Joni, My next dog is going to be one that is expected to live a long time and not have a lot of health problems, since it is so hard to see them sick or lose them. I hope your baby is just fine. My last dog was a Shar Pei and they are not the healthiest dogs.

Terri, 2.5 pounds is really great!

Angie, I hope you are having a quick recovery from the gall bladder and that you are not bothered by anything after the surgery. Although I do have to say that my one girlfriend who had hers out and then could not eat fatty foods without it bothering her has been super thin ever since.

JM, I suppose with what you lost before you had the surgery any before pictures would be from before that really. Not that the before is all that important, but we all love to see dramatic transformations, and I have a feeling you are on the cusp of having one yourself. I'm glad you are feeling better every day. Only 2 weeks off work is great for such a life changing thing. How nice that the sun has decided to shine for you so much when you are off.

Amy, I was amazed that you did the hour and 34 minutes on the elliptical, and then I read the rest! LOL! I think if you start slow you can talk yourself into doing it since who doesn't have 10 minutes and how bad can 10 minutes be. I need to start using ours more often. I'm considering making an appointment with myself to do it.

Angie - thanks for the good thoughts on Beau. Yes, he's had symptoms including wobbly legs, pale gums, lethargy, etc. He's also peeing a lot. it's not diabetis, so we are checking tomorrow for a common dog ailment, cardio myopathy. I'll keep you all posted on tomorrow's findings.

Barbara B - I believe the dogs that last the longest are mutts! Boxers, unfortunately, seem to average 7 years (although I know some folks that have had boxers for 13-14 years, but these are usually the European breed of boxers (they are shorter and thicker than ours, which are American boxers).

Bedtime!!!

Oh, I love reading the Women's World magazine in the checkout at the grocery. This week's article had a fairly simple diet plan....Eat 400 calories at each meal and eat 3 meals a day. Yes, that is only 1200 calories, but if you make them smart cals, you should do fine. How simple is that ladies....Can we do it????????????

You know, I was trying to figure out how I lost the 2.5 lbs. LOL

I think the fact that I ate a little bit, frequently thoughout the day, like my kids do, helped the scale move.

It also helps to not deprive myself..and try to work "healthy" choices into my menu without a full blown carrots and celery, boring meals etc. That makes getting healthy boring.

I've mimimized my stress with my family of origin; set boundaries and maintained them without guilt or attempts at manipulation. I am also going to bed earlier than i usually do.

a quick hello--just wanted to say i'm down a few more ounces again and almost to an even 151! whoo! and when i hit 150, i'll officially be in the "healthy" weight range for my height. something i haven't seen since high school..i think.

hey angie, sige and terri! nice to "see" you again! it's also great to see everyone else posting on a more regular basis too! let's get this thread a' hoppin' again!

Well I am back from visiting my parents in Palm Springs. It was really hard to eat healthy there as my Mom did so much cooking and baking. We did lots of walking there but not enough for the calories that I ate.
This weekend, I am going to sit down with my son and plan the weekly menu. He is starting a 12 day wild rose cleanse and told me that I have to change my cooking for him for 12 days. This isnt such a bad idea I guess. I am not going to do the cleanse but I am going to try and follow the menu. I did some shopping while I was away and had to squeeze into a size 12 so I need to work on that!!
Anyways, I will try and catch up on everyones comments tomorrow.
Its good to be back

Joan

Woo hoo Jillian! Glad to know someone is reaching their healthy weight! I'm still trying.

Beau's cardio appt went well (he's a dog for those just reading this post). He has a very minor congenital defect called subaortic stenosis where the blood flow leaving the left side of the heart out the aorta is too fast and becomes turbulent, but they really don't think this is causing his clinical signs of weakness. Man, I wish this doggie could talk!

Off to bed....it was a long day at the vet hospital! I'm beat and so is Beau!

Hey all!

I'm so happy to tell you that I reached my 50lbs lost milestone today! I am excited to think that just half a year ago I was 50lbs heavier -- when I began I really couldn't picture myself being here at this weight at this time. I still have a long way to go, but now I can see where I can be in another 6 months and it's got me pretty stoked!

Joni -- That's frustrating...good that they ruled out a more serious heart problem though. I think the 3x400 cal meals could work well, and maybe throw in something high protein (like a lite) for a snack now and then.

Jillian -- You are a big part of the reason I've stuck to my plan for the last little while. When I came back to this site last August and saw all that you had accomplished during my 3 year 'break' I was really ticked off at myself for not having stuck to the plan. You were such a glaring example of what I'd given up by indulging myself. So...long story short...thank you for being such a great example, it's really motivating me this time around.

First off, congrats Angie on reaching a great milestone!

