[melekalikimaka]

to the APRIL edition of our Weighty Issues thread.

Need some new inspiration? We're a group of wonderful women from different walks of life, spread out from the US east coast to the west , the Pacific and
the Far East !

We support each other through the highs and lows of every day life--it's not just about weight loss, it's about LIFE. If you have something to say or need a shoulder to cry on , come on in,
grab a chair and stay awhile. You'll be glad you did.

[melekalikimaka]

Good morning ladies, I'm up with a new kind of energy (I'm sure you can tell with all the smilies I used above ). Yesterday was fun, Rick and Michael participated in their karate tournament. Rick took a 1st place medal in his individual event, Michael took 3rd. The rest was an experience for both of them. I was so proud of Michael for doing it because he's sort of shy and has to be prodded along to do things. The dojos from the West (our side of the island) won overall so it's all good. Then I took Michael to see Ice Age 2 which was pretty hilarious, better than the first one I think. Anyway, what's everyone else up to this Monday?

[maggzs]

Helloooooooo

Well its Monday & it hasnt really started off any better food wise then last week but hey I am still here regardless. Kids started school hols for Easter today & I was going to take them to Ice age 2 at some stage, glad to get the good report. I love those kind of kids shows they are so funny but I think Shrek was truely the best.

I am I think eating with/for stress at the moment. I have been sooooo busy with work & have a staff memebr that is really no end of drama. I cant decide if I want to help her overcome her issues or just sack her. It would help if I also thought she felt she had any issues to overcome, they are all mine of course I am sure! If only though it was that easy to do the latter. Its not there are so many hoops to jump through. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I am heading of on holidays to the beach next weekend for a week & I am soooooooooo looking forward to it. JUst doing NOTHING. No bikini though (ewwwww just the thought!) but hey Im a boardies kinda gal anyway lol.

Anyways best get off to write a report,

Check in later.

[Dips'n'twists]

I really don't like mondays. Not to mention I am adjusting to this day light savings time and I am feeling that hour that I'm losing. At any rate I am really trying to stay focused on excersising despite my schedule because summer is around the corner and I have toning to do.

Noelle- Love the use of smilies in your post Good job to your cute little boy for doing his thing at the Karate touranment. You must be so proud.

Maggs- I didn't see any of the Ice Age movies but I LOVE the shrek movies. I can't wait for the next one! That stress is a killer, isn't it?! I think that beach trip will do you some good. It worked for me!!

[redballoon]

Hi there, people. Long time no see (me, that is). Sorry about that. Just busy as usual. Same old story with the weight. It seems I can stay good for a bit and then it comes off...a bit...then I blow it and go hogwild to gain it all back. Back and forth, back and forth....sigh. Right now, I'm on a downswing I think. Perhaps, with the weather warming up, I can get some more fat off. I HAVE to, what with warmer weather meaning I can't hide under coats, jackets and heavy fabrics....ugh!!

********************

Noelle -- Thanks for the new thread and the link to it and all those pretty smilies. Glad to hear you have some "new kind of energy." Do you think it's a good kind? Great about Rick (husband, right?) winning in karate. Michael? son? That's great! Well, Monday is finished for me here. Wind is battering the door and howling around out there. I'm glad to be cozy. The usual long day at work, but I walked more than 90 mins. in this morning and did my crunches so I got some exercise in.

maggzs -- Hello there. I see you're over in this part of the world. Time zone wise we're not so far off. What is this Ice Age that people are talking about? Sorry, I'm single, no kids, movies for the young set I just don't see....I can though certainly relate to the stress eating. It's always hard for workers to see their issues. They feel they are created by others'. That could be the case, but it could also be her expectations and yours were askew from the beginning. No idea, of course, just a possibility. I think it's always best to find out where the other person is coming from, how they perceive things WITHOUT telling them how you perceive it....that would just set them on the defensive. If you learn how she sees things, you can work on changing that or realize it's hopeless, depending on just how she does see things! Beach sounds great. We're gearing up here slowly. Cherry blossoms are blowing off the trees now. You're winding down for fall. Enjoy the last days of summer. And...how can 144 lbs possibly be "ewwwww" ?!?!?!?!

Hi to everyone else, Kempy, jbbm, Dips, angie (where is angie these days?!) cal, Cherie, any newbies I missed...ai....others? Hope things are going well for you. Bye for now!

