:hug:thistoo, You're entitled to slow down sometimes. These life changes can take a lot out of us. All the prep and the planning are real work. Don't get discouraged, just take it easy and reflect on how far you've come. Baby steps. Put on some favorite tunes, get lost in a book, think about the beach and sand between your toes...

Just back from my lunchtime walk. Yesterday I MADE myself go. Today I was looking forward to it. There's snow and rain in the forecast for tomorrow so a lunchtime walk is looking unlikely/unsafe. I'll have to come up with a plan B.

I hope everyone has a great afternoon.

mahtha - is there a mall or a shopping center near by? walk around inside and window shop!

dgramie - it's sunny and warm and beautiful here too, but it's gonna be warm and stormy tomorrow. so looking forward to the end of plant sex season already. i'm such a winter girl lol.

didn't workout yesterday. had junk for dinner (well, subway, chips and ice cream... my sandwich was loaded with veggies!). and you know, i feel better for it. it was within my calories, i made sure of it. and today it's back to healthy eats. :)

CAROLINE ~ we all have off days; sometimes, the smallest thing can set it off. Yesterday, started out really well, then I got into a silly mental funk in the afternoon -- I was able to climb out of it by using strategies of distraction: posting, reading & singing & napping. I just keep on trying til I find whatever works. I was fine by evening again. I like MAHTHA's ideas too: daydreaming or visualizing is a technique I use sometimes too.

Today is a bright new :sunny: day; did my sweeping (whizzing, I call it) & vacuuming today. Made some soup for lunch out of leftovers and tonight for dinner, I am making Chicken Stew from some leftover chicken breasts I baked on Tuesday. Yesterday, was pasta night: we had whole grain spagetti with a chunky veggie, meat & tomato sauce. I made enuff for two meals and put the other servings in the freezer in special microwave containers I have.

I think I have had those honeywell oranges a long time ago; Dh picked me up some seedless large oranges this week, but I'm not sure what kind they are though. I keep bananas, oranges, and two kinds of apples in the house; plus some peaches, pears, and pineapple in the pantry for the odd times I run out of the fresh. I have blueberries & rhubarb in the freezer; and I pick up fresh strawberries when they are a decent price.

dgramie & Shadow ~ Glad you both popped by anyways; even once a week is better than not at all. I find coming here helps distract me from the mindless munchies, and encourages me to keep going, esp when I get in a funk about how slow my progress is or when someone ticks me off ... ;)

I'm an emotional-response eater and got upset with my DH this week -- and yes, I ate: had some chz on toast ... right away I realized what I had done, so put strategies in place to save the day. I still managed to stick within my plan and didn't go over my calories for the day. I try for 1600-1800, but my maintenance cap is 2000. I stayed around 1800, so I was happy for that. This is a big NSV for me ... :D

It's a battle ladies, so we have to pull out all the arsenal we can to beat the stressors that come our way each day. And then, just keep on marching ... :)

After being very discouraged because I feel I've been working so hard but no change, I finally saw a lb drop! :dance: Just the thing to perk me up and keep me motivated. About Time!

2BHealthy, sometimes I feel like just when I have something conquered some other problem pops up, and it starts again. sigh.

Mahtha, I'm going to take your advice to Caroline, too.

Caroline, hang in there! Hope you feel better!

Maybe I should too! :D I'm one of those people who runs at 100 miles per hour. I have multiple lists running in my head at all times, we're constantly entertaining some combination of the kids' roommates, etc., I'm always trying to plan special meals when the kids are home on break - which happens to be three totally different schedules (and I always send them back with meals for a month!) I try to be sure the one still at home gets some special time as she's off to college in the fall as well. There is the added challenge of DH's schedule where he travels about 50% of the time, and then there is my my job which rarely seems to have any downtime.

Some days I am just tired, but I feel so damn guilty not running at at least 98! I think we need to start a "what nice thing did you do for yourself today?" thread.

I went for a walk alone with my headphones and left my phone at my desk. Interestingly enough, the world did not fall off its axis while I was gone.

You're all right, of course. Thanks for the pep talk! I got through the day just fine, mostly I just focused on the stuff I've been avoiding at work and at lunch I went for a walk because it was so gorgeous outside. I treated myself to a (free!) iced Americano, which is my 'treat' these days. Four shots of iced espresso is bound to cheer up anyone, right?!?

