Hi guys,

Jessica: sorry about your bad time with the doctor. To balance it out, I had a good experience with my gp yesterday. I went in for a quit-smoking drug rx which she was very happy to give me. Turns out her dad is dying of lung cancer from smoking so she didn't charge me for my visit. She said it was good for the soul.

Shane: glad the test went well!

GoalSuccess: welcome! I think we all still track our food, one way or another. Sometimes I think being a formerly overweight/obese person is like being an alcoholic. I'll probably always be a fat person, even if no one else can see it.

Carolyn: that's good news about the adoption and once again I'm impressed by all this efficient xmas shopping! I went off to a nearby town yesterday (Gary, your old stomping grounds!) to try to find myself a coat and to get some xmas shopping done. I came home with nothing but a pair of socks and some new concealer to match the winter pallor I'm currently sporting. No coat, no jeans, no presents. Blech. I am completely stumped about what to get everybody, including bf, and time is running out!

Something is going on with me. I pretty much ate the entire world yesterday. I spent all week running a 500-800 cal daily deficit to recover from last week's scale shock and then yesterday I ate so much complete crap that I can't go anywhere near the scale. Too much sodium and I don't want to see it. Yesterday felt really self-destructive somehow. I'm feeling really fat and that takes away from my self-discipline. Can one contract body dysmorphia in adulthood, like diabetes or an allergy to dairy? What are the ways of overcoming late-onset dysmorphia? I'm getting a little freaked out: an unbalanced body image and self-destructive relationship to food are NOT things I'm willing to welcome into my life. Help!

And again, popping in quickly.

Welcome here, goalsuccess, and congratulations for your achievement.

/crawls back in her cave to finish dying of cold and overwork*

I'm just popping in too...

Thanks for the compliments on my picture, everyone. I definitely feel like a different person, so it makes sense that I look different!

This afternoon on my run I'm gonna try out my lovely new Garmin Forerunner my husband got me -- it tracks your distance and pace and all that, so I'm quite excited. A very different kind of gift than I would've asked for in years past, that's for sure!

I hope everyone's week is going well and you're ready for the weekend. I have lots of Christmas shopping to do, since I haven't started. I've been VERY tired lately and sometimes quite nauseous. I don't want to get my hopes up and think that I'm finally pregnant, but it's hard not to think about that, especially when I'm late too!

Oh, I forgot to mention this... Remember how I said I was the queen of quick weight gains? Well, I ate a bit too much the last two days and went from 161 to 167. Yep, still the queen.

Hi everyone,

Great NSV today: This morning I had to take a pack test in order to prove I'm fit to help with prescribed burning with the property our state office owns. The test is yearly, and you have to walk 2 miles, carrying 25 lbs, in <30 min. I made it in 26:55, almost 2 minutes faster than last year. The pack feels so heavy, it makes me wonder how I carried around ~55 lbs. more in high school. And I really appreciated how fit I am, even if I haven't been able to work out that much in the last two months. If you had asked me 10 years ago, I never would have believed I could do something like help burn/fire control.

On day 5 of my personal boot camp and I'm soooore (it's a good pain!). I think my pack test was it for my workout today, as I've worked out the last 4 days. My eating has been really fantastic. We're hosting the Christmas party tomorrow night at our house, and I'm worried about all the food but I'm going to just try and relax. I'm making a few lighter dishes, so I can have a few "safe" things. And I'll workout before. I'm definitely going to focus on enjoying the time with my friends.

Jessica, I'm sorry your visit to your dr. was so frustrating. I'd say try a new dr. If this one isn't responsive, hopefully another will be.

LisaMarie, what a cool present! Good hubby.

Baffled, glad to hear the somebody's dr. was nice (my podiatrist was quite nice, too, even if she made me paranoid about my feet) and that you're going to try to quit! You can do it! Are you under a lot of stress at work or at home, lacking sleep, something that might be triggering your overeating? What does Airegrrrl say? "Breathe. Wait. It all counts." You are strong and can get it under control.

Hi Kery, hope things are going ok, and don't stress!

Oops...work is calling... gotta run. Hi everyone else! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good morning! Like the rest of you I'm super busy at this point in the holiday season. Feel like I'm always trying to catch up with something. I've been working with the City's grant writer to finish up an application that needs to be turned in today! She's going to end up taking it to Anchorage herself, but she's rationalized that by realizing she can then stop at Costco and one other place to pick up one more Christmas present. Whatever works - I just want the grant - for such exciting things as new shelving and chairs.

Carolyn - have you tried audiobooks. These might be a good alternative for you and your vision problems. You can get them (from your local library ) on cassette or CD. You can also download books onto an MP3 player - which I'm sure your DH would be happy to help with. Many libraries offer free downloads, or you can purchase them from several sites, the best known being audible . com. (Just be sure your MP3 has a bookmarking feature). I'm am an audiobook addict (okay - I'm a reading addict). I have one on CD to listen in my car; plus several on my MP3 player at any one time. I sometimes listen while I , but usually there I go for music as it keeps me moving faster.

