Hi-ho!!!!!

Today was an on plan day!! I think my spirits are high because I finished working out and eating an amazing dinner!! I made gluten free turkey meatloaf with cauliflower mash and green beans...This is one of my comfort foods so I try not to make it that often, even though the way I make it isn't terrible for you. I am so full LOL

I had a great on plan day with my water intake too...I am just about to finish my 5th liter of water! WOOT! I haven't drank that much in awhile, usually I get in 3 and call it a day, but today was successful!

Yesterday was a VERY TIRED day for me so I had to make it up today. I got up on Sunday, weighed myself...I lost 2 lbs which puts me at a total of 28 lbs lost in 2 months!! I was hoping to break the 30 lb mark, but I still had a loss, and I'm quite happy about it!! After weighing myself I had breakfast and literally fell asleep watching a movie on Netflix and didn't wake up until 4 pm lol...I guess my body needed the rest! I made a HUGE amount of chicken fajitas to have fajita salad for the week and a little for dinner and left overs...DH ate the rest for lunch today. I went to bed at 8 pm LOL...Like I said I was super tired.

I took my 2 month progress photos today...I don't know where I can go upload them, or how to start a gallery on my profile. Does anyone know? I wanted to share it with you guys but I have not a clue how to start lol....I sent them to my friend Danielle who is also on her weight loss journey and is a Beach Body coach. I don't follow her plan, but she's a big help in giving me the extra push and help I need and motivation. She lives in GA now so I don't get to see her. She was really happy by the photos and said she could see a pretty good difference in just two months....I got to move my bra to the middle snap today so hey, that's another NSV for me!!!

Today was 2 years ago that my grandfather passed away...It's crazy how time flies so quickly. It just seems like it was yesterday that we were having his funeral. I miss him a lot, and regret the things I never said, but wanted to...But I'm making it up with the people that are still with me to make sure they know how much I love them and how I feel. Life is so short not to tell people you love them, to love yourself, and to do what makes you happy....And that is what I have decided to do...It's ME time, and I know if my grandfather was still here he would be proud.

Anyway, I'm off..I'm super tired from the workout (45 mins of cardio and 25 mins legs) I hope everyone had an on plan day and is feelin fine!!!

BIG LOVE! <3

Still have the debilitating flu malaise that comes on in the afternoon and worsens in the evening. But no respiratory symptoms, so I think the flu shot's helping. This morning I got to the post office to get nine pieces of mail hand-cancelled, and even stopped by the organic market to pick up salad fixings. I wish I could finish the frickin' collage I started, but I keep making the mistake of trying to work on it in the evening. Tomorrow I'll tackle it in the morning, because I've got my errands run for the time being. I have another collage due in the mail on Friday that I haven't even started. =sigh=

I can't believe we had six inches of snow on the ground on St. Patty's Day! I guess the cherry blossoms will be late this year. Betsy, yay for your sun!! And your wallpaper approach for the calendar sounds perfect. How weird to hear you say you ignore paper: I live for paper! Paper is my work, my play, my work that feels like play...almost my everything. But I do read Kindle books on my iPad, so I'm not completely retro. And I listen to lots of rock-n-roll via satellite radio, which doesn't require any paper. Nor does foolin' around with my sweet husband. =laugh=

Way to go, Ubee, on highlighting those on-plan days! I like your idea of striping some of them, to give yourself credit for trying. Positive feedback, that's what we're going for here.

Sam, you're doing such a great job on your weight loss and exercise both! I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures: there's gotta be some place on this forum where they explain how to do the little thumbnails with links to bigger pics. Try looking for the place where it explains how to embed links in a posting: that should have the code for doing images as well.

Good morning all. After being away from the house all day, Toby has taken up residence right under my feet. I just called to ask my BIL to bring Becky over for a play date -- for Toby, not me! LOL.

