Hello ladies! Just popping in to log my DET

1 hour eliptical
1/2 hour circuit training

I hope everyone is having a great day! Weigh in day is almost here. Let's stay focused!

We can do it!

Sue-welcome to the board! Hope things are well with you. Be sure to fill us in on your goals and how we can encourage. This board is one of the best things you can do for encouragement!

Reds-Isn't is nice to recieve and unexpected compliment? Just shows all your hard work is paying off. Keep up the good work!!

TOF-you are one busy lady! Be sure to let us know what your new goals are so we can encourage and lift up!

Well, ladies, things here are good. Busy, though, as we all are! My oldest daughter is in marching band so our weekends consist of a competition every weekend until the end of October. We really enjoy it, though. Band is good for her. She loves it and she's having a blast! Keeps us hopping, though! I went to a baby shower yesterday and made relatively good choices although I must admit I ate a small piece of cake. I'm sure I lost the cake, though, as my stomach has been upset since yesterday afternoon! Ugh! I didn't even exercise today but plan to try a walk before turning in tonight.

Good news- I tried on a size 16 GAP jeans and they were too big! Hee, hee. I will soon have my clothes that my DH put in layaway for me. We have a fabulous consignment shop here called the little black dress (cute name, huh?) I buy stuff there all the time. I need clothes that fit me better but I'm not willing to buy new (unless it's an awesom bargain) b/c I'm going to keep on getting skinnier!

Well, ladies-have a great afternoon. Make good health choices.

Hi all,

Great news from both of you Reds and Skinny!


Skinny, that's great about the clothes - awesome! You must be so happy. Just think of all those pretty holiday clothes you'll be wearing.

Reds, that was a great compliment from your old friend. You are such a positive person and I'm sure that you're looking good from all that wonderful exercise and eating right. Your boys are probably noticing the difference in your mood as you become happier in light of all the positive change.

I'm haning in there. Take care.

TOF, you seem a little down. How are things with you? I know you were planning to focus on your class rather than exercise right now, I hope you're not getting discouraged. How is your class going?

Skinny, the jean thing is super! Personally, I think that's one of the best feelings in the world, to try on jeans that you know are your size and find they're too big! I'm sure that put a huge smile on your face! Good job! I agree with you about holding back from buying new clothes. The urge to shop has come over me too but I've been fighting it. I plan on loosing more weight and I don't want to buy a new wardrobe after every 10 pound loss! Consignment shops are a great way to keep the cost down as you're quickly changing sizes. Super idea! One more thing, reading about your daughter sent my mind straight back to my high school memories. I was the captain of the color guard so we traveled with the band. Great people, great environment and tons of fun. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything! I think it's super that your daughter is experiencing the same thing and it's even better because you're right there every step of the way. I just think it's great!

That's it for me ladies. It's time to get my little men ready for bed. I hope everyone had a great day. I'll be back in here tomorrow (of course).

Thanks for your kind words Reds. Simply put, there just aren't enough hours in the day right now for me. I know things will get better once this course is over in January. We all make choices. I'm making the course decision for a lot of really good reasons (I've thought a lot about it). Sometimes we just have to dig our heels in and work really, really hard to get to a place we want to be. It probably means slowing down the weight loss particularly in terms of time for exercising, but I've been able to manage the calories so I'm still on a good track. And of course I have all of you positive, loving, compassionate women to spur me on. I hope I can do the same for all of you. What a blessing this site is! Take care.

Wow, is it just me or did any of you have a hard time finding your way back to your "post" for following up when you first started on this site!! I glad I kept trying because seeing your responses to my post really thrilled me. Reds, Skinny and TOF, thank you so very much for the encouragement. You will never know what your words meant to me and especially tonight.... I am so ready to get started, since I blew it this weekend. Spent Sunday with my dearest friend for her birthday, and had a few "beers". Not a good thing. Tomorrow's a new day.....
Reds, thank you for sharing about your Pop Pop. I pray my husband has not just a long life but a good quality of life. Thats his biggest concern, being able to enjoy the children and future grandchildren. Our son is only 12 and our daughter is 21.
And Sue, welcome to the site. I know you will find encouragement you need here. I truly understand the "eating disorder" thing. I too deal with a couple of those demons
I have a difficult time checking in as often as I would like on the site myself. So little time, so if you wish, I could give the e-mail buddy a try.... Let me know.
Well it's getting late here in Houston, I can tell because my cats are in their night mode, running like nuts through the house. Strange animals cats, but I love them
Good night ladies....
Brenda

Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement. It helps a lot! I did well yesterday, even though I didn't get to exercise. We are car shopping and had to make a mad-dash to a dealership last night. Good news is that we think we found our next vehicle. I have a 2000 Mitz. Mirage and it has served me well. However, a long-legged husband and long legged daughters do not fit comfortably into such a car! So, we're upgrading in size. My DH did a lot of research to find just the right van that is dependable and fits our budget (we plan to have it paid off by the end of 2005). It's a 1995 Honda Oddessey. I was pleasantly surprised and really like it! We're just waiting for the paperwork to go through.