Yesterday Santa was here to visit the kids for story time. We had 65 kids and about 40 some parents. Gads - what a hectic couple of hours.

Good morning! and welcome again, goalsuccess!

I've been really sick (still am) and finally succumbed to the "maybe chocolate will cure bronchitis" blues yesterday. uh... it doesn't. Yesterday I did a very short elliptical session which I won't even glorify by calling cardio, and felt fantastic for about 2 hours, then crashed. Haven't touched a weight for exactly a week

Jessica- Sorry to hear about your continuing doctor problems. I guess I've been lucky lately (when I bother to go). This is NOT medical advice, but I was prescribed anti-depressants for years for chronic pain conditions. My primary symptoms were knee, elbow, wrist and hip pain, and insomnia. The anti-depressants enabled me to get into a deep sleep cycle, which along with exercise, alleviated a lot of my pain. There are a lot of uses for anti-depressants other than clinical depression.

Lily- Hope the dog is better!

LisaMarie- Sounds like you are a big sponge! I'm sure a couple days back to your regular routine and some runs and you'll be back to normal. Happy belated birthday!

Gotta go train and try not to infect anyone-

Mel

Allison, LOL, I thought I was the only one that would let a dog as big as a Lab jump in bed with them. My dogs have their own beds, but they are so scared of storms they jump in our bed anytime they hear thunder. I did call the vet and checked on Molly yesterday afternoon and they were perfectly nice and understanding and didn't make fun of me. LOL. Molly is doing fine and I can pick her up at noon today.

Mel, I have bronchitis also and on Thurs. night I ate some chocolate too. Mine didn't stay down. Nothing tastes right anyway. I am feeling a little less congested this morning, so hopefully I am improving. Hope you feel better soon too.

Megan , WTG on the exercise test. I don't know if I could walk 2 miles that fast with an extra 25 lbs. strapped to me. That would be really hard.

Lisa, WTG on the exercise gift. DH got me a gym membership and a gift card to Academy Sports so I can be styling in my new gym clothes. LOL. These definitely aren't gifts I would have wanted in years past. In fact, I'd have been furious to receive these as gifts when I was obese. (of course cause that would have been like him telling me I was FAT).

Our weather here is crazy. 20's at night, 40's during the day. Raining most every day. Predicted for sleet and ice today and turning to snow this afternoon. No wonder I can't get well.

baffled, WTG on the good Dr. visit and on trying to quit smoking. I quit in 1995 and I think it was easier than losing the weight. I'm always prodding DH to quit, but he won't try.

Just a quick pop in for me too.

Welcome goalsuccess. Congratulations on your weight loss!!!!

LisaMarie, you are one striking, bee-u-tee-ful gal. Your pics are gorgeous. I love seeing before and afters. What a difference. Of course when you start out looking as good as you did, it's not all that shocking that you would be beautiful after the weight loss as well.

I hope who's ever not feeling well - gets well - and soon.

Have a great weekend. Stay on plan folks. I know I sure need to. Last weekend was a DISASTER. Hoping this weekend will be better.

Morning It's cold here, 10F this morning, and we had about 1/2" of snow overnight. The trees are gorgeous. We had a fog yesterday which coated them with a feathery frost and then the little bit of snow on top just adds to the fairyland atmosphere (of course I'm looking at them from inside! )

Our party last night was very nice. It was held in a new place that just opened in a renovated historic building. They did a lovely job on it (the building). It was a little crowded for the number of people but otherwise fine. The food was pretty upscale, and like many of those types of dinners - seved in small portions. Yay! It was also delicious. The appetizer was a butternut squash soup that was to die for. Best I've ever had. The main meal was chicken in a mild ginger chicken, with some winter veggies (carrots, beets, parsnip) and a small red potato. Again, yum. Dessert - butter rum cake with lemon curd, with an apple/cranberry compote on the side. Again miniscule servings - like 3 bites. A delicious meal, with no guilt about serving size. And it turned out to be a no alcohol affair....

Pat, your dinner sounds divine! And - but for dessert - not bad at all, calorie-wise. I keep looking for the perfect butternut squash soup recipe -- I had a version in California that was made with cider and keep trying to duplicate it. Isn't it funny how the nicer/more upscale a restaurant is, the smaller the portions are? It's counterintuitive that cheaper = huge portions, but that's the way it seems to work.

We're getting snow, which is supposed to change to freezing rain, then back to snow, so I plan to hibernate. All I want is one night of sleep without a cat waking me up too early ...

We have a giant platter of Christmas cookies for our tree-trimming party just leering at me from the kitchen counter, but I've resisted temptation. I keep telling myself that I don't want a cookie ... and the odd thing is that I think I mean it. I've lost my mind.

Hope you're all staying warm and cozy!

