands on. I think that one will do for the time being.

Snow bound again today, which was a bummer because I had travel plans, but it meant I was easily able to get in two short exercise periods. Stayed where I needed to with calories. I've made it through this week OP with my goal of 1950 calories daily; my goal is to cut down to 1850 by the end of this month. If I can do that reliably, I'll let myself stay there for a bit and see what kind of loss it produces.

Ruth: Half way through the weekend, just another day to get through. Hang in there!

Carol: Hope DH is doing okay, and you too. I wish I had some advice, but when my mother was sick I didn't do particularly well at taking care of myself. Are you getting sleep? It does help.

Heather: I know you're not a DVD person, right? Even if you were, you probably would find these too easy, since you're experienced. I've tried a bunch of different ones and they were all too hard for me to start with, but finally found one that I could do (well, not all of it, but I was able to do 40 minutes out of 60 the first time through).

DG: Great job on the loss!

Cheers, ladies, hope the football fans enjoy the Superbowl!

Angela

Thanks for the good thoughts - I think I've ate my way through the stress and am in a mindset eating won't help. He is still having lots of tests - scary as they are on the brain.

Felt great to exercise yesterday - I think right now routine will help us both the most - that means back to the gym, eating healthy, etc.

Carol, I hope that routine does help. Sounds like the best plan to me.

Me, I'm fine: skipped the superbowl party, which made it easier to stay OP today. Next couple of days could be challenging; there's a late-in-the-day lecture I need to go to on Monday, and I have to give a presentation late in the day on Tuesday. When I'm booked from early to late, I tend to have more trouble. I have packed a late lunch to take with me tomorrow, and my plan is to have dinner out after the lecture and get soup and salad.

Got my exercise in and journalled today, OP all week. WI tomorrow a.m.; hope it's not too disappointing.

I got tired of not being able to find skirts that fit well and that I like, so I ordered a sewing machine this weekend, and some fabric... have three skirts planned. That reminds me, while I was MIA, Lilion disappeared: anyone know how she is?

Hope everyone had a good Sunday.

Angela

Hi everyone,

Stress eating is getting the best of me. The company I work for is under government sanctions. I had no role in the cause of the sanctions, but I have a large role in the turnaround activities. The vultures are out, and it is most unpleasant and tense and long hours are expected. And I don't really want to do any of it (not that the problems shouldn't be fixed).

I have started to look for another job, but in the meantime I have to find a way to get through the day that doesn't include turning to food.

Today wasn't too bad--I am over my calorie limit but all things considered, I didn't go way overboard.

For all you Superbowl watchers, I hope you are enjoying the game.

--------------------------
Vortex, good job staying within your calorie limit. I look forward to reading that you got through this week on plan, too.

Carol, I hope dh will be ok. I'll be thinking of you

Dgram, congrats on your loss! woo hoo!

j-ann, I hope you are having a good OP day today.

Good morning all, How are you this Monday morning?

The scale was still up yesterday, not sure why, but I will be very careful what I eat today. Weekends are hard for most of us. I know why mine is hard, my DH loves to get take out on weekends, and I join him in eating it! I thought I had done well this weekend though.:p

BA, sorry that the stress of the job is getting to you. Good luck finding another position.

Angela, If you remember, my Mom was with us the last years of her life. She didn't have any furniture to get rid of, but my at the clothes and shoes etc.! I thought I would never get through sorting through all of that stuff. I know what a job that is. That is one of the reasons I keep saying to Dh that we need to downsize NOW! Oh, and I have wondered about lilian too, also Terri. Does anyone hear from them?

Deb, :carrot: for the two lbs!

Carol, Sorry to hear your DH is having problems. I will include him in my prayer list, OK?

Hi j-ann, How are you?

Heather, Good morning, how are things going with that renovation? I remember what a mess it was when we did our master bathroom. I was never comfortable in the hall or guest bathroom. LOL! The potty just wasn't MINE. :D

Well ladies, off to do some dusting etc. Have a great op day. :hug: Ruth

woke up to a fine coating of snow this morning. Im so sick of it. I did hear the weather man promise much warmer temps coming in over the weekend. I heard him promise 50-60s.IM holding him to it!!!

Yesterday I overate...we had our grandsons 1st bday party and then superbowl. Pizza and chex mix got the best of me. It was also a planned day off from exercise.

Morning!

Sounds like a lot of us have the same weekend problems. I did okay this weekend. It helped that I moved around a lot.

Our bathroom renovation is almost done. It has gone fairly smoothly, so that's good. Just time consuming. It's our guest bath, Ruth, so it hasn't impacted our lives much. We almost never used it. But maybe we will when it looks a whole lot nicer!!! It was a 70s avocado green theme, tub and toilet. And then some ugly green tile on the floor and peeling wallpaper. No wonder I never used it!

There are MANY missing people who I thought we'd see with the new year: Lilion, Terri, Valerie.... :(

Sneaking in to say hullo!

I'm a stress eater too BAx. So sorry to hear you are under da gun. Do you have time for your Stressinator games (skating?). Just visualize some of those people who are giving you that stress as your targets. Your opposing team members won't know what hit em!! LOL.

I made my Mom's world famous (my world) spaghetti sauce this weekend. I also made some seafood chowder. Freezer is full! I can't seem to make food in quantities smaller than for an army, so this weekend's cooking foray will last me a year. w00t!

Hugs to all,
Ratkity

Damn! I just lost a nice long post. Grrrrrrr

I'll try to redo it later. Let's just say that the weekend was not good for me and I need to get my head wrapped around my eating.

Gotta scoot.

Hi ladies,

I'm off to a good start for the work week. Last night I made a pan of lightened-up butternut squash lasagna. It's pretty good, but I can improve upon it for the next time. I always do better when I have some foods that I enjoy prepared for the week.

Have a great Monday, everyone. No time for personals but I'm thinking about you.

POP day with exercise - maybe I shouldn't look forward to the weekend.

Hey ladies. Scale was down 2 pounds this morning. I set myself a new goal, to move myself down from 1950 calories a day, where I am now, to 1850 by the end of February. My strategy this time is just to go as slowly as I need to in making changes, so that if all goes well I might actually be able to stick with it, which I haven't been successful at in 10 years.

I've been on a clothes shopping frenzy lately; two new jackets and a blouse arrived today. I need to shorten the sleeves on one jacket, but I'm liking it a lot, so it'll probably go with me to my conference in March. Also a knit jacket; looks cool and will pack well, so it'll be going along too.

I used to resent spending money on clothes in sizes that I hoped I wouldn't be wearing for too long, but I've decided I'm going to invest in clothes I like and if I'm successful at losing a significant amount, I can have them taken in, or if I can't, then so be it; I'll move on.

Sounds like everyone was cooking this weekend. I think my reduced sugar pear-apple-walnut muffin recipe is finally perfected. 220 calories each. I had one last night and one at breakfast today and fed the rest to my co-workers, and everyone was lovin 'em.

Ratkity, you sound like you're prepared for anything.

DG: I hope those temps come through for you. I don't think we're ever going to get warm here.

Ruth: I was fairly lucky--more than half of my mother's stuff, clothing-wise, was in Ohio (she was spending part of the year with me and part with her sister), and one of my pairs of aunts & uncles has a church with a charity shop, so I let my mom's sisters take whatever they wanted, and then my uncle took all the rest to the charity shop. It's just the things here at my place that still require work. It was just so much easier when I had cousins and aunts and uncles to help; I didn't get so sad. Going into her room here, I just get so sad I don't want to face the work... so I'll just give myself some more time.

Heather, hope you enjoy that new water closet. I love the opportunity to say water closet. What's the new w.c. look like, now that the avocado's gone?

Judy, Hope today was better than the weekend. New week, new start.

BattleAx: Butternut lasagna sounds yummy. Enjoy it in good health.

Carol: WTG! Maybe we all need to get weekend jobs :)

Cheers, all.

Angela

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the board. I love the idea of this topic. I am 45 and just starting to come to terms with the reality of my weight and the need to make significant life changes regarding diet and exercise. I'm also beginning to understand my own issues with food. I wondered what successes and challenges other people my age have had.

Good morning!

Hi themeIwant2be,welcome. come and share our ups and downs. We hope mostly down.;)

Whew! The scale was back down this morning. I must of had water retention. Of course I haven't lost anymore, but that is ok for now. I will just have to leave the high sodium things alone. (and staying on plan would help :o).

I hope everyone has an op day today. I will be watching those calories and carbs myself! Need to do this!:rolleyes:

:running::wave: Ruth

Welcome, theMeIwanttobe!!

Workout with my trainer scheduled for today. I never look forward to it, but always am glad I did it when it's done. Then a busy day of meetings and everything... but I'm staying on plan and feeling okay.

Mornin,

Welcome TheMeIwant2be.

No WW today. Bitter cold, windy, snowing. It took me almost 1/2 hr to scrape the snow and ice off the car. I'm staying home. Guess I'm fated not to start til Spring.Dinner out last night was good. Too many carbs though.

Ruth: I'm glad the scale is behaving.

Heather: Hope you enjoyed (?) your session with the trainer. Keeping busy will help you stay OP.

Angela: You're doing great. Small steps are working so well for you. I have to agree that buying clothes that fit, even if they are not the size you want them to be, is a key to feeling good. Better to feel like you look good than to feel like people see you and wonder "How does she pour her large body into her clothes?". We all know what a downer that can be.

BA: The lasagna sounds great!

Carol, Deb, Ratkitty: Hope you all have a fantastic OP day!

Or worse... not quite FITTING your body into those clothes that fit a few months ago.... but wearing them anyway. That's depressing...

Amen Heather, Amen.

Every bite recorded and POP - no exercise but I'm good with that today!

Good morning,

How are you ladies this morning? As for me, I think I broke my toe! LOL! Not funny really, it hurts like the dickens. That is what I get for going without my shoes. I always take them off in the house. Well, I didn't step high enough on the steps from the den to the kitchen, and wham! toe and step met.:( In a most unpleasant way. I won't be doing the tango any time soon.

I am going to hobble back to my recliner and elavate this throbbing foot. Take care ladies and remember to step high!;) :hug: Ruth

Ruth -- OUCH! Take care of yourself!

Had a decent day yesterday. Good workout in the morning! I ate a little too much in late afternoon, but then couldn't eat after dinner because I needed to fast for bloodwork this morning. So OP day after all. Which makes me think that's an idea for the future -- no evening snack.

The scale is definitely clicking down from where it was at the new year -- 5 pounds or so -- so I'm encouraged!

I had nice long post yesterday and its gone...guess thats what I get for not checking to make sure it posted.

We are getting more snow today. The weathermen are still promising warmer weather. Im holding them to it.