I was wondering if we could make things a little more personal on this thread. It seems that there are only a handful of ladies who respond on a regular basis and I think it would help me be more encouraging if I knew a little about everyone personally in addition to weight-loss stuff. If you don't want to, that's cool-no hard feelings! But for those that are interested, share as little/much as you'd like. I'll start us off.

My name is Susan. I live in God's country-oh, I mean Kentucky! hee, hee! My hometown is a little place called Glasgow. I'm married to Bill-retired Navy (2 yrs in 11/04). I have two daughters and three bonus children (all of whom are adults and live on their own). My children are 15 and 13 yoa. I have an assoc. of arts degree and work for the local DA office. I'm a PK, very involved w/my girls activities and with my church youth group. We have two dogs (outside) and are planning to buy a miniture daschund soon. (yea) I love cats but have really bad allergies so no kitties I like to read mysteries, biographies and history non-fiction, especially military stuff. My DH and I are working on being debt free except our house in 2005. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise (had to throw in some southern sayings here) I will be able to quit working full-time in 10 months and just enjoy my oldest daughters last two years of school.

Well, that's all I'll put for now. Maybe more later when I see if anyone else responds.

Have a great health day! Hang in there and make good choices. I gotta go get some coffee!

Well, I'll jump on the personal info bandwagon!

My name is Reds (not my given name, but that's what everyone calls me). Born and raised in Maryland. I was a tomboy (a quality that has yet to go away). The first 16 years of my life were outstanding, great family, super friends, a bright future ahead but things sorta took a turn for the worse. I met a guy during my senior year of high school, a bad boy. I wasn't like that at all so I guess I was rebelling. It wasn't long after graduation that I became pregnant. Before I go on, I do need to say one thing. I am very open about the things that went on between my ex and I, however I don't think it's appropriate to tell details of this story. This forum is a happy refuge and I don't want to tarnish that. I will say that he was abusive in every sense of the word and it took a very long time for me to break away.

It started when I first became pregnant, I guess that's when he knew he had the power. It went on through the years but I never allowed my children to see what was happening. Between his addiction and other women and jail time, he wasn't around much anyway. His last period of incarceration started in July of 2000 and lasted until January of this year. Like I said, he wasn't around much. Through it all, I have worked very hard to raise my boys the right way. Teachers, pastors, even people I don't even know have commented on how well mannered my boys are. I am very proud of them. They are my life and I thank God everyday that they weren't affected by all of it. Through it all, I never focused on myself. I know that's why I gained weight. I had a horrible self image because of things he said to me, it took a long time to get those things out of my head. I can't say it's all gone but mostly. The point is I'm a mother, that's my life story.

Sorry if I disturbed anyone with all of that, but it is the truth. That's why I get on here and vent about my ex, because I can't stand him.

The End.

Hi all,

Reds, I'm not surprised that you were a tomboy! I've pictured you as a very energetic young woman. I'm also not surprised that your boys are doing well. I can tell that you do well by them and it seems like your parents are supportive too. Am I right? I know you have a bright future ahead of you and this is on the first step.


Skinny, your life doesn't sound too different from mine in that you're busy, busy, busy with your girls and your associations at church and childrens' activities. You seem like a wonderful mother. I enjoy hearing about the things you do with your girls particularly since I have boys.

I'm, as you know, a teacher (4th grade) and a mother of 3 boys ages 4,9,13. They are great guys and all very active which keeps me hopping. I've been teaching elementary school for almost 20 years and had my children during those years. It's been busy but my husband is also in the human services so we pretty much share the load 50/50. We love to travel - that's why I like hearing your "southern sayings" and about the land you live on and walk on. We also all love to bike, hike, swim, etc. I live in the Boston area.

I really appreciate all the support you've offered me in the past couple of months. I've hit a bit of a rough patch in the journey but I haven't faltered too far since I've stuck to the healthy eating part. I'm in this until I reach my goal and then some and I hope I can be there for all of you. Take care.

Goodmorning ladies! I just wanted to pop in before I go to the gym and wish everyone a happy and healthy day! I'll be in again later to log my DET.

I decided to go to the park instead so my DET is...

2 1/2 mile WJR

Weigh in is tomorrow! Let's finish strong! Have a super day gals!

TOF-that was for you!