Robin~talk about DISASTER! That was my Friday. I ate only because it was meal time, I wasn't hungry a bit. Since I wasn't hungry, you'd think I'd choose something small. Nope. I don't even want to go into what I chose, but let's suffice it to say that it was high in carbs and fat and the protein was practically non-existent. Let's just say the scale scolded me today.

I had a great run this morning and rewarded myself by buying a new running shirt. It's been cold here in the mornings (46 today) yet 2 shirts is too much and 1 isn't enough. The new one is a bit thicker so I think it will work out great. Unfortunately, I started to look around and ended up buying the cutest Nike sweat suit--it's gray and yellow (which won't look all that great with my red and white Asics shoes--but who cares!). I could have coordinated with about 7 or 8 pieces but held myself back to just 3--pants, jacket and a running top. It's cute enough that I can wear it to run errands or actually work out in it.

Lily~glad Molly is feeling fine. It's always a scary time.

Megan - Good job on the fitness test!
Mel - Hope you feel better soon!
Lily - That's so cool that you got not only a gym membership but also a gift card for stylish workout duds! And I know what you mean about how you would've resented that gift in the past. Just one more way our lives have changed, huh?
Robin - Thanks for the compliment! I've had a disastrous couple of days, eating-wise, myself. Back on track tomorrow or that scale will NOT be my friend...
Pat - All that food sounds yummy. I'm jealous of your snow -- I'm hoping for a little something tomorrow night so I can have a snow day Monday! I need the day off to do some housecleaning.
Meg - Good job on saying no to cookies -- I hope I can do that on Christmas Eve when I make a kazillion different kinds (it's kind of my job to make all the cookies, which is probably a bad thing).
Allison - Yay for new running clothes! I'm craving some new running threads for the winter. I was pretty chilly on my run this morning, but I was distracted by playing with my new Garmin, which I LOVE.

Ate a ton of food today. Had lunch with a friend and we just chowed down. Then I came home and ate more. It was totally stress eating, because I had a disappointment this morning that I didn't know how to deal with. I'm ok now, but the scale isn't going to be pretty tomorrow morning.

Tried to do a bit of Christmas shopping but it was pretty unproductive. And the crowds were INSANE.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, chickies!

I picked up Molly today and she looks pretty sad and pathetic. I had a rough time getting her pain pill down her but finally succeeded. I was worried that she was hurting and wouldn't eat or drink anything. But, she is better now and has taken a little food and water.

On Thurs. night I helped Shelbey make 12 dozen cookies for her and Lacy to take to school. I had a couple of licks off a spoon and ate 2 broken cookies. Even with this, I could have done much worse.

It is in the 20's outside now and it is snowing. I'm staying inside and warm now.

Shelbey talked me into taking her to the mall today. It was insanely busy. I am through shopping for others , but bought myself 3 new pairs of jeans at Aeropostale that were on sale half-priced. I was glad to see that my size is still the same. Lacy bought herself 2 new pairs of jeans today too.

We have all been laughing at Shelbey cause she bought herself some new clothes, wrapped them and put them under the Christmas tree , and labeled them "from Santa to Shelbey". LOL.

Allison , yes this was scary with Molly, but I intend to have Lucy spayed soon after Christmas. (although my kids don't want me to). But, since she is a fence climber, I don't want to take any chances.

Hello hello!

I had a STRANGE dream last night that had several members of this forum in it, so I thought I'd share. This is a reflection of how addicted I am to 3FC :

I was in a very modern looking office building with windows for walls, twenty stories, and moving sidewalks. This office building also doubled as an apartment complex and a mall - these details will be relevant later. I was walking outside of the building and riding my bike down the road, when lo and behold, I saw lilybelle standing outside of a house looking gorgeous as ever . I waved and she waved back.

Then, I walked back into the office building/apartment complex/mall and walked into CVS. I'm not sure what I needed at CVS, but I walked in and saw Meg and rockinrobin both hosting this huge special (yeah, a festival in CVS - I guess the building ALSO had a theatre of sorts ) on losing loads of weight and keeping it off. I stood around through the presentation and then Robin disappeared somewhere, but Meg was still around so I came up to her, gave her a hug, and we talked for a little bit. I think I wanted to meet her son (FYI - he is pretty much my doppleganger, from what I can tell) but he was nowhere around...

Then, I went out of CVS and walked up an esculator, when the building became an office building again. My boss was there, and Megan1982 and LisaMarie71 were both my co-workers, yet Lisa was still a teacher and Megan was still a marine biologist... I guess they just both worked for the city of Gainesville ?

This is where it gets really weird: I ended up breaking a ton of things accidentally and then falling from one floor to the next, yet remaining completely unharmed. I remember jumping from one part of the broken building to the next, performing Catwoman-like stunts. I apparently caused $1,800 worth of damage, which was such a relief to me, considering the building was so intricate and expensive. And none of the 3FC members were around to see me become a comic book hero