Tom is here so scales are up...but eating is great and so is exercise. Its kinda funny, hubby use to hate it when I made him get off the couch to exercise. Now as soon as Im done with my daycare kids he puts the dvd in. He feels in control of it this way.

heather - I can so relate to clothes not fitting just right. I can still wear all my size 18 jeans but I have more muffin top hanging over. Great job on the 5lbs.

Hi,

I had a POP day yesterday and look forward to another one today! Have a great OP day, everyone.

Ruth- get that toe better - I wanna see you tango!!!

Hi ladies. Well, I get a D- for planning for yesterday and today. The only reason it's not an F is that I did manage to get my exercise in early in the day yesterday since I knew there was no way I would get it done in the evening. But I failed to plan for lunch or dinner yesterday or for breakfast or lunch today, despite my hectic schedule on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, so I ended up over my calorie limit yesterday. I could still make my limit today, but what I have eaten is little better than poison (fast food for breakfast, vending machine for lunch). I was saved last week because I didn't have to teach on Tuesday and Wednesday. So now I know I have to work REALLY HARD on planning food for the first three days of next work week.

On clothing, it's not that I've ever been one to pour myself into things that are too tight. I just buy cheap things, because I think, well, if I buy an expensive jacket that fits me, if I lose weight that money will have been wasted. Ditto for getting things altered (sleeves are often too long on me), etc.

But I have this conference to go to in March, where I know I'll already feel looked down upon because there's so much snobbishness within academia, and I'm at a non-snooty university. I really want to shake up my career as a scholarly writer, which means networking with these snooty folk, and so with those two hurdles to overcome (being from a poor public university that values teaching and being fat), I'd like to at least feel like I'm dressed like someone that the snoots might want to talk to.

I know I'm probably sounding ultra-sensitive, but it's really true: you're in an elevator, people check out your name tag, see it's not a big research school, and move on to looking at other name tags for people who might be worth their time. And, as I think we all know, even with a bunch of open-minded people, it's still okay to look down on fat people.

So that's where my clothing shopping spree is coming from. I also find it helps me get more respect from my students when I dress well. It's tempting to just dress comfortably, since there's no dress code and some of my co-workers (younger guys, especially) teach in jeans a lot.

ANYWAY... earth to Angela, come back, Angela:

My plan for today is to eat a dinner that won't leave me starving and that includes a vegetable or two, and not to eat after dinner but to get my exercise in. If I go over my calorie limit again, so be it. I'll start tomorrow in the right frame of mind, not hungry or coming down from a sugar high.

TheMeIwant2be: Welcome! You asked what struggles we've had. Over the last few years, mine has been false starts. I show up here, and I make a few lifestyle changes, and I lose momentum quickly. I've had lots of excuses: my mother was pretty ill for the past 3 1/2 years, and for most of last year she was hospitalized in another state, and I'm an only child, so.... But, Mom passed away in August, and I'm working through grieving still, but that's no excuse for not taking control of my health, so I'm back. My other challenge, as you can likely see from the above, has been organization. I'm not organized, and I'm overcommitted work-wise, and so eating tends to get away from me.

Ruth: Hope that toe's feeling better! Breaking them is such a pain.

DG, BattleAx, Heather, Carol: WTG staying OP!!!!! You're my heroes!!!!!

Angela

:lol3:Ruth- get that toe better - I wanna see you tango!!!

Hi all.

I'm Ingrid. I was here in 2004 and lost 96 lbs, which I gained back plus 25 more. I'm 44 (will be 45 in a few months) and I'm back on track. I've lost 44 lbs since June, 19 of those since 1/3. I'm hoping to share my weight loss experience with you alli f you'll have me!

Hoep everyone is having a great Wednesday.

But I have this conference to go to in March, where I know I'll already feel looked down upon because there's so much snobbishness within academia, and I'm at a non-snooty university. I really want to shake up my career as a scholarly writer, which means networking with these snooty folk, and so with those two hurdles to overcome (being from a poor public university that values teaching and being fat), I'd like to at least feel like I'm dressed like someone that the snoots might want to talk to.

I know I'm probably sounding ultra-sensitive, but it's really true: you're in an elevator, people check out your name tag, see it's not a big research school, and move on to looking at other name tags for people who might be worth their time. And, as I think we all know, even with a bunch of open-minded people, it's still okay to look down on fat people.


Angela -- I can verify a lot of this. When I was a grad student at Muckedy Muck University I had all kinds of attention paid to me at conferences -- even fat. But now that I'm at a tiny teaching school that is not prestigious I know what you mean about the glaze-over...

Buying clothes you feel GREAT in should help. GOOD LUCK!!!

Ingrid, welcome!!!!

I overate a little this morning but have managed to even things out and should be on track for the rest of the day. Being conscious of what I'm doing is so important!!!

I just wanted to pass on a "hello" from BarbPA. She's doing well, but really busy with work and family, and so doesn't have a lot of time to pop in... But I hope she does!

I just wanted to pass on a "hello" from BarbPA. She's doing well, but really busy with work and family, and so doesn't have a lot of time to pop in... But I hope she does!


I hope she does too - I keep up with her on FB but would love to see her here!

POP day - played hooky from the gym - no I just flat didn't want to go and my inner child won tonight.

Well, I've pretty much managed to reclaim the day. Had a decent dinner with a big pile of broccoli and ended up just a hair over my calories limit. Did a small amount of exercise. So I'm almost on plan for today, and tomorrow I shold be able to arrange my day as I need to.

Thanks, Heather, it's a weird world we live in, isn't it? I really want, the next time I'm eligible for sabbatical, to be able to take a whole year, but to do that I need to position myself so I can get some fellowship dollars at research libraries, and to do that I need some well-placed people in the profession to write letters for me... but with everything that's been happening in my life the last few years, I've been totally off the circuit, so more than delivering my paper, my job will be to shmooze. Such a string of dominos!

Howdy, Ingrid, so great to see things have been going well for you. What kind of plan are you working with?

Good job staying POP, Carol.

Cheers, all.

Angela

Angela -- We don't get an option for more than a term of sabbatical. But it's also not competitive and we don't have to bring in any money. And yes, it's an odd world in our ivory tower!!!!!

Hello Ladies! :wave:

Thank you to Heather for dragging me out of my hiding place. :^: I haven't made the time to get in here for a long time due to a variety of reasons. I miss you all and know I need you. I have to make the time.

In a nutshell....I have regained some weight due to food issues. I'm still exercising 4-5 days a week. Not as much weight lifting (which I miss).

We moved my FIL in with us just before Thanksgiving. He is 83 and not in good health. He's on oxygen 24/7 and suffering from severe COPD. He's had 3 hospitalizations due to pneumonia in the past 2 months. I've become his primary caregiver. That takes up a bit of time, not to mention my boys...Jackson will be 4 on the 19th of this month and Carlton is 5.5yo. They are a handful! :D My husband is still working out, which is wonderful, and lost about 70 pounds last year. He's struggling now as well. Somehow he thinks his gym time trumps mine.

I've been struggling a bit with my mental and physical health. I started seeing a therapist about 6 months ago. He diagnosed me with depression and my primary doc agreed. I've been taking Lexapro for several months but I'm not convinced it's helping. I'm tired ALL the time. Some days I physically struggle to get out of bed and can barely keep my eyes open. I'm going to see my doc next week to discuss.

I also started seeing a new Chiropractor about my hip (you may remember I got hit by a car about a year ago while walking through a parking lot). She practices total health care and in addition to the hip we've been talking about food sensitivities. I believe there are some underlying allergies that I have because I have some unexplained issues with my skin that no doctors can resolve. I've been reading up a lot on food and gluten allergies. I plan on getting some additional testing done.

Ok...I've been pulled from the computer about 5 times since starting this and have pretty much lost my focus. That's my life these days.

I've got one kiddo in bed and I'm going to hand the other one off to daddy so I can go read and sleep. .

Once again I promise to make a better effort to pop in here and visit you all. I know it's good for me!!!

I hope you are all well and look forward to catching up with you soon!

:dizzy:Barb

Great to hear from you, Barb!! You're not alone in a regain (I gained 17 pounds last year). I hope you come back soon!!!!

:hug:Good morning, Hi Barb, great to see you!

My toe is feeling a little less sore this morning. I have it wrapped in lambs wool trying to protect it, can't wear a shoe! :( Good thing I don't want or need to go anywhere.

I am not eating as low carb as I was and I think it is telling me so on the scale. It keeps going up and down. That is not what I need to happen. Back to the old drawing board! :D I have been doing too much fruit and sugar free anything! I will drop it and see if I can get this going in the right direction. Down twelve lbs since Jan. 1. Not enough to suit me. This morning it may not be even that much, haven't gone near the scale yet. :p

It is scarey how out of control I can get over food, always have been and it looks as if I always will be. Food should not control our lives.

Hi stinger, Welcome !

Take care. :hug: Ruth

First let me start off to say its so wonderful and exciting to have so much activity on this thread!! It really makes it nice to know that we arent alone in our struggles!!

Carol- its ok to take a day for yourself.

battle- hi

angela- I think all of us love the way we feel in nice clothing...I just dont have any place to wear them except for church.LOL Kids in my daycare wouldnt apprecaite them. I say go and buy whatever makes you feel beautiful and confident!!

Barb- HI and its great to see you!! I can so relate to your struggles and also with what your FIL has been going thru. My dad has really struggled with pneumonia this yr. I have lost track of how many hospital stays he has had. Dad has COPD also. Please come and visit with us when you find time.

ruth- glad the toe is a bit better!

Ingrid_ welcome, cant wait to get to know you!!

judy and heather- hi

Looks like i may end up a grammie again sooner than we thought ...my daughter is dilated 2.5 and she isnt due for another month. Dont think I was prepared for her to have him this quick...LOL Dr really wants her to make it another week. Im excited and cant wait meet him when he arrives.

Wow, Debbie, congrats!!!!

Hi everyone,

This week is going fairly well with eating and exercising. For the first time I think I can meet the minimum weekly exercise goal I have set. I set an embarrasingly low minimum so there is no reason why I can't do this for myself. I am even going to try going down 100 calories today as I have been thinking I need to do.

Barb, welcome back. Many of us, including myself, have regained weight and had to start anew. We can do it.

Iwill, sorry about your toe. Ouch! It is scary how out of control we can be about food. There is no logical reason why it has such a hold on us, and I don't expect to ever be completely rid of the demon. But I know that people like us can successfully manage the demon, and that gives me hope.

Dgramie, I will be thinking of you and your daughter, and wishing a safe and healthy delivery.

Angela, I have upgraded some of my wardrobe. I still don't buy a lot but I decided to give myself the pleasure of looking my best and feeling more confident. The corporate world is so different than academia, but many of the same judgments are passed in my world, too.

Heather, I'm happy that you are making some progress.

Carol, enjoy your day.