Reds-you didn't disturb me at all w/your story. It was very similar my story w/the father of my daughters. (affectionately known as the sperm-donor ) It was the hardest thing in the world to break away from. You sound like you're doing great w/your kids and with taking care of you. That's essential to being a good parent, single or not. If you don't take care of yourself you can't properly take care of your kids. I've had people say the same thing about my girls; how polite and well-behaved they are. I suppose that's partly b/c we're both determined for them not to turn out like their fathers! My ex does see the girls but the situation is still tenuous. Since he can't get to me, he is mean to our girls. Many times, they don't even go see him b/c they just don't want to be around him. If they didn't have younger sibs from his third marriage there, they probably wouldn't ever go back. I also understand what you mean about the self-image problems. I have, finally conquered most of them but they rear their ugly head every now and then. I do love being a mom, though. I tell my girls all the time that it's my favorite thing in the world to be. Like you, I believe my kids are the good thing that God gave me out of a bad situation. Thanks for sharing.

TOF-I'll try to give you some more southern sayings as we go along. One that immediately jumps to mind is that everyone in KY is always "fixin" to do something. I wonder sometimes how we ever get anything done b/c we're always "fixin" to go to the store or "fixin" to go to church or "fixin" to exercise. It's funny! You know, I get picked on by my fellow Kentuckian's sometimes b/c I still use northern expressions like "pop" and "you guys". (I spend my first 11 years in Ohio). Oh, well. Sounds like you are a busy woman! Isn't wonderful to have a DH who helps out around the house? Our housework is about 50/50 as well. I have Boston on my list of places to visit sometime soon. Maybe even next year. We're discussing vacation in Minnesota-where some of DH's family resides, or traveling the east coast. I'd be happy w/either. I really do love my small KY town but sometimes I wish I lived closer to a more culturally rich environment. We have to travel 1 1/2-2 hours to the nearest art museum. Oh, well. It's funny you should mention about a house full of girls. We hosted a guest speaker in our home a couple weeks ago, Doug Vavroski, who works w/mainland Chinese students who come to the States for their education. He speaks two Chinese dialects and is with OMF (oversea mission foundation). Anyway, he has three boys and he said he really enjoyed staying in a home where he was outnumbered. He couldn't get over the amount of activity it takes to get girls ready! I'm really proud of you for staying on track w/your healthy eating habits even though you've had to cut back on exercise. You can do it, TOF-just keep hanging in there. I'm thinking of you and praying for you.

Well-gotta run. I'm freezing and must have coffee!

Hi all - parent night tonight. Went well. I have a lot of loving parents in my class this year. That's usually the case in my school system but it seemed a little extra strong tonight.

My principal gave me a professional day to catch up on all my grad school work as it will have a direct affect on my students. It's been a few years since I've asked for a day like this so he was willing. It really took the edge off. I'm finding that my healthy eating is helping me to make more thoughtful, rational decisions. I think getting rid of the sugar and processed foods for the most part is partly the reason for this.

I'm glad to hear that your both doing so well. I know tomorrow is weigh in but I might have to wait until the weekend to get to the gym. I'm really anxious to find out the news, but I suspect it's not much of a loss - I think I made it through the really tough spell of dieting for a while since I've done much better the past two days.

It's interesting to see how the time of the month affects my attitude and ability to stick to this. Clearly the end of the month is my weakest time whereas mid month I'm far more energetic and able to stick with it.

Take care all. Thanks again for joining me on this awesome journey of self improvement and discovery!!!!!

TOF-sounds like you're handling the pressures of all your activities well. I hope you get everything accomplished today that you need to get accomplished. Don't forget to be kind to yourself through all this. Even if it's to just sit on the porch, drink some coffee (or drink of choice!) and watch the sun set in the evening. Hang in there, lady-you can do it!

Well, ladies-I'm a loser! Woo-hoo. Who would have thought that being a loser could be so much fun! I lost 1.4 pounds since last week! Yea! Whew. That's very refreshing after having such a tough WI last time. My goal for the next weigh in is to lose at least 3 pounds. That will put me at my half way mark before my sister weekend. I hope my sis is ready to pay up!

Well, ladies-have a great day! Hang in there. Be kind to yourselves. Have a great health day! I'm signing off to go get coffee!

I'm sorry I haven't been on much! Looks like everyone is doing well. I have been having alot of problems with my back/neck in recent weeks, then last night, my finger got caught in the door and I broke it. Hurts a bunch and I think I will be losing my nail. Oh Well. Just don't hold the typing against me I went and had another MRI on my back yesterday, waiting on the results.

I'm Penny (42) and I live in NY - near Buffalo, married to Greg, have 1 daughter 25, 2 boys 15 & 17, and my daught has 5 choldren. I am a transplant from MI. I am awaiting the last one to graduate to move outta this state.

I weighed myself today at 170, I believe that is the same as previous weigh in. I'm happy though, since I didn't gain any. I haven't been able exercise much.

Well, hope you are all doing well. I will check in again really soon. Have a terrific day ladies!

Penny