Then I got home to find a couple dresses I'd ordered waiting for me. They're larges, and I've been wearing XL in dresses lately, so I ordered them in the hope that I would fit in them before my NYC trip in May. Well I tried them on, and one of them actually looks pretty good already! So that was a nice boost. I hope it's not too big by May, but I can always take it in a little. It's really pretty and flattering, too, so I'm glad I ordered it. I waffled a little because it's got flutter sleeves and my arms are huge. Like, disproportionately so. But the dress is pretty enough to distract from that, hopefully.

Anyway, I feel better. I had a healthy dinner and in a few minutes here I'm going to get in a good workout. I think working up a good sweat is exactly what I need.

Thanks again! I am very grateful for this group; it's really great to have people to talk to who know exactly what it's like.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Caroline, I'm happy to hear your day turned out better than expected. A new dress or two in a smaller size is a big bonus!

Penguin, I'm happy to hear you saw some movement on the scale. I haven't been so lucky, but I keep promising myself that if I stay on track good things will happen.

Justwant2Bhealthy, CONGRATS on the big save! Isn't it amazing when we catch ourselves and can turn it around? WOO HOO for you!

Mandy, The mall is too far for a lunchtime walk, but certainly doable on my way home tonight. You are a genuis!

I have an empty nest this weekend so I'm looking forward to some serious cleaning and catching up around the house. Then maybe a little HGTV since I don't have to share the remote. :)

mahtha - i've found the best way for mall walking is to park far away, then plan your visits to 3 or 4 stores... but go to the one the longest walk away from the one you're currently in. i do that when i'm grocery shopping too. one end of the store to the other, back and forth, it takes me about 45 minutes to grab 5 things and my husband thinks i'm nuts :)

Hi relosers - My appointment with the surgeon went well. He gave me the go ahead to drive, do some gentle stretches/a little core/walking more, to try to eat different foods (& see how it goes) and get out do more 'stuff. I told him that I am so tired. He said... 'you just had two surgeries in one day. Your stamina will come back.' Over all he was pleased. I am grateful for that. :)

I got up today and have made a plan. I can't go too spicy yet (I don't think)... so I"ll ease into those things. Actually, my stomach has been kind of queezy. :dizzy: I've had three glasses of water. I think I am on my way. I'll let you know how the exercising goes. Starting s-l-o-w.

Soon we will go visit my family. My Grandson just had his fifth birthday. I can't wait to see them. We are expecting a girl being born into our family in April. I now call her Little Pink. It will be so nice to all be together. :)

Thanks for all of your encouragment, friendship and wisdom.

Have a great day. Be kind to yourself.

PS... my computer is working today. I don't know from moment to moment. I'll have to address that. I am glad I can post now/today.

Hi Dgrammie! Glad to see you again. :D

Goodness. This losing the same weight over & over again is annoying. Tiring. Frustrating. But it is better to keep re-losing than to gain it all back...

I changed plans at the beginning of this week, my weight had bumped up to 205 earlier and this week with the new plan it is just sitting there at 205 every day. I really wish I had never gained back part of the weight. I really really wish I was still "stalled" at 175. Boy I cannot believe I was complaining and upset to be 175. I would love to be 175 right now... sigh.

THANKS for your encouragement everyone; I really appreciate it. We all have those days/weeks.

LYN ~ Hang in there! I know how you feel: when I was 18 y/y, I weighed 117 lbs; in my mid-20's, I was 128 & 137 lbs; and later 20's, at 177 lbs; oh, how nice that seems to me now. By the time I reached my 30's, I was well over 200 lbs. Up and down I went like a yo-yo; and with more ups than downs. But, we have to forgive ourselves for yesterday :cry: and all those mistakes, and focus on today ... :hug:

Today is a new day. Today is the beginning of a new healthier lifestyle. Today is what matters. Today, we can correct the mistakes. Today, we can start fresh. Today, we can make better choices. Today, we can learn. Today, we can do better. Today, we can succeed.

Time for tea, ladies; have a wonderful weekend ... :val3:

So yesterday was the last day of my Whole 30 challenge. I was exhausted and miserable by the end of the day and honestly, if there had been any wine in my house I might have caved and blown the whole thing on day 30. But I didn't, and I was rewarded by a two pound