Hi to everyone I missed. Have a great OP day!

Hi ladies.

Thanks for the welcome.

Vortex, my program is my own, made up by me. I'm a fatty food junkie, that's my biggest problem. So I'm watching my fat (like a hawk), watching my poritions and this week I added walking on the treadmill to my efforts. My plan was to walk at 2mph, 15 min the first day, 20 the 2nd and 25 the 3rd. I actually went 21 min (most of it at 2.5 mph) the first day, 39 min (most of it at 3mph) the 2nd day and 50 minutes yesterday (45 of it at 3mph). I am shocked i've been able to do so much so soon and I feel great! My plans is work back up to my old 4mph for an entire hour 5 days a week. Eventually after having lost al ot more, I'll start working with a trainier to tone more. Last time I did this, I lost 96 lbs in 10 months. The maintenance part is the part that's scary to me but I'm trying not to think of that.

If anyone wants to know anything about me, I'm an open book.

Again thanks for the welcome and have a great day!

Stinger -- With all that exercise, are you willing to join our exercise thread? Check it out on the sticky at the top of the page. We basically count our minutes of exercise and then add them up. It's fun and provides some accountability while we learn to make exercise a habit.

You know how some POP days just feel great - today is one of them!!! Calories are on the low side - great choices - and I'm satisfied (won't go so far as to say I'm not hungry).

Good day today; when I don't have to teach classes, it's so easy to eat right and exercise. Plus I got to sleep in this morning.

Great to see you Barb! I hope we see more of you and I hope you can find some reasons for your tiredness and start to feel better.

Ruth, I think we all know the feeling you're talking about. At least you have the awareness you need to make changes. You're way more in control than you would be if you weren't weighing regularly and didn't have a plan. I've been working on this myself--trying to stop thinking as if control is only on or off and get used to the idea that while I might not have superhuman will power, I truly am more in control that I have been in the past.

Debbie, I hope all goes well for your daughter and the little one.

BattleAx: Good job on meeting your exercise goal.

Ingrid: Great to hear exercise is going well. Personally, at this point I'm feeling like even if I don't lose weight I just need to exercise regularly so I can have more stamina, energy, etc. But 96 pounds in 10 months is quite an achievement, and I see you're well on your way downward again. I'd love to do the same.

Carol: Glad to hear you had such a good day.

Angela

I've been working on this myself--trying to stop thinking as if control is only on or off and get used to the idea that while I might not have superhuman will power, I truly am more in control that I have been in the past.

What a great way to think about this! Control as a continuum rather than binary. When you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense!

good morning everyone, stopping in to say hello before I get busy this morning. I hope you are all doing well and planning a restful, fun weekend. :hug: Ruth

My daughter doesnt go back to the dr until monday unless something happens. It may be a few days still or even weeks...but her being dilated is a great start! She lives an hour away so we will be making a flying trip when things get started. Im packing a bag this weekend. I sure wish i had more that fit properly.

My elbow has been really bothering me and Im not sure what to do about it. Its kinda a burning pain. Its my right one and I use it nonstop lifting kids. I have noticed it seems better on the days after I do weights(2lbs with my dvd). Been taking an something for the inflamation but dont see alot of improvement. Guess I may give it another few weeks and if it doesnt improve ask the dr about it.

lots of running around for me today, but maybe that will keep me from the daytime snacking. I've compensated by eating less at night but would rather not have to...

Mornin' Everyone,

On the run today. Errands, bare cupboard .... you get the pic.

Good afternoon ladies.

Heather, I'll join the exercise thread as soon as I'm here. Thanks for the idea. :)

I had a good weight loss evening/morning although I had some personal life drama (stopped seeing someone i've been dating). Usually I eat when I'm upset but didn't have any desire to do that this time. Yippee! A small victory but still a victory!

I hope everyone had a great day and a great weekend to come. :)

Stinger -- Dealing with emotional eating is a big challenge for me-- good job!

I had a migraine this morning so instead of my normal one on one with my trainer in the gym we did it in the water - OMG! Migraine gone and what a workout. It's been a POP day - headed out for dinner - DH wanted Mexican but I knew it wouldn't be pretty for me - instead we will split a steak.

Hi All,
Mind if I come in? Been posting on 3FC for a few years now, but lately I seem to have lost my MoJo. Anybody see it?

Anyway Carol invited me over, I think she knew I needed a change of pace. Thank you Carol!

Look forward to making more friends here on the after 40 thread.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm gonna go out there today and have a wonderful day. Anyone wanna join me?

Later - Learn

- DH wanted Mexican.

Carol, the next time you fly outa Tampa for a cruise you'll have to alot for more time for a get together, I'll take you and DH to my favorite mexican place. OMG! The chicken enchilada's are to die for. The taco salad's ain't to shabby either. Learn

Learn - glad you joined us!

Woke up thinking today was Sunday and I really had lots to do today - how good it felt when I realized it was Saturday - off to the pool and hoping it warms up a bit - maybe a walk outside.

Stay strong.

Learn -- Welcome welcome!!! Good to see you hear!

Carol-- I have learned I *can* make good decisions eating out Mexican (and make my own healthy versions at home), but one misstep and I'm face first in the chips and salsa. I have to go in when I'm strong.

Our weekend involves getting ready for more home renovations. We're having windows installed in two rooms, so we have to make sure they can GET to the windows. And then the kitchen demolition starts Monday, so everything has to go, including the wallpaper border.

And the 'no kitchen' challenge really begins. I'm going to have to really retain "conscious control" when eating out or bringing food home. And NOT let emotional issues stress me into the feed bag...

Heather - can you pre-cook and freeze some meals - will the microwave still be available? When we had no kitchen we used the microwave and grill - it was a challenge but we made it work.

Carol -- I have done some of that, and we'll have a microwave and toaster oven, and a minifridge upstairs. But it will be a significant pain without a sink. We'd love to grill, but I want to be able to better get to it (too much snow!) and have the temps warm up a bit. So hopefully in a couple of weeks.

I actually think breakfasts and lunches will be okay. It's dinners. Some we will do at home, and I'll just have to be careful eating out...

Why Oh why do I keep losing long posts. This time some Sonoma diet thing appeared and wiped it away. Oh well....later.

Well, I didn't manage to exercise yesterday, but I have today. Weekends are challenging. DH and I went out for lunch and I did a good job sticking to a reasonable choice. Tomorrow, in addition to everything else, I have to make an eating plan for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

Ingrid, Good job staying OP despite the drama! Way to go!

DG, I've had similar pain (mine goes down into the lower arm); doc said to give anti-inflammatories a full 10 days and if that didn't work I might need physical therapy. The 10 days didn't work, and I haven't gone back to him yet... I'll be interested to hear what your doc says.

Hey, there, Learn, how goes it?

Hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Angela

Happy Saturday ladies. :)

I got up this morning, made breakfast, did dishes, started laundry. Hung out with my son for a while, then walked an entire hour on my treadmill! :) I'd planned to walk 15, 20, 25, 30, then 35 min this week but I actually walked 21, 39, 50 and then today 60! I have one more day to walk this week but it's amazing to me that I can even walk that far at my weight and after not getting a stitch of exercise for the last 5 years. Again a small victory but still a victory. I'm very much looking forward to my Monday weigh in!

I hope everyone else is having an enjoyable and successful weight loss weekend.

Learn, that's great!!! Will you be recording the exercise in the exercise thread??

Angela -- I was so glad to see you got back to the exercise after a day off.

I got to the gym and am so glad I did. It really does help with all sorts of things. Why can't I remember that BEFORE I go? Or rather, why must I remind myself, each and every time, that exercise is a good thing???

Let's see if I can write AND send this post. :)

Went to get groceries yesterday. Pulled into the lot in front of the market and it was a snowy, slushy, slippery mess. I decided not to risk a fall so pulled right back out. This morning I went back at 7 A.M. The lot was in good shape so I bought them out. I wasn't kidding when I said the cupboard was bare.:smug:

Since the weather has not been cooperating I still haven't been to a WW meeting. Hopefully Tuesday will be the day. I signed up for WW online but I don't like the website. I can never find what I'm looking for. WW is the only weight loss program that's ever kept me honest so I need to get back there.

Welcome Learn. Glad you've joined us.

Stinger, Heather, Carol, Angela: Great job getting your exercise in. I'm still making excuses.

Heather: I know you'll find a away to stay OP during the kitchen renovation. Remember if you eat out box half, or more of the meal to bring home and nuke the next day.

Ruth: How's your toe?

Okay, I'm not pushing my luck any farther.
Bye.

Yay, Judy for getting that post in!! :) And that's good advice about eating out. I think the other thing hubby and I will do is split entrees. A big salad and a single entree is probably all we need.

Hi Ladies! :wave:

Thought I'd pop in before heading to bed! It's been a busy day around here with a lot of running around. Unfortunately part of it was due to my 5 year old son getting hurt. I took him to an ice rink for his first skating adventure with a group of friends. We had just gotten our skates and were walking about 10 feet over to a bench when someone stepped on his barefoot with a skate. His lil toe got cut pretty badly and he is in a lot of pain. My hubby to him to urgent care while I kept the little one with me. They used surgical glue for the cut and took xrays. Doesn't look like anything is broken, but the radiologist will confirm on Monday. He has to wear flipflops for the next week or so. He's loving all the extra attention he is getting...and thankfully it wasn't any worse.

Tomorrow my hubby is going into the office to catch up on some work so it will just be the boys and I hanging out. We'll likely spend most of the day at home playing, cleaning and prepping for the week.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! Talk to you more later!

Learn - great to have you posting with us. I've been away for awhile and am catching back up. :)

Later...
:D Barb

Hey everyone! Thank you for the welcomes to the 40+ thread. I had a great day yesterday, stayed active cleaning. OMG! I can't believe all the dust bunnies I rounded up in my bedroom. I rearranged some furniture, vacuumed, dusted etc... Sweat my little (O.K. big) toosh off. I love exercise that leaves you feeling like you accomplished something. Don't worry Heather I'll keep track of all my minutes from now on and post them on the exercise thread.

Carol- Did you make it to the pool. Can't wait for mine to be open, couple more months.

Heather- How exciting, a new kitchen. I know it's gonna be hectic trying to keep your eating on plan, but you'll manage. Just think of how nice that kitchens gonna look.

j-ann- I usually type my post out in TextEdit (I have an Mac) and then copy and paste. That way if it disappears I can just copy and paste again. Losing a long post use to frustrate the heck out of me too.

Angela- It goes well, how about yourself?

Ingrid- WOW! An hour on the treadmill, that's awesome! Can't wait to hear how your monday weigh-in goes.

Barb- Ouch! When I read your post I just felt this pain in my foot. Poor baby, I hope he slept well and his toe is feeling less ouchy this morning.