[redballoon]

Hi Dips! You and I must have been typing at the same time. Too bad you're not taking to the time change. We have none here. I wouldn't like it anyhow as I get up early, would rather have the morning sun than the evening. Good luck on the exercising. Take care!

[angieME]

hi guys. I have been wallowing in self pity for the last month and a half. I havent weighed myself since 2/10 and it isnt pretty. I have gained back 12 pounds so I am back at 20 pounds lost. It is so hard to drag myself here when everyone is doing so well because it just magnifies my own failure to myself. Every Monday I have "started over" only to screw it up by noon. So that is why I havent been around. I am so proud of you guys doing such a great job though.

SO, I am going to try again today and see what I can do. I am getting ready to go jump on my bike but I wanted to make it a point to check in with you guys and make myself accountable. I want to lose this weight so badly.

We got the RV a few weeks ago. It is so pretty. I cant wait until I can go to Florida now.

[Ready2ShedLBS]

Hi everyone, Im a newbie, just reading through. This month is good for me so far, hopefully will get better, trying to shed the 10lbs I put on this winter which I must say I am disppointed in myself, but believe me, I was lathargic and I did indulge in the t-giving and christmas goodies, a little too much. I took from Nov to Feb off so I guess 10lbs isnt THAT bad. Could have been worse. Anyways I wanted to reply to Angie,

You said that every Monday you start over only to screw it up by noon. You didnt screw it up, you just had a weak moment, dont throw away that day, just do your best to balance it after you slip up. There are no bad days, or bad weeks, only bad moments. Think positive and positive will come, think negative and negative will come. Everytime you " screw up" just say, ok, thats it.. back on track. Say it, out loud. Talking to yourself out loud really works when losing weight. Please dont give up, you CAN and WILL and ARE doing it.

[melekalikimaka]

Welcome Ready! First of all, congratulations on your weight loss so far, you are doing much better than GREAT Do you mind me asking what kind of plan if any you're following? That's good advice you're dishing out to Angie, or to anyone here. I say that 10 lbs during an "off" period of 4 months is pretty darn good. I know I would've done way more damage than that. But this is a new month, so I hope to continue with some renewed efforts and keep the weight coming off, so again, thanks for joining us.

Angie , gosh girl, we've been missing you around here. I hate to hear you're feeling down, but Ready is right, just shake it off, like Mariah Carey would say. I had a good loss last week, but ya know, I think most of that was water weight--because I stepped on the scale this morning and wouldn't ya know it, I'm back up a few and I'm pretty sure when I go to WW to WI tomorrow, I will show that gain. But you know what? I'm still going in and facing the music--if I avoid the center, I will most likely have another cheat week, and another.... I don't want to blow it this time. You still have made good progress, and you're not back up at your highest weight so let's get some positivity going on and get this dastardly weight off of us! You can do it girl, I know you can because you've done it before. So is it warming up for you up north?

Maggzs, I hope you get that issue with the co-worker resolved, drama at work is just so taxing, and you certainly don't need the stress. At least you have your holiday to look forward to. Oh yeah, and I liked the Shrek movies better than Ice Age, but it was still enjoyable. Enjoy!

Hi Red , yes Rick is the husband and Michael is my son... I spent Saturday watching all these kids and adults shout out unintelligble Japanese names of their karate katas and make mean, warrior faces. It was funny and scary at times. It's rough when you gain and lose the same weight over and over again, but it's better than gaining and gaining and gaining right? I try to put a positive spin on things, so shoot me

Dips, I feel for ya on the daylight savings, we have nothing of the sort here either so it's the same old same old for me. How long until it changes back ?

Julie and Cherie, where you hiding girls?

Kempy how was your weekend? Did you survive it?

Cal, how was your first week back at school?

I gotta run for now, but hi to Aimee and anyone else I may have missed. Have a great Monday or Tuesday for those of you futuristic people

[jbbm]

Hi Girls

Angie glad to see you back girl. You know I have not lost one pound in a long time. But I started off this morning with good start, again. Lets just keep plugging along no matter what setbacks we have. I am glad you got your RV, are you going a road trip this summer?

Noelle I love all the smiles too. Has the rain let up? I saw an article about it online. Hope your skies are sunny. The sun just came out here and it is so nice.