Fi -- How frustrating it must be to have whatever you've got and get the afternoon blahs. Hope it lifts soon. Sounds like you had a busy morning yesterday, so hope today sees you able to get some work done on the collages in the morning. I'm kind of a mixed bag when it comes to paper. I always print out the Soduku and crossword puzzles as it drives me nuts to try to do them online. And I always send paper cards and still send out Christmas cards. I got in the habit at my old job because we were STRONGLY encouraged to read everything online rather than print it out.

Sam -- Way to go. I think 28 pounds in 2 months is amazing. Hope you can figure out the pictures. And I love your approach to telling people in your life how important they are to you.

Ubee -- LOVE the idea of solid, striped, and stark white. Sounds like a great approach. I was going to use solid for yesterday, but woke up this morning 2 pounds heavier. Might be water from the corned beef, but somehow it doesn't seem right to give myself a solid day when I gained weight.

Guess I'd better get it in gear. Becky is here now along with Jack. I've got to show him how to download books onto his Paperwhite. The man is so kind and good, but technology challenged definitely applies to him! Have a great day.

Just a quick check in.... counting down days until I go on vacation........ not really very focused but okay with that at the moment.

My students put on a show today, they finished their movement and mask unit and the choir performed with them. It went very well.

Just a fly by... took the morning off to take my critters to the vet to fix a galloping case of ear mites. Heading into the office for a short day and then put the finishing touches on my bf's birthday gifts (his actual birthday is tomorrow).

Still on plan!

As you can tell by my ticker and what's under my name, Im not only back at 300, Im as of today at 302 but I wont let that stop me from getting back down to 292 and lower, My doctor has put me on a 1200 Cal diet and Im gonna stick with it along with my regular walking that I do.

Flying by just like Jane.
Trying hard to be better.
Will be back in full chatter mode tomorrow.

Hola Mis Amigos!!!

Today was another on plan day!! I haven't kept a calendar of it like you guys have, but maybe I should start..I don't own a wall calendar...but I'm sure I could get one at the dollar store lol...It sounds like a really good idea.

I just finished up my workout...today was abs...I feel great that I was able to start early so I'm not working out until 9:00. I actually did an hour and a half!! I've usually been doing 30 or 45 minutes so I'm proud of that! It was some hard cardio and abs...I know I'll feel it tomorrow. My balance ball is my new best friend My legs are pretty sore from yesterday's work out. I am going to shoot for 5 days this week. I have usually been doing only 3 but I want to try and take it to the next level. I feel pretty confident I have my eating under control, but the exercise is where I really need to work on it. I hate exercise lol, but I'm learning to love it.

How has everyone else been doing today?

Betsy Thank you for the kind words love. I am trying! It means a lot that you guys are here cheering me on!!

Fi Since I have some time tonight I'm going to try and figure out a way to get these pictures posted

Time The show sounds fun. I am happy you get to go on vacation soon. Enjoy yourself!!

Terra Don't let the scale get you down. We all will have set backs on our journey. The hardest part is getting back up when we get knocked down. For me, I usually start off VERY strong with losing weight...as long as I make eating right and exercising my main focus when I am not working or having to do other things and making sure I plan ahead I feel like I can't fail. But when I start to hit a plateau that is when things start to look bad for me. I have a hard time wanting to stay on plan when I hit a plateau and it lasts for weeks...My mentality starts to break down hard, and I feel like giving up. I'm still early in my weight loss journey this time around (hopefully the last time) but I think as long as I keep coming here and talking it out with you guys it will really be a big help. Don't give up! Things will turn around! And we are all here for you when you need the help doll!!

Well I think I'm off to make some left overs for dinner. I have gotten all 5 liters of water in today, for some reason it was a breeze! Things are really looking on the up and up...just hoping to ride this wave for awhile. Big love to all of you!!

Ok so I've searched high and low and can't seem to get anything to work for these photos. I tried putting them in my siggy, didn't work...I went to the help forum, nothing there that I could find. I'm just going to attempt them here and see if it actually works....I think I might have to post a link...bleh, this stinks LOL

http://instagram.com/p/lqJ6oKJ3Eh/

http://instagram.com/p/lqKA4cJ3Ep/

Sam ~ Thanks for replying to my post. Im gonna take your advice and not let the scale get me down, Your pictures are great.