Well that's all for me, I hope everyone has a great sunday!

Learn

Learn -- I often feel that way about work I do in the yard and garden. I moved, and something got done!

Not only will the kitchen LOOK better, it will hopefully be more functional! That's the hope, anyway! :crossed:

Barb -- OUCH! I hope your boy is okay -- that sounds scary!!

Okay, some of my exercise today will be packing up the kitchen, hauling it to the basement and removing all the old wallpaper backed, then setting up our secondary kitchen. Lots of stairs, I think!!

Morning Ladies! :wave:

I WILL have a good day. I will MAKE it a good day! Yes! Yes! YES!

My son is doing great today....He's such a little trooper. His foot hurts and he's hopping around, but it's not stopping him from being his crazy little 5 year old self! :dizzy:

Who else is going to make it great today???? Remember, you don't just get great days, you MAKE great days!!!

:grouphug:

Weekend has been POP so far and will finish that way also!

Only two weeks until vacation - afraid to try on my capris - would hate to spend a week in workout pants.

Only two weeks until vacation

Learn is going to stow away in Carols luggage!

[QUOTE=learningtoliveagain;3709478]Learn is going to stow away in Carols luggage![/Q

Me too! LOL! Hi Learn, nice to meet you.

It has been a good two days with food. That is if I make it through today.
:crossed:

Barb, poor little boy. My toe is just getting to the yellow stage of bruised, and it is still so sore, so I can imagine how sore a cut is on the tootsies.

I would linger and yak more but DH is calling me for some reason or other.:rolleyes: :hug: to all, Ruth

I will-ouch about the toe but I'm glad it's getting better and congrats for having a good food weekend.

Barb, awww... poor son. It's traumatic to see your kids get hurt but glad he's doing well.

gggirls-I'm curious to know what POP means. lol.

Heather, I looked at the exercise thread but it didn'tl ook like anyone had posted there in a while. Am I looking at the right place?

Learning-thanks fort he congrats on the walking, I'm surprising myself!

I had a great day today. Good intake was great, even stayed a little under my allowance. Drank tons of water.

Exercise wise I walked another 60 minutes today. I was a little (well a lot) dizzy after yesterday's 60 min so I slowed down the mph a few 1/10ths but used my arms too so i think the calorie burn should be about the same. Either way and hour is an hour and way more than I thought I would be able to do at this juncture so it's a victory in my book!

I hope you all had a great weekend and I look forward to sharing in everyone's week to come. :)

Hi ladies, sounds like most everyone's had a good weekend. I've been okay foodwise, and managed to exercise yesterday and today, so I guess I'm close enough to OP. It'll be interesting to see what tomorrow's WI will look like.

My plan for the first half of the week relies heavily on frozen food. Not my ideal place to be, but it'll be better than eating out of vending machines or from fast food, and I'll be able to keep good tabs on my calories.

Ingrid, are you treadmill walking, or are you able to walk outside where you are? I can't wait until the weather's good enough to get outside for a walk.

Barb, Hope that little one mends quickly.

Here's to a great week for everyone.

Angela

Stinger -- The exercise thread is stickied at the top of the 300+ page. Here's the link:http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/300-club/224267-300-feeling-fabulous-february-exercise-thread-2.html#post3710363

I am beat. We spent the whole day getting the house ready fortomorrow's renovations. I was hauling boxes and up and down stairs and was up and down stepladders stripping wallpaper and cleaning walls... just beat.

Angela- It been really rainy here plus several days a week I can't walk outside because my son is here and he's too young to be left home alone so the treadmill is the perfect replacement. I'd take him with me but i think he'd walk too slowly and get bored. lol. Once the weather is better I'll walk outside when it's possible.

Heather, I'll post on there today. Thanks again for suggesting it.

Heather- I hope your not too sore from all that climbing yesterday. Wow! What a workout!

Barb- So glad your son is acting normal, hopping, but normal.

Carol- Just hang those capris on the refrigerator door to remind you why you need to stay POP.

Ruth- Are we gonna make it three good days with food. Yes we are!!! Nice to meet you too!

Ingrid- Great job on another hour of walking. But most of all great job listening to your body and knowing when to slow it down a little.

Angela- Just remember to drink lots of water when having to consume extra frozen food to flush out all that sodium. I got my fingers crossed for a good weigh in for you.

I had a good day yesterday. Kept my sodium intake very low, ate good eats and stayed active all day. Cleaned ceiling fans and polished furniture. I have errands to run today, blood work and gonna stop and visit mom at the ALF. Then it's home to walk the property with my dog and absorb some sunshine.

You gals have a wonderful day. That's an order!

Learn

Good morning ladies, How was your weekend? I was proud of myself for a change! No mindless eating! :carrot:

Today I am making a big pot of veggie soup. I didn't add too many high carb veggies to it, so it should be op friendly.:) What is on you menu? Curious minds want to know.

Heather, I hope you can make it through the renovations without pulling your hair out. Good luck with finding a way to stay op. When we had the bathroom and kitchen done at the same time, I was ready for the loony bin. LOL! Such a mess. Our contractor was very careful to clean up behind himself and the others woking with him, good thing!

Stinger, treadmills are a good thing when you can't walk outside, exercise is exercise! (none of it pleasant ;) )

Angela, I find frozen food a life saver when you can't do anything else. It is ok for a few days, right?

Hi Learn, Carol and Barb, Have a good op day. Did I miss anyone? Shoot me if I did. LOL! Never mean to skip over anyone. :)

:hug: Hugs to all, Ruth
Learn we were posting at the same time...good morning and yes, three good food days is the plan.

Im alive...just took the weekend off and went and helped my daughter finish getting things ready for the baby to arrive. It was alot of fun! We also got lots of exercise.
The bad part was too much food!! Friday night we at a chinese seafood buffet. Then on sat lunch was a sandwich and dinner was a burger and fries but really late to be eating. Breakfast was an all you can eat buffet( I stopped myself) but it was still too much and then we hit mexican on the way home. Today I will be drinking lots of water!! Didnt even step on the scales this morning.

Mornin'

Miracle! I ate healthy all day yesterday! Think I'll try for a two day string. :)

Rain today. Snow and cold tomorrow then the big melt begins.

Have a super day.

Good morning Deb and j-ann. :hug: Ruth

So good to see so much action on this thread!

Looks like lots of busy-ness... some stayed on plan and some of us need to get more on plan! But everyone seems upbeat!

My weigh in this morning showed no difference. But TOM just started and my muscles might still be retaining water after all that movement, so I'll be interested to see what Mr. Scale says by the end of the week.

The contractors just arrived to tear out our kitchen. I'm excited, but anxious.

Scale's down two pounds this morning. I'll take it.

Wow, you guys are early birds. Just flying by right now, myself.

Angela

Angela -- That's awesome!! :carrot:

Hi everyone,

I had a crap weekend but am getting back on the horse. TOM looming doesn't help, but I am determined. Looks like most had a great weekend staying on plan. Yay!

Have a great day.

I came through the weekend in pretty good shape - the scale moved down which is always a plus working through the non-routine times.

Everybody staying away from the valentine candy today? I'm headed to the gym then we are having one of our favorite dinners - grilled chicken salad - can't wait - it's warm enough to cook them outside.

Good job, Carol!

I haven't even thought about Valentine's candy. I'm not at the office today, and hubby and I didn't buy anything, so I'm safe!

Hi ladies.

Glad everyone had a good weekend and to see so many active and on plan.

I had my weekly weigh in this morning and I lost 5 lbs last week. The treadmill seems to be doing it's job, although I don't expect it to stay at 5 lbs a week. 2 is my goal, anything else is just a bonus. :)

Today I have a massage after work so it will be one of my two days off from the treadmill. No candy here. I'm single, no current boyfriend so there isn't any candy in my future. lol. that's a good thing today, I don't need the temptation.

Have a great and successful day all! :)

Ack. Went into the office and was too hungry. I ate a V-day cookie. I would say it ambushed me, but I have to take ownership of it. That said, I'm within my calories for the day, so all is fine on that front.

Had a pretty good day. Did 45 minutes of yoga this evening, which really does give me that feeling of well-being, which hasn't always been the case with me and exercise. I'm well under my calories, so I can have a 100 calorie bag of popcorn if I like, and I've made turkey sandwiches to take with me tomorrow, since Tuesday is the day I'm not home for lunch or dinner. (Turkey with baby swiss cheese and horseradish mustard and bell pepper rings on whole wheat... much yummier than most sandwiches I usually make.) Feels good to be doing basically what I need to be doing. I've set a goal to reduce my calorie intake to 1850 by the end of the month; I may end up staying at 1900 for a bit, but I just want to make sure I find a level that can sustain me down to 290.

Great losses, Carol and Ingrid.

How goes the de-construction, Heather? I ate a piece of valentine's candy that was put in my mailbox, too, but like you I'm still good on calories, so I'm not going to sweat it.

Cheers, ladies, have a great Tuesday.

Angela

Angela -- Wow, you've almost made your exercise goal and we're only halfway in!!

Kitchen is totally demolished!! And so far, the lighting has been added to the ceiling. Wow, the kitchen is going to be so much brighter!!

So, for dinner we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise, which sounds bad, but basically hubby and I split a burger and I had a single fish taco. And a couple pieces of broccoli. I don't know the exact calories in that, but I'm thinking no more than 700.

So, first night's dinner without a kitchen, done, mindfully.

Good morning!

Ruth- Oh yum! I love veggie soup! I usually have a pot of soup on the stove once a week, either veggie or chicken.

dgramie- Oh boy, another grand baby. How exciting!

j-ann- So how did day two go? Good I hope. NY is so on the news these past several weeks with all the bad snowy weather. I'll try to send you some sunshine to warm things up a bit.

Angela- Congrats on the 2 pounds. Just awesome!

BattleAx- Sorry your weekend was in the crapper, but here's to an awesome week.

Carol- Oh grilled chicken salad sounds soo good. I may have to do the same tonight. I was trying to figure out what to do with those chicken tenderloins in the freezer anyway.

Ingrid- OMG!!! A 5 pound lose, that's fantastic! Keep doing what your doing, cause it's working.

Heather- Oh how I love a good hamburger. I usually pre-make my own and keep them in the freezer. On those nights my husband has his rice and beans (which I can't stand) I have a nice lean burger on WW bun. That's my red meat treat.
Sounds like the kitchen remodel is moving without a hitch so far. I hope it don't take too long.

I had a good day with eating and got all my errands done. Had a good visit with my mom. I brought her a beautiful single red rose and told her it was Valentine's Day. I handed her the rose and said, "This rose is almost as beautiful as you, Mom!" She smiled so big and gave me such a big hug. I so enjoy just being her daughter again instead of all the stress of being her caregiver.

Well I'm off to have a fantastic day, how about everyone else!