Welcome Ready!

Dips, Hi! I think I am feeling that hour too. I did not get enough ZZZ's to begin with. I think we are going to have to get to bed early tonight. Don't work to hard girl.

Maggzs keep that beach vacation in sight and I hope the stress gets better. I know it does a number to healthy eating.

Red nice to see you.

Well hello to everyone else. I have to pick up dd from school now. I ran to get an anniversary card for dh, our anniversary is Wednesday....9yrs. Where does time go? Instead of exchanging gifts we are going to get ourselves a new patio set. Something practical I guess Hi everyone...I hope you all make it through Monday, have a good one.

[angieME]

Ready, Thank you for the advice. I know all this stuff by heart it is just the doing it that is hard. This will be the third time losing all this weight and I am trying to do it for life this time but sometimes I forget that and want to be a baby about it. Ya know what I mean? I hope you stick around with us. We have been here for going on 4 years now and are all great friends. I will properly introduce myself to everyone that I havent had a chance to meet yet. My name is Angie. I am a 33 year old married Mom of 3. Ages 14,12 and 12. I am a baker for a living. My husband and I make donuts and pastries 6 days a week for stores in our area.

Noelle, Yes it has been really nice up here for the last few weeks but I guess it is going to cool back down by Wednesday with a chance of snow showers. Not too bad considering we didnt get hardly any snow this year though. The robins are back so spring is here.

Julie, Happy anniversary. I dont know where time flies. Me and jay were talking and we have been together longer than not now. I bet you guys will get a lot of enjoyment out of your new patio furniture.

I planned on riding my bike this morning but MIL came over and had me look up land in Florida for her so she could compare prices on a piece that they want to buy down there. I guess it was a good deal and they will probably be buying it. I did take a walk with the kids this afternoon though so I should be good to go.

I printed off skinny pics of me today to hang on the fridge and my puter to remind me of what I am trying to accomplish again. The pic is the one of me in front of the foliage from when we went camping in Camden a few years ago that I posted for you guys when I was at goal. I was wearing a red shirt and looked pretty good. I also am going to get some gold stars and make a board up and give myself one star per pound so I have avisual of how many pounds I have lost when I feel down. Maybe something will work for the long haul for me.

[melekalikimaka]

That's my girl Angie I remember your "skinny" pics, but you know what? All your pics you ever posted show you as a pretty woman, no matter what size. I'm sort of embarrassed by my skinny pics because my own son asks me, Who's that with dad, mom? --my son has never seen me skinny, ever, besides in pictures so he can't relate. I'm working to change all that I think a star studded awards board is a good thing. I used to love graphing my progress, just a simple bar graph showing the pounds lost--it is an awesome motivator when you're feeling down in the dumps and don't wanna go on. Enjoy your spring weather before the snow showers hit.

Julie, you seem much to young to have been married for 9 years Congratulations and I hope you get whatever patio set you set your heart on. I love practical gifts that I know I'll use too. I wish I had a house to put a patio set in p.s. Rick and I will have been together 17 years this July 4th...woo-hoo

Gosh, we have BLUE BLUE BLUE skies here today, it's amazing! And the mountains, you just gotta see them, so lush and green. I didn't go for a walk this morning though--too hot and sunny . I will go for one this afternoon. I was feeling kind of in a funk late last week so I decided on the spur of the moment to get my hair colored. I dyed it back to my natural color, dark brown (almost black) with no highlights. I have had my from-a-bottle-brown hair for so many years, that after dyeing it looked so dark and strange, that it reminded me of being back in high school in my heavy metal days. But I absolutely love it now. It makes me feel younger.

[Kempyd]

Well, I made it through the weekend. I didn't eat terribly but I didn't deprive myself either. I did have a few largel glasses of wine and some dessert one night. I didn't get on the scale this morning so I have no idea what it will say in the morning. I did hop right back into my routine though so I am feeling pretty good. I am feeling pretty tired myself with the time change. I really hate it. I wish they would just leave it alone. I don't know a single person that thinks it is necessary.

Red it is so good to see you back. Noelle is right at least you are not gaining. You are just playing with a fwe pounds. I had been doing that for years. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this time will be different. You can do it too!