I walked for the first time in a week today and I had a good work out, I walked outside for the 1st time this month also and I'll do it more often since its starting to be nice outside.

Hi everyone!

Just popping in to say hi. TOM again so weight starting to flucuate again

SamIAm86 - You doing great! This weight loss thing can be tough. But even a small effort will pay off by summer!

betsy2013 - Water weight changes so much. I'm doing every 2 days now bc of that

Fiona - We haven't seen snow since that big storm a few weeks ago. Got some rain but summer is about to kick in down here(I'm in the South). Sometimes it makes you wonder what's worse? Freezing or burning up? LOLOL

Ubee - St Patrick's Day was fun yesterday. Had a small office party heh

Terra1984 - It's not hard to reset. You just gotta pick yourself back up. You could do an extra workout this week and try to kickstart back to progress...

I'm pleased to report that the flu or whatever it was is gone as today, but just to keep me on my toes, my silly ol' brain delivered some serious depression pain for a few hours this morning. Oh well. Tonight I finally finished that pesky collage I've been working on for so long I was sick of it. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be back up to full speed on my art and my letter-writing, because I've signed up for so much stuff I can't afford to fall behind.

I'm still having trouble getting enough food into myself—just don't have any appetite. It's very weird, definitely not my usual style. I hope these low-calorie days mean I'm losing weight. Saturday is my monthly weigh-in, and already I'm wondering what the scale will have to say.

Now I need to sign off and try to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. I hope tomorrow will be a nice day, so I can take a stab at taking a walk. Or at least get back with the program with my leg exercises...I've really slacked off lately. =sigh=

I can't resist showing the funny collage I worked so hard on: one of my fellow collage artists did the animation for me! Here it is. Click on it for a larger version.

Good morning all. It's a rainy day here so I can avoid starting the spring yard work one more day. Unfortunately, that means I will have time to clean out the closet and under my bathroom sink, but at least there won't be any weed pulling involved!

Fi -- Love your collage -- what a hoot! And so glad that you're over the flu issues, but hope the depression pain isn't returning. I know you said that you had gotten rid of the muesli and remember that it had helped so much before. The lack of appetite sounds like you're still struggling to get in enough calories.

Gurlnextgen -- Ah, yes, the joys of water weight. I don't have TOM any more, but still manage to retain water like there's an anticipated drought coming up.

Terra -- The ups and downs do occur. If it helps any, I'm on my 3rd time of losing these same 20 pounds. I have left my ticker at the lowest point because I use it to remind me of where I SHOULD be and COULD be if I didn't let myself get out of control. But it happens. And you seem to be doing a great job of dealing with it. Getting back to your walking will help both physically and just from an emotional perspective. Do you find that when you do the walking every day that it helps cement your commitment in your head? It's why I haul myself to the gym each day.

Sam -- Love the pictures and you can definitely tell the difference!!! Thanks for working on allowing us to see them. And keep sending your positive attitude to us.

Ubee and Jane -- I have visions of the two of you as birds but with your heads on a bird's body. I swear, I'm not on anything! Glad to hear from you both. Hope those ear mites go away and that your BF has appreciated all of the birthday efforts, Jane. Ubee, what kind of striped day has it been?

Time4Me -- Vacation anticipation -- what a fun time! Glad the show went well.

Well, Fi, you'll be glad to know that I've gone paper on the calendar. Trying to update it and then update my wallpaper was just a hassle, plus coming into my office every time I needed some visual stimulation to stay on course was not working. But I also loved Ubee's striping idea. So, to all of you who are joining us in the string together days of staying on track effort, I've decided that I need to divide each day into 3rds and will mark the morning, afternoon, and evening when I've made it successfully through that period and stayed on track. It's really kind of pathetic that I need to divide it up like that, but every section of the day seems to hold some food challenge for me. I have taped them to one of my cabinets, Fi, so they're in plain sight. I will conquer these 20 pounds and move on!!!!

I'd make a good bird. My bf is a little bad at showing gratitude, but I'm sure he appreciates it!