And secondly, THANK YOU. Thank you for the compliment and saying what you did. it's the support and comments like that, that keep me going too! yes, i do it for myself, but it's awesome to hear that i've inspired others. that's what keeps me going too because not only do i not want to disappoint myself my not being the best i can be, but i also don't want to let anyone else down who looks at me as an inspirational person or cheerleader for their weightloss efforts. (i have a friend who i'm her "coach" or leader, so-to-speak and it's awesome for her and me!) so thank you for telling me that. it means more to me than you think.
it seems as if lately, no one really cares about all of my accomplishments. i keep on "bragging" and/or telling people about my successes and i guess it seems "old news" to them and i should quit talking about it. well, i'm NOT going to quit talking about it! i'm still in awe and shock every single day. every single time i put on a pair of jean, see myself reflection in the windows at the gym, every time i pull a pair of comfy pants out of the dryer and think to myself how small they are and don't think they'll fit me, but they do. buying everything in a size medium..i still can't wrap my head around that and still look at size charts!

so not only am i an inspiration to others, it's what keeps me going too.


ok..i'm done with my speech. sorry!

i hope everyone has a good day and weekend. not much planned for me.

Jillian, I think it does take longer for us to register and accept and process the weight loss than it does those around us. I myself debated for way too long at costco over whether to buy the large or medium panties, even though the reason I was buying them was due to major saggy butt issues with the current (large) panties of the same brand... Maybe I just stretched out the old ones... maybe the medium ones will be way too tight.... I don't need super noticable panty lines really... You'd think world peace was at stake, or a whole lot more than the 9$ for 8 pairs of panties... I bought the mediums and went home thinking, I'm not going to return them if they don't fit.. that's gross, but they were fine... As well as the medium sports bra, it was fine.. even if it didn't seem like it should fit. It did. I somehow had a bit of trouble actually putting it in the cart and I felt that the sales clerk was going to ask me who they were for... Since I have felt the need to tell sales clerks when I'm buying an extra small that it is for my daughter (and I do see them nod and have the I was really wondering about that look on their face).

OK TMI there probably... I also have noticed a gal that I work with.. she is literally tripping over her much too large pants since they are so big that they are hanging inches lower, but I don't think she can get her mind around the thought that a smaller size would fit...

The scale has not budged, but I feel leaner... I've been working out more and the scale is always stingy or just plain mean when I do that for a time. I'm going to try to eat fewer of my bonus points each week and see if that starts the scale moving again for me while I'm on Weight Watchers. I really thought I'd have break through after the holidays, but 1 pound for a month seems really bad... especially after it was 1 pound for the two month previous. Obviously I need a tweak somewhere.

Hi all!

Jillian, it's my pleasure to share that with you. Whenever I think something nice about someone I try to make a point to say it out loud, or type it out loud to them, because I think we often don't tell people enough how much we appreciate them or what specifically we appreciate about them. I'm glad that it makes you feel good too. I love that you are celebrating your success, who cares if people are sick of hearing it, it belongs to you and you are entitled to celebrate it all you want!

JM -- How is your recovery going? I hope you're healing well and feeling well.

JM- glad to hear that your recovery is progressing quickly! And by the way – we want any pics, any time. I think you will be surprised at the changes we will be able to see, that you don’t.

Amy – Everything I read when researching ellipticals said that it too almost 2 hours to assemble them – and DH (I always mis-type that as SH – hmmmm) assembled ours in about 1.5 hours too – so I’d say you did well! The biggest thing that I have to pay attention to is that unlike a treadmill, you have to be aware of how hard you are working (mine measures in watts – not sure if all E’s are like that?) Actually that works both ways – I found myself going way to fast in my warm-up and then dogging it a little as I was getting tired. Now I watch the range of watts and go by that.

Angie – Yup, still on IP – but I have been inadvisably on and off since the holidays – and this isn’t really a plan you can do halfway. So, here’s to a total rededication to the protocol. Working out has slowed down my losses, as always happens. Sorry about the cheeseburger casserole! Potatoes are little white devils!!! Congrats on 50lbs!!!

Joni – The plan you read is similar to what my DH does when he follows “Body for Life” – he does 3 400 cal meals, 2 150 cal snacks (1500 total). Simple and easy to follow. He does well on it, but then again, he also does well when he decides limit ANYTHING - like for instance, “I’m going to stop drinking coffee” – and BAM, he loses 10 lbs. How I haven’t killed him yet, I dunno. PS – Hug Beau for me!

Jillian – Soooo not true that we don’t care about your accomplishments!!! I absolutely adore and admire you. Toot your horn, slap yourself on the back, and give yourself a round of applause! You are an inspiration and the best part about you is that you know it and have the strength to believe in yourself.

Barbara – your panty purchasing post cracked me up.

Kim, I like pictures too. Well, maybe not of myself. LOL. But of everyone else they are usually good.

I have to report that I managed the rare feat of eating very light over the weekend. I allowed myself only half of the activity points that I burned off as extra over target and no bonus points(if you've done weight watchers that statement probably makes sense, if you haven't my apologies).

This is one of those weeks where I just don't think I'll be burning down the scales.. my birthday is Wednesday... I'll be 50. Kind of depressing really to realize that the AARP wants you. My DD turns 22 on Sunday, which is also superbowl Sunday. Luckily we are not planning a big party for the super bowl this year, but we did promise to take the kiddo out for dinner. We are going to take a short trip also.. and that is always harder to eat well when you go on a trip and eat at restaurants.. I do plan on being active though. We are planning a short hike, which I've not taken one in awhile due to the foot, so I'm excited to get out and see some great views as not being able to hike has been pretty depressing for me...

Barbara - just in case I miss it tomorrow - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!