Angie HEY GIRL!! I love the sticker idea. I am sure once you see on paper how well you are doing you will keep it off and drop more. When is the trip to FL?

Julie I love our new table. My girl friend and I sat out on the deck last night and enjoyed the nice evening. You will be amazed at how much you will use it. Joe and I will be married 9yrs this year too.

Magg how was work? Are you starting to cool off now?

Ready it is always nice to see new poeple on the thread. I hope you stay wth us. I am a southern girl too.

Amiee are you still with us?

Dips did you post the pics on the other thread? I havn't been around for a few day.

Hey to anyone I missed. I need to do some luandry since I didn't do anything productive this weekend.

[redballoon]

Kempy -- Hi. Thanks for the encouragement. I keep telling myself that I can do it too, but somehow I just don't. I don't know why. It's somehow scary or something, like maybe I feel I don't deserve to look good or that I'm not looking good out of spite or something. Something screwy. I think that with work and how things are just so mind-boggling, how I'm totally overlooked, how I am kept out of the loop though I'm one of the people who's been with the company the longest etc. etc. has really, really f@cked with my mind I think and it is having repercussions in my entire life. It's not just work, it's other things too, just feeling so left out, so ignored, passed over and I think that somehow I am self-sabotaging because I feel that's my role. It's so sad but I don't know how to get out of it. It doesn't help to talk with friends and just have them shake their heads in sympathy. Well, I'm glad you at least are doing better.

jbbm -- Hi. Thanks.

Noelle -- Thanks too for the encouragement. I know it's better than gaining and gaining, but...I can't believe I'm looking so bad, skin bad...oh, I sure need help, some sort of support. I have absolutely nothing here.

Others, hi! angie, good to see you! Ready, welcome! I just hope I can feel better. It would mean so much if I could have something good happen in my life..... sorry to be so down....but, more things today....just seems I can't win no matter how hard I try....

I did get some exercise in today and did my crunches. Eating was so-so I guess. It's hard to tell because I don't stick to any specific plan. Nutritionally it wasn't very good though, but calorie-wise maybe it wasn't bad. I suppose I should devise some sort of plan where I can still give myself all sorts of freedom but still be able to better assess how "well" I did. As for the "playing the expected, desired role" of my oppressors, I guess I could make a game of giving myself points for how many things I do against that...like I was doing things secretly to undermine the hold they have on me...when actually the hold they have on me is all in MY head really. It's awful how you start to truly believe the things that you at first rebel against. It's a form of brain-washing, the ultimate mind control, where the person does it to herself in the end. I suppose the racism here has finally gotten to me, as has the sexism. I thought I was tough, but I'm apparently not tough enough.

[angieME]

Good Morning everyone!!!I just got done doing 45 minutes on my bike. I had my ipod rocking so I did arm moves and stuff while I rode to get an extra boost. I am such a dork and the dogs were staring at me like "what the **** is wrong with her"

Jay gets to go to the RV place tomorrow and get the fifth wheel hitch installed in the pickup. We arent going to Florida until this coming winter like always but we are going to try to get in a night here and there this summer around home. Jay is going to go cook with his Mom for extra money too so he is going to be super busy this summer.

Daisy got spayed Friday. She looks pretty sore. She has been sleeping on my head every night since she got home from the vets though. She got extra loveable to me.

I found a place on ebay that does cat runs and she will paint the cat to look like your cat. I am going to order one of those to put Tinkies ashes in and get it painted to match him. Me and jay were looking at all our old pics and we came across the ones of Tinkie and Little Grey right after we found them freezing in the parking lot and my god I cant believe how cute they were. I miss them.

Noelle, That is funny about your son. Brit did the same thing when she came home from school and saw the pics of me that I hung up. I was like...aaah it is me doofy.

Kempy, I have to still set my deck up. I am waiting for Jay to do it because all the flies go up in the umbrella and when you open it up for the first time in the spring flies fall out of it. GROSS! So I make him do it. I dont have a problem with the time change. I actually like it because it is so light out later that it is nice. Next year it changes you know. We will be doing it 3 weeks earlier in the spring and one week later in the fall for an extra month of light. YEAH!!!! That will feel so good up here.

Red, Are you ever going to move back to the states? You sound so unhappy out there. Do you think it would be different if you came home? {{{HUGS}}}