Learn

Just a quick fly by this morning. How are all of you? I still can't wear a shoe.:( Guess I will be staying home for a few more days.

things are going well as far as food.

I have to take time to tell you Learn, that I know the stress of taking care of Mom. It broke my heart to put her (mine) in a nursing home. Ever time I went to see her I wanted to bring her home with me, but I couldn't take care of her after she broke her hip and couldn't walk. I don't think she knew who I was the last few months of her life. I can still sit here and cry over that. She was 100 yrs and four months when she passed and up until she broke her hip, she was still going and doing. So sad. I am so glad yours gave you a big smile. :hug: Ruth

Thank You Ruth!
I moved mom into an assisted living facility back on 10/29/10. She suffers from dementia. She turned 84 back in Nov. and aside from her dementia has been blessed with great health.
It was very hard to move her and took me a year to finally make the move, but she has settled in quite well.
We had to do the same thing with my MIL, but she didn't take it as well and begged my husband to take her home everytime he visited her. It was so hard on him emotionally.

Learn

Fingers crossed but I think I've finally settled in to the routine of healthy eating and exercise that feels soooo good.

Stay strong today.

learn- Im so glad you had a good visit with your mom.

heather- way to go on the dinner out ..that tends to be my biggest downfall.

ingrid and angela- great job on the weight loss!!

carol- are you getting this nice weather we are having? Its suppost to be mid 60s on thursday.I plan on sitting in my swing some and soaking up some sunshine!

ruth- hope that toe gets well soon.

judy- way to go on day 1 , how did day 2 go?

battle- I had a bad weekend also but a great day yesterday.

I recieved candy ...8oz on mini reeces cups. YIKES!!! I also made mini cupcakes with the kids.I plated most of them up and carted them off to neighbors along with a few reeces cups. I need it gone!! I only ate 2 mini reeces cups. I ate 3 minicupcakes with no frosting.
Scales are still up alot...tom is leaving and Im hoping he takes the extra lbs with him.

Well, day 2 was not as good as Sunday. Will try again today.

It's bitter cold out today. May just stay in. I think I'm fighting a cold and hoping it's just my sinuses.

It sure sounds like everyone is doing great. I'll get there.

I fear what will happen when my parents need that kind of care. I live over 1000 miles away from them... it sounds like one of the hardest things to do.

Okay, Feb is half over. Let's think of this like a new month and a new start and let's have a great day!

Now that my kitchen is DEconstructed, today starts up the REconstruction.

Hi everyone,

Had a better day yesterday. I'm planning to keep it up today. This off the rails for 2 days and OP for 5 is not the way to lose weight so I've got to do better.

Stinger - congrats on your 5 lb loss!

Angela - great job staying on plan.

Learn - I know how hard it is to deal with elderly parent issues. I have family in tragic, unsolveable circumstances and it is tough.

Carol - keep it up! You are on fire

Heather - great job on your first day kitchenless.


I know I missed a lot of people but have to run. Have a great day!

Carol- Fingers, toes, etc... crossed for you.

dgramie- Making cupcakes with the kids sounds like so much fun. I'm sure tom with exit with some excess baggage and that scale will move down.

Judy- You know every morning I wake up congested and usually it's my sinuses, but this morning feels different. We may be suffering colds together. Hope you feel better.

Heather- Hope that reconstructions is going smoothly.

BattleAx- Here's to another day OP, I know you'll do it.

I had a great day of eating and exercise yesterday. We are having gorgeous weather here in FLA and I had the windows open all day airing the house out.
Kinda felt a bit dry and scratchy in my throat and sinuses yesterday and this morning I'm stuffed up to the hill. I think a big pot of chicken soup is in order for dinner tonight.
Gonna try to ignore my cold symptoms and pick up the back yard, the last rain storm left a lot of little branches on the ground.

Well ladies have a wonderful wednesday and make it POP!

LEARN

I cant believe how warm it is here. We are suppost to be in the lower 60s today. Tomorrow is mid to upper 60s but its so windy. I think march is here a few weeks early. I wanted to walk yesterday outside but the wind was just too much. OH I spotted my tulips breaking the ground yesterday. It wont be long till spring flowers start to bloom.
Food was great yesterday, today will be a repeat!

Should get into the 50s today!

Debbie -- Tulips! I can't wait to see that here. I'm jealous of Learn's windows open, too. Though I might do that if it hits 50s.

Battleax -- Do you know why you keep going off track?

Yesterday's eating was okay. We went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesday's and I got the soup and salad. I figure it was actually probably close to 700 calories for that (I don't believe the soup was just 229 calories as the website said), but that's okay. I think I'll be leaving more calories for dinners and cut back/eliminate evening snacks, and cut back a little early in the day too...

Today we have to paint the kitchen. We don't have much time as they come back tomorrow to put in the cabinets, and can't start until this afternoon.... dinner will be from Lean Cuisine I think... not the best, but handy and quick.

Been meaning to ask - has anyone else seen how much lower the daily calorie requirements are in 2011? They used to say I need around 2200 but now show 1600 with same activity level - I try to stay around 1600 but wondering what has changed.

Carol -- Who lowered them?

Not sure how/when - but I know TDP used to show me needing 2300 calories/day with even lower weight than I am now - same activity level - now it shows just over 1600. I checked out a couple of other sites and they showed the same. I'm going to not worry about it and try to stay under 2000 but it's quite a change.

Wow, that's really interesting! I wonder what changed?

I'm wiped. I spent 7 hours painting today. Night!

Busy day, but I managed to get the exercise in at the end of the day, and stayed under my calorie limit--under 1800, in fact. As much as I know I have to do things step by step, I wish I weren't relying on prepared foods so much right now. But I'm getting the calories OP, and htat's the most important thing, so I'll stick with the easy stuff for now.

Another busy day tomorrow: I've got a lecture to give in the evening, a special event that a lot of people have told me they're coming to, and it is far from ready. Three weeks from now things will slow down, so my goal is just to make it to mid-March managing to stay OP calorie-wise and keep exercising.

Hoping this great weather keeps up...

Cheers all.

Angela

Just a quickie this morning. Wanted to wish everyone a great day! I'll be back later in the day.

Learn

good morning, This is a quickie too. LOL! got company coming down the road!

I hope you are all doing well. I am good. Scale is not moving though. Bah!
:hug: Ruth

Heather - I guess I'm just going to stick with the range I know I can work within - the last two days I've been lower than normal and the scale has gone the wrong way - I think so long as I continue to make the calories good calories and not high sodium, highly processed it will all be good - I'm not going to feel bad for having 90 calories in an apple.

Stay strong!

good morning, This is a quickie too. LOL! got company coming down the road!

I hope you are all doing well. I am good. Scale is not moving though. Bah!
:hug: Ruth

Still waiting for that toe to be better - keep watching for the video of the tango!

I have known that I could never lose eating what the old charts said. I truly need to be around 1400 per day to lose weight. THose have to be good and healthy calories. I cant lose eating carbs.
I spent about 45 min yesterday cleaning out the dead plants from my flower beds. I do have tulips breaking thru as well as some easter flowers. Im so EXCITED!!

Heather- last week we were at 20 for our high temps and yesterday we hit 73. ITs nuts!!! I did open windows and got some of the yuck out of the house. What color are you painting?

Debbie -- The kitchen is "barely dawn" a very pale peachy color. Actually, it turns out to be the same color we just painted the bath. We didn't intend to use the same!

I'm excited for your gardening!!

Carol -- Exactly. Do what works and don't worry about 'recommendations'.

I'm also a 'quickie' today! Everybody have an OP day!

WHINE TIME: :kickcan:

Prepare yourself or skip this. Just about every sentence begins with "I".

I'm sooooo angry with myself. I purposely skipped going to WW to sign up today. I found an excuse to be somewhere else rather than the meeting. <sigh>

I know I need to go. I can't continue eating the way I do and remain even close to healthy.
I'm a big time procrastinator when it comes to anything that might change my lifestyle. I'm afraid to admit how much I weigh. Sad isn't it? I know WW works for me I just need to push myself to a meeting and get started.

I feel better having written this down. Makes me feel more accountable to myself. Guess I'll have to get my head together and plan to go on Saturday. There are no Friday meetings anywhere near here.

End of rant.

Tomorrow IS a new day.
Thanks for listening. :hug:

Judy -- I realized a while back that procrastination has been a big part of my weight problem. Why do I prioritize now me ("I want that cookie") over future, healthy me. I also DO tend to do this in other realms, though not as badly as I used to.

I still -- frequently -- have to tell myself that I need to do X now FOR me... not wait till later. Still a struggle.

So, you are not alone.

Hey Gals! :wave:

Haven't had a chance to read in a couple days. Just wanted to pop in and say hit to my favorite ladies!!!

:high:
Barb

Hello all, seems like we're mostly flying by today, and I'll be doing the same.

Just barely managed to stay under my calorie limit, got a little exercise in, pretty satisfied, given what a crazy which it's been.

Judy, I can't speak for everyone, of course, but speaking just for me I'd say don't worry about posting what's really going on. We're here to listen, and it's better to keep talking when you're struggling than to pretend all is well.

Can you set some goals between now and Saturday to make yourself feel more in control?

Have a great Friday, all.

Angela

Morning All!
Well yesterday went by so fast that I never got a chance to come back after my quickie fly by post. I'll try to do better this morning.

I got alot done yesterday, ran some errands, paid some bills, got a haircut. Today is grocery day, I'm in desperate need of some grub.

Ruth- I got my fingers crossed that the scale will move for you very soon.

Heather- The color you chose for your kitchen sounds so pretty.

Carol- That's it, stick with what your doing. It works right?

Judy- Weight Watchers meeting... Saturday... Be there! LOL!!! I am guilty of the same thing.

dgramie- This weather is just nuts, even here in FL. We're suppose to have highs in the low 80's today. Enjoy your warmer temps.

Barb- Nice seeing you again and hi to you too.

Angela- Hope your week is going well.

Well I'm off to conquer the day. My son has a 3 day weekend :cb: and I want to get as much done today so we can have more fun time together.

Later - Learn

Mornin'

Things are looking brighter this mornin'. I've got my day planned and my head is in the right place. Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. My plan is for WW tomorrow morning as long as the roads are driveable. Once again we are expecting heavy, wet snow overnight. grrr

Gotta go. The dog hates rain (loves snow) and won't set foot off the terrace on her own this A.M. cause it's raining. Time for a leash and a short walk before her bladder bursts. :D

Why does the weight pile back on soooooo fast but come off so super slow??
Hoping and praying for a weekend at home. I need to be home and avoid fast food!!

My whiny inner child came out during the evening yesterday - I've been POP all week and the scale has been going the wrong way. That brat inside said let's give it something to make it go the wrong way - no excuses - I had a bad evening with food.

The big statement here is my body feels horrible - gonna keep feeding good healthy food - the scale will move. repeat ad infinitum

Judy -- One of my dogs hates wet feet, too. Good luck!

Carol -- It's okay, but shut that inner child up today!

I hope Learn gets lots of time with her son, Debbie gets her weekend at home, and all of us stay OP!

Our kitchen cabinets are mostly installed! It took 2 guys 12 hours. They are doing a really great job, but it's a LOT of work. They even fixed the paint job we screwed up around a window. They're coming back to finish today. Then we can get measurements for the counters and get our kitchen back!

Hi everyone,

Add me to the fly by list. I have done reasonably well the past few days. Feeling awful today due to TOM. I'm headed out for a long weekend. Some friends are taking me on a trip to Oregon for my upcoming birthday. Looking foward to it. My goal is maintenance over the weekend. That will give me a little leeway without undoing the progress.

Have a great day and a great weekend.

Ok...so what is everyone eating? what works best for you to lose weight? I use to swear by calorie counting and then i started counting points and then cut out carbs increased protien. What works? Im thinking maybe I need to just come up with a new plan that includes some of the above.

Didn't exercise today, but eating was okay. I'll get back on the exercise wagon tomorrow.

DG: I can't imagine giving you advice, since you've had a lot of success, and I haven't, at least not in, well, 10 years. (But then, I wasn't trying really, for most of that time.) Counting calories has worked for me in the past--though it's been a long time. Over the last year or so, I was increasing my protein, but that turned out to be a bit of a problem (I'm diabetic, type 2, and too much protein was showing up in lab works, which is not good for the kidneys, etc., etc.) So I'm back to eating a little less protein, though I try to make sure there's some at each meal. In terms of staying full while keeping the calories low, the only thing I've learned is that clear soup and raw veggies help.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Angela

Judy- You sound so much better. See what 3FC will do for ya! Support and encouragement is so important. I hope the weather stays clear enough for you to make that meeting.

dgramie- Wouldn't it be nice if the weight came off just as fast as it came on.
By the way, I've been experimenting with different things food wise and still haven't found the right eating strategy for me yet. Scale hasn't moved in the right direction in a long time. I just keep telling myself it's all part of the journey.

Carol- O.K. well you learned your lesson, now back to work. Think of those capris you wanna wear on your cruise.

Heather- Wow, cabinets just about done already. Sounds like things are moving smoothly.

Battle- Good plan to maintain during your weekend with friends. Have a great time.

Angela- Hope you have a great weekend.

Today is stay home day and do laundry, vacuum. My car is being worked on (brakes), so I didn't make any plans to do anything.
This evening my husband, son and I are going out for dinner. It's our 17th. wedding anniversary.
My son gets to choose the restaurant, so more than likely it will be Olive Garden. I usually get the soup and salad w/ dressing on the side.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Learn

Good morning ladies, The scale was down a whopping .04 this morning.:p Wow at that rate I may be at goal in ...oh say, 30 years are so! LOL! Well at least it was going down instead of up. I think I need to do some tweaking now.


Carol, I have that whiney inner child at times. I am my own worst enemy, I will know that I shouldn't eat something and then go ahead and do it anyway. :p Major character flaw!

Deb, I think I have tried every diet known to mankind over the years and WW worked best for me of all of them. Now that I am older I am finding that low carb works best, not no carb just lower carb. Moderation in all things! Don't like it, but I should have never gained all of this weight back. Twice I have lost it all and found it again over the years. Stupid me!

Learn, Happy Anniversary! I see you are an early bird too. I hope your dinner turns out great tonight.

Heather, Your guys are moving fast with the kitchen! I must have had slow pokes working for me. LOL!

BA, Have a lovely Birthday trip and Happy Birthday whenever that is.

j-ann, Just hang in there and keep trying. I sometimes have to start over and over. As long as we never give up, we can't fail. (or so I tell myself as I grumble at the scale, like it is responsible for my lack of self discipline! :p )

Angela, As I said above, I keep trying to find the perfect diet to lose weight on. I don't guess it exists. We just have to find one that we can stick with. I haven't found it yet!;)

Have a wonderful weekend. :hug: Ruth

Hi ladies!!

Now the long wait begins for the kitchen -- the counters! Someone has to come out and measure for them. And then it will take a couple of weeks. So, several weeks before the kitchen is all put together again.

So far I've done okay on eating out. I've tried to eat less during the day, and also to make good decisions when we do go out. I saw that the scale had a little 3 pound whoosh the other day, but we'll see where I'm at when I record it officially on Monday. Still, I'm thrilled about the whoosh, as I'd been stuck around the same number for a few weeks.

As for diets, I calorie count. But for me that's now a tool to eating more mindfully. I actually haven't really calorie counted and plugged all the numbers in a long time. But I know how much I'd eaten before dinner yesterday.

Sometimes it seems to be less about what kind of food I'm eating than that I just don't let myself robotically eat whatever I see...

Heather- I have been doing the same thing. I think its time for me to use TDP again and use the measuring cups and spoons again. Congrats on the whoosh.

Battle_ hope your having a blast!!

Carol- how are you? Just think of the tan you will come home with.

learn- have fun tonight. Eating out is my biggest downfall. I know I will be doing lots of it when our new grandson makes his arrival.

judy- we can do this hand in hand!!

angela- I really have to watch hubby as he is a diabetic also. He love love loves carbs.

ruth-I truly think my biggest fear is gaining all the weight back. I have done it 2 times before. I know that hormones are playing part of my having trouble losing this time. I also know that hand full of chips dont help...lol

I am planning on getting groceries today and doing some housework and organizing my stockpiles of health and beauty supplies and cereal. I am a big riteaid shopper and get tons of stuff for free and now running out of places to put it.I am not one of those extreme couponers but I do love a good deal. I am also going to limit myself on what Im allowed to buy( or get free with coupons) I will avoid baking goods. I am loaded and plan to pass most of it on to the church food pantry.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

No WW for me today either. :^: We're getting blowing snow, 40-50 mph wind gusts and temps dropping like a stone. I'm okay with it. I'm staying in and have my food planned out. I'm sure not taking a 20+ mile round trip on icy roads.

Ladies thanks for all of the encouragement. I'm doing better mentally and am ready to make the commitment to get back on program to lose and feel better.:dance:

Deb: Great idea using coupons for stuff for the food pantry. I have a friend that does that. She keeps a box in the trunk and puts the non-perishable stuff right in there rather than bringing it into the house. Then when she loads up the foodstuffs the other is already in the car and ready to go.

Heather: You'll be so thrilled when the kitchen's done. It'll be worth the struggle and the wait. BTW, this is sooo true. "Sometimes it seems to be less about what kind of food I'm eating than that I just don't let myself robotically eat whatever I see...". I'm saving it.

Ruth: Own, or should I say "disown" that .04 lb. It's still downward movement!

Learn: Happy Anniversary! Hope you enjoyed your dinner out.

B.A. Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Carol: Hope you're slip is done and you're back POP.

Barb: Glad to see you stopped in! Miss ya.

Everyone have a great weekend. Enjoy life and celebrate even the tiniest successes!

Hi ladies,

I had a reasonably good day. Had a nice walk in the state park today, my first of the year. I did go over on calories just a little, because I let myself have a piece of tiramisu for my birthday, but I was only over about a hundred calories, and it'll be a good exercise for me to set myself a hundred calorie lower limit tomorrow to compensate.

I also ordered myself a new computer as a birthday present, and I'm going to play some online scrabble as my final celebration event of the day.

Unfortunately, I also had a memorial service to go to for a co-worker who died recently, so that limited dh and me in terms of what we could do to celebrate today.

Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend. Sorry to hear about your weather in NY, Judy.

Angela

Good Sunday morning ladies, Day of worship for us. My biggest prayer lately has been for our country. Scary stuff going on.

Well, the scale took back the .04 loss.:( Enough said about that!

Whatever your plans are for today, enjoy! :hug: Ruth

Happy Sunday Friends!
Just a fly by this morning. Gonna go have my morning cup o' joe with my hubby.
Had a great anniversary dinner at Olive Garden and stuck to my guns and had one bowl of soup, 2 helpings of salad and one bread stick.

I hope everyone has a super sunday!

Learn

I had a good day yesterday - scale still going the wrong way - it will give it up when it's ready. My exercise routine is in a time of transition - so long as I keep going that's all that matters!

Next Sunday we will wake up in San Juan - will face the capris today to see how they fit as packing begins - guess packing could mostly finish - won't be needing summer clothes here this week.

Stay strong.

Mornin'

No big plans here. May go up toLake Ontario and just ride around looking at the wave ice formations on the shoreline.

My plans for today include a shopping trip to riteaid and then church. Im hoping to make hubby a pot of chili and put some green beans on for me.
My scales are going the wrong way also. I will stay with it and make it work.
Judy- your day sounds wonderful..enjoy it!

Im getting anxious about the new baby. I am finding my heart stops everytime I see my daughters name on my phone. She lives over an hour away and its Im so scared I wont make it there. I know we will have plenty of time but as a mom I just worry. I also pray he comes in the daytime. I dont do nights well!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It could still be 2 weeks before he arrives but Im hoping its sooner.

I'm scared to get on the scale today in case the whoosh went away!
Last night we ate out for Mexican. I was very proud of myself. I skipped the chips and salsa, and ordered tacos al pastor (no heavy sauces). Two tacos each on 2 corn tortillas. I ate only one tortilla with each. And I had them replace the rice and beans with a salad. Too bad the rest of the day wasn't perfect, but I'm pleased over all....

Good luck to all those scales, and Debbie, good luck on the grandbaby!

Quiet day today. Got to catch up with an old friend who moved away but may be moving back--lots of drama, but it was nice to see her. Lots of work to do before school tomorrow, and an especially busy work day since it's open house tomorrow, so I'm going to keep it short. Stayed on track with calories and exercise today. I've been staying OP so I'm hoping I can at least be under 310 by March 1.

Great job eating out right, Learn and Heather.

Hang in there, DG... not too much longer!

Good luck with WI for everyone who's facing the scale.

Angela

We cooked at home today, even without a full kitchen! Grilled chicken, and baked potatoes and frozen veggies in the microwave!

No "real" exercise, but I moved a lot of things around getting the house put back together. Food has been good today!

Good job, Angela!

Carol- Soon, soon, San Juan here she comes. Look out capris, here she comes!

Judy- I'll bet the ice formations are just beautiful. If you ever takes pictures, I'd love to see them.

dgramie- You sound so excited about being a gramma again. I'll pray that all goes well and you make it there in time.

Heather- Skipping chips and salsa! Isn't that illegal? LOL!!! Good for you, great willpower.

Angela- Sounds like you had a good day over all.

I did not do well eating, too much sodium, I can feel it in my face, hands and ankles. I just fiddled around the house all day and hung out with my husband and son.
There was a little drama with my sister, she was involved in an accident saturday with her truck and horse trailer (with horse) and thank the lord she and horse are unharmed and the damage to her truck is mostly cosmetic.
Today my son and I will visit mom and pick up a few groceries. Gonna try to get a walk in and spend the day drinking..... water that is. Gotta flush this sodium from my body.

Well that's it for me, I hope everyone has a great day.

Learn

Learn- I am excited!! Just want it over for my daughter. She is looking really tired!

heather- way to go on cooking with no kitchen!!

angela- way to go staying on track!! Weekends are so hard for most of us.

Ok...so I did bad this weekend. We ate out mexican and I didnt skip the chips! I am bloated and my scales are up to what they were on jan 1. Im so sick of losing the same 7-10lbs. I have my food scales back out on the counter along with measuring cups and spoons. I MUST do this!!

Just one thing to say this morning - I WILL BE POP TODAY!

Yay Carol, you go girl! I will be op today also.:).

Can't linger this morning, but I wanted to stop in and say hi, so Hi! :hug: Ruth

Morning! Sounds like we're all having... challenges staying on plan. Try to remember why you want this! Visualize your success!

Learn -- Glad everyone's okay from that accident!

As for me... stupid :devil: scale. It showed a 3 pound *whoosh* Friday and Sunday. Today? It seems to have "taken away" 1-2 pounds of that whoosh. That's okay stupid scale -- I will leave those pounds in the dust!!!

Same thing here, Heather, Friday and Saturday I was down 3 pounds, but today I've only got a net loss of a half pound for this week. I'm sure we'll get those losses back next week.

An okay day today, although I forgot to plan for lunch and so didn't eat between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., never a great idea. But I didn't eat from the vending machine, and I didn't end up gorging for dinner. And I exercised.

How did everyone's Monday go?

Angela

Had a good day eating wise, but was too idle. Today will be POP all around.
How about everyone else!

I was POP!!! It felt good! I will be POP today also and add in exercise!
Hubby was going to grill but didnt get to because of rain...hey at least its not snow!!!
Im going to have to buy some lean meat to make on sunday to have for the week lunches. IM going to try and avoid as much processed food as possible.
Daughter went to the dr. she is dilate 3cm now...so we are just playing the waiting game. Im making a packing list of things for me to take.

Worked yesterday so let's try it again - I WILL BE POP TODAY!

The reward of the whoosh I saw this morning was very gratifying - the connection between POP and the scale continues.

Who's with me today?

Such positivity this morning!

I didn't get in exercise yesterday but food was pretty good.
I don't know what dinner will be (where we will eat out), but I have my trainer workout this morning...

Good morning, I didn't make it in yesterday, so I had better write this while I am in the office.

I have been busy as a bee! We are "thinking" about putting our house on the market. I realize this is probably not a good time to do that, but this place with all the expense is getting too much for me! Our property tax keeps climbing and so does ins. not to mention what it takes to cool and heat it. :( Cleaning it is a job too. 4,400 sq feet of back breaking work! LOL! I will get plenty of exercise just trying to sort through and get rid of stuff. LOts of stuff! When we moved here I thought I would never fill all of the closets and cabinets. HA! The garage is full so is the utility room and two storage sheds, large ones! do I know what is in all of these places? NO! :p

That is my novel for this morning, so I will just hush now and go. :hug: Ruth
Oh yeah, still op!

Stayed busy, busy, busy yesterday and stayed away from the fridge. I plan on doing the same today.

Let's get this POPPIN' party started! Your all invited!

Another POP day ...feels great. Scales are showing they approve.
I do admit I went to bed with a growling stomach. Havent had that in a long time.
Lets see how many days in a row we can be POP.

Didn't make it POP yesterday but every bite was recorded - a big thing for me!

POP today!!!

Ruth - sounds like a big job ahead of you - take it a little at a time.

Ruth -- The thought of moving freaks me out. How can we pack up all this stuff!! Just take it one room at a time!

I ate a little too much yesterday, but got in some good exercise.

Don't yet have a plan for today (that's the hardest part about not having a kitchen... no plan!)...

Im cutting carbs back and Im craving them sooooooooo bad!! I guess I will go and drink more water. IM not cutting all carbs..just the bad ones...like chips and bread ect.

Hi everyone,

Major drive by today. Congrats to the losers, whooshers, and POP tarts.

I had some good and some bad days while away but got in a lot of exercise. Back on full plan today and ready to take the healthy eating world by storm.

Ditto, BattleAx, I love "POP tarts."

Carol, Good job journalling even if you didn't stay OP.

I did the same. I know just how far over my calorie limit I was yesterday (not that far, but still) and I also didn't exercise yesterday.

Today is better, though I fell down on the job, planning-wise, both yesterday and today.

Tonight at least I will be able to exercise.

I'll check back in later this evening. How was everyone's Wednesday?

Angela

LOL, guess I didn't wait long enough, but I'm about ready to turn in. Did get two rounds of exercise in this evening, including some yoga stretching. Hoping it'll help with this elbow tendonitis I've been trying to kick since October.

Hope everyone had a good day; tomorrow I'll be POP, I swear it!

Angela

Good Morning Ladies,
I've had 2 super on plan days in a row, got on the scale and low and behold I've gained 2 lbs. overnight. Not fretting too much though because I take one look at my hands and ankles and can see it's water retention. Got to get myself to drink more water, been slacking in that department the past few days.

I'm gonna have a great day today, how about everyone else? Make it happen!

Learn

I had a great POP day yesterday! Scales approved with a 3lb drop. Now if I can just get them to continue. I really watched my carbs and I went thru some major withdrawls in the afternoon. Im hoping its better today.
Woke up at 3 am this morning..hubby was restless and ending up getting sick to his stomach. So needless to say I didnt get to go back to sleep. It may take extra coffee to get me moving today.LOL

Good morning, :carrot: Scale was down 1 whole lb. this morning, yipee! It pays to be op. ;) Now to just stick to that!

Learn, water retention is a common occurance for women, we just don't take seeing that on the scale very well. It will go away. :)

Carol that trip is getting close huh? Are you excited? I would be! I don't remember when you said you were going? (no memory).

Angela, good going on the exercise! Have I mentioned that I hate exercise? LOL!

Deb, I hear you about the carbs, I love them to, but as I get older I find that I can't eat them and lose weight. GRR! I mean certain carbs, like sugar and bread, I love my bread!

BA, Take that healthy eating world by storm, it is the only way to do what we need to do, eat healthy, be healthy! Hard to remember at times though.:o

Heather, the thought of moving freaks me out too! LOL! I think I am dragging my feet about moving forward with plans to put the house on the market. What a job!

Well ladies, time for me to see what I am going to tackle today. I may start looking in the cabinets in the game room and see what has been stuck away in there.:fr: I hope you all have a wonderful op day. :hug: Ruth

ruth- I had a neighbor once who told me to never fill my house up with stuff...but with living in the same house for 20yrs and 3 kids growing up here...we have it full of stuff! She believed you should be ready to pack and go within just a few days notice. If only I had listened to her. Good luck and way to go on the scales!

Thanks Deb, and boy was your neighbor right! :)

POP for me yesterday with exercise - feels good. In a way I wish vacation was further off so I could keep this string going and gain more momentum. I know there will be challenges while we are gone.

We go to the neurologist this morning to get DHs test results - we know they found a few very treatable conditions in his blood that we have already started working on - hoping that was the cause of the problems and no difficult news today.

Ruth - we are going to San Juan to start our cruise to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. We are going to celebrate my sisters 50th birthday - we've never been to any of these islands.

Running late - stay strong!

Morning. Yesterdays food was only so-so, but at least I did not get a snack when I felt peckish late last night. I had already had my snack, so I knew I didn't need it...

Good to hear from everyone!

I'm over 50 calories or so again. Stress is killing me, not to mention people giving me chocolate for my birthday.

But I managed not to eat anything after dinner today, and I did exercise. I just calculated that I've averaged 24 minutes a day this month, which is pretty impressive for me.

Glad to hear that others are doing well with eating. You're my idols! I wanna be just like you!

Happy Friday, all!

Angela

Happy Birthday, Angela!!!!! :bday2you:

Hi ladies.

Well I joined your group, read and posted for a week, then fell off the face of the earth for a week and a half. All last week my 8 y/o son had a cold and I felt under the weather as well. Woke up Saturday morning and he has chicken pox! He was vaccinated and got the booster for them but got them anyway. The dr told us that because he'd had the vaccines, he'd probably get very few pox and he ended up with ten total. I haven't had the pox myself and luckily the day he broke out in them he was scheduled to go to his dad's for his regular 3 weekly visitation days and and his dad's had them. Sadly he was contageous for several days before he broke out so I'm not out of the woods. The dr said they can incubate for 9-21 days so I have another 2 weeks before I know if I'm getting them or not. I've still had a sore throat this week but otherwise I'm feeling good. Son is out of the contageous stage so this is his first night home. I've heard pox as an adult can be very dangerous so cross your fingers for me that I don't get them.

On the weight loss front I didn't exercise but once last week because I felt so crappy and I only lost 1 lb. I'd lost 5 lbs the week before (my first week of walking) and I'm 12 or 13 lbs ahead of the schedule I've set for myself of 2 lbs a week so I'm trying not to be down about it but it's really got me feeling blah. I even had my first cheat meal or cheat food at all today at lunch. :( We had lunch from a bbq place and I had pulled pork, potato salad and coleslaw. I felt guilty right after of course. I came home, determined I would eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the week and start back on Monday. Something inside me told me not to though and I had a good, healthy dinner instead. Maybe the changes are actually sticking? I've been derailed many times in years gone by, by having one bad meal and throwing in the towel so though the "cheat" meal was a low point, now going hog wild with dinner or going off track was a small victory.

Sorry if I've only talk about myself and especially that you all barely know me but I promise to dive back in here, get to know you all and become part of the support system. :)

I hope you're all doing well and not getting the cold and snow we are!

Good morning girls!
Another on plan day for me yesterday. Even did better on water consumption, but can't seem to shake this water retention. Scale went up again this morning by 4/10. I will not let this discourage me. I keep telling myself it's all TOM related. He has been off schedule the last two months. He was 9 days late 2 cycles ago and 4 days early last time. Given my age (51+) I must consider menopause, ugh! I see my doctor on 3/24, I will talk to him about it.

dgramie- Congrats on the 3 lb. lose. I think we all need to go to Carboholics Anonymous! LOL!
Is hubby feeling better today?

Ruth- Congrats to you on the 1 lb. lose. Just awesome! You done packing yet? Only kidding! I wanna move out of FL someday, but I do hate the packing so much.

Carol- How did the meeting with your husbands neurologist go? You both have been on my mind since you posted that you were going to see him yesterday.

Heather- I have trouble with snacking at night also. Hate feeling hungry when I go to bed.

Angela- Wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in a stress free world. If it existed I would move there in a heartbeat. Hang in there the birthday chocolate should run out soon. By the way HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Ingrid- I've got my fingers, toes and even my eyes crossed you don't get chicken pox. Losing 1 lb. without exercising is great. Hey if you don't talk about yourself how are we gonna get to know you.
Hang in there and feel better soon.

Gonna wrap this up, I hope everyone has a great day, make it POP!

Learn

Good morning, Not so good in my shoes. I woke up feeling like crap this morning. Pardon the expression, but that is accurate. Something kept disturbing my sleep all night. I finally gave up and got up around three this morning. That is not unusual for me though. :p After years of getting up early it is a hard habit to break.

Angela, did I miss your birthday? Happy belated Birthday.

I hate to tell you all this, but the only way I can find to lose weight now is to do as low a carb as I can. UGH! The scale is moving down and that is what counts. No sugar, very little dairy, no bread other than Ezekial. I have meat and veggies mostly. I gave up fruit for now, unless it is grapefruit or berries. This is the only way that I started to lose. I have lost 13 lbs since the first of the year and if I had been better at it, I could have lost more. LOL! Those slip ups cost me. My age is a hugh factor in this. None of you are as old as I am:D You may lose on a low calorie only diet. Age creeps up on you, so do it NOW!

Learn, I lived in Fl. for 8 yrs. Never did learn to love it other than the crabbing, shrimping and fishing. Hated the humidity! Yep, sounds like menopause. I was done with that tom stuff by age 48. Don't miss it at all. :)

Hi Carol, Heather, stinger, j-ann(where are you?), and Deb. :hug: Ruth

Hubby is still not feeling great but a big improvement over yesterday. I ended up sleeping on the couch to keep an eye on him. Man im sore all over from it.LOL

Ruth- I am eating green veggies and lots of them and yesterday I had some beets but checked the carbs and they are higher. I am eating just a good serving of meat at each meal. Im avoiding fruit right this minute also. Its such a downfall for me. I am also limiting my dairy to see if my IBS settles down also.I feel good and didnt get the OMG i have to eat a chip or cookie craving yesterday.LOL
Scales went back to ticker weight.

learn- I hate TOM!

angela- happy bday and great job on avoiding chocolate.

heather- how are you?

ingrid- please keep talking about yourself. It really does help us get to know you.My 3 kids all broke out with chicken poxs with a 24 hour period.

carol- thanks for not sharing that ice storm with me.

Hi all!

I'm struggling with my eating again. I'm trying not to emotionally eat, but it's just up all round. It doesn't help that my whoosh went away! Seriously scale? You take away 3 pounds for 3 days so I feel like it's "real" and then take them back 2 days later????? I'll show you, you stupid scale!!!

Gotta run, but good to see all of you!

Time to pack the bags and find some warm weather! Hoping this snow/ice from yesterday (worst storm this year for us) plus the additional we are supposed to get tonight don't slow us down!

Thanks for all the thought's about DH - all was mostly well with the neurologist - nothing we can't treat. Time for a nice vacation and then both of us will be taking better care of ourselves.

Angela - Happy Birthday!

We have a very active vacation planned this time - I'll track those exercise minutes and try to make healthy choices.

Stay strong!

Carol, enjoy!!!!! You deserve it!

Good morning!
Well yesterday I was spot on POP. I even started counting carbs and OMG! I can't believe how bad I was before yesterday. The scale moved in the correct direction and that really made me happy this morning. Today I will do the same thing, writing down everything I shove in my mouth along with it's carb count.
Found on the internet (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the RDA is 300g, so I shot for staying under half that.

I'm gonna get outside now and enjoy the day. I hope everyone has a wonderful saturday.

Learn

Carol; Have fun and relax!! We will miss you dearly!!

heather- hang in there! I swear my scales love to mess with my mind! Show that scale whos boss.

learn- calorie and carb counting is working for me. Im just trying to stay under 100 carbs a day. I didnt realise it 3 yrs ago but its what I was doing. I just made my mind up to eat only meat and veggies and whole grains, stay away from white and sugar. My grandmother use to say if its white dont bite. I am happy to report Im back to my ticker weight. Thats a total of 7lbs this week off my body. Now its time to stay with it today at this shower and make great choices. I am allowing myself one cup of punch and a few nuts. No cake for me and thank God we dont have finger foods at this one.This baby shower is for a friends daughter.
My daughter is still waddling along. Im thinking the baby is going to be stubborn and prove the dr wrong. Its starting to look like she may make it till her drs visit on monday. I kinda think it would be awesome if he was born tomorrow on my sons bday.
hugs to all and lets make it POP this weekend!

learn- calorie and carb counting is working for me. Im just trying to stay under 100 carbs a day.

Thank you dgramie!

I ended up at 126g carbs for the day yesterday, but today I know will be better because I'm really being mindful of what I'm eating. I'm hoping this is what my body needs.

Hi ladies, just flying by. I was POP yesterday, except for checking in.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Unfortunately, I did not avoid the birthday chocolate but managed to eat all of it in 3 days.

Learn, you're right, there's no stress-free world, but I do know there are levels of stress I can handle without caving... and some of this is stress that I should have been able to avoid, but there was a whole domino effect from last semester that I don't think will be gone until around May.

In fact I have to run and do some writing because I have a conference to go to this week and the paper I'm supposed to present is not written. Thus, some of my stress.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend. More soon~~

Angela

Hi ladies, I have no news today, so :wave: to everyone. Ruth

I did great at the shower today. I had a few nuts and 1 cup of punch. Hubby saw a recipe he wanted me to try and all I can say is YUM..french fried onion ring chicken baked. The recipe is on the can.
Been fighting the urge to send hubby to the donught shop tonight.

Happy Sunday!

Dgramie- Thank you for your input on carb counting. I'm really excited with how well this works for me. Great job at the shower?

Angela- I hope you had time to relax yesterday.

Ruth- Remember the old saying... "No news is good news."

I had a great day eating and moving. Got a lot of yard work done. This carb counting seems to really be working for me. Not where I was lowest weight wise, but at least the scale is moving in the right direction for a change.
I have a lot to do this morning. My best friend and his wife and kids are coming for a visit. I promised the kids pony (horse) rides and hotdogs on the grill. Gotta get cleaning the house.
I hope everyone has a great sunday. Make it a POP one.

Learn

My scales are moving down daily, talk about a great feeling. Makes me want to eat right again today.LOL Thinking we are going to mcdonalds for breakfast. IM eating before we go and just get a diet drink while everyone else eats. Im making the french fried onion chicken today but with cheddar cheese, green beans and corn for hubby but I may have some beets(not super low in carbs but I love them).
My bff daughter was due the same day as my daughter and they are at the hospital now. IM JEALOUS!!! It would be cool if my grandson was born today . Its my sons 27th bday. Im starting to think he wants to be a March baby no matter what they dr thought.
I got my riteaid coupons printed and ready..cant wait to go and get my deals for the week...yes I am a riteaid addict...lol
Learn- Im so excited to see the scales inch down daily. Not a big drop today but still a drop. Carb counting is working great!!!

Morning! People sound positive today.

We're eating breakfast out -- right now! I was a good girl and got one of the lower cal options.

The scale is being odd. I had a whoosh last weekend and into this week (4 days) and then the scale took it away(2 or 3 days). Today it was back. I'm so glad I didn't let the added pounds throw me off track!!

Hi! :wave:

That's all I can muster right now. I'm worn out after a busy weekend. Off to bed.

:hug: to all!

Hi ladies, not much to say. Glad to hear some scales are moving down. I'm still way behind on what I need to get done before leaving town Wednesday, but I've managed to eat about right today and yesterday. Scale was down this morning, but tomorrow is my official weigh-in, so I'll hope it's down again tomorrow.

Cheers.

Angela

I ended up eating at Mcdonalds for breakfast yesterday. I got the breakfast burritos and just ate the insides and got the apple slices. I was proud of myself.
I did good at lunch and dinner but did eat a handful of pizza combo snacks. I will be hiding those today.
Scales inched down another .4.

Good morning all!
Had a good day yesterday. Had company over and I managed to only nibble on a few things I made that were not on my regular eating regime. Scale was kind to me this morning.

Gonna have a fabulous day today. How about everyone else?

Learn

Good morning ladies, I am already pooped for the day. That vacuum cleaner just wears me out! LOL!

Yes, Learn today will be a good day. Lost .04 lbs over the weekend according to my scale. :D Well, that is better than gaining .04 right? Weekends are hard for me. I think my problem is that I love to eat. (said with tongue in cheek).

As I have already said, doing lower carb is the only way I can lose. Bummer but true.

Deb, sounds as if you have found the right formula also. I don't know about you, but I miss my carbs! The starchy ones that is. I eat veggies. I am not eating fruit right now.

Hi to Barb, Angela and Heather. Carol has already departed? :hug: to everyone. Stinger are you out there? Ruth

Hi ladies, must be quick again. I'm still not ready for this trip that starts Wednesday morning, like waaaaayyy not ready. I'll likely not be posting very often for the rest of the week; I'll be in an expensive hotel, and strangely, they always charge for internet access, while cheapo places don't. Lots to do, so I'll just say, have a great OP week all.

Angela

Have a good time at the conference Angela!!

Good morning! How are you all this morning? The scale is still being very good to me. :carrot: I hope you are all having the same results.

:hug: Ruth

Ruth_ i love my scales right now!! I havent said that in ages, maybe about 2yrs. Ruth I am not eating fruit right now either.

How is it that we get so far off what we know works for us? Looking back at my old journal from 3yrs ago this is how I was eating then. How could bread and a few chips cause me to stray so far. Im eating huge servings of veggies and plenty of meat. Just totally avoiding breads and sweets and corn and potaotes right now. That also incluldes chips and crackers and goldfish. Its working and I feel so much better and wake up daily excited to step on the scales. The reward today was a half of pound again. I know it wont keep up at this pace but its a nice fast start after yo-yoing for 2 years. Still got a ways to go to be back to my lowest but I will get there!
My dr saw the dr yesterday and she will be going in on thursday to have the baby. Im excited and scared to death at the same time. Hubby and I will leave out that morning and return home on sunday.That means lots of meals out. Im already trying to plan. I so want to come home and post a loss.
angela- enjoy your conference.
heather- how are you?
barb- hi we miss you and hearing about the boys.
carol- I miss you but know your having a blast and needed the break.
hi to everyone else...hugs

learn- hi and didnt mean to skip you. Hope you have a great day!!

HEY! It's a new month, so let's start a new thread!!! Join us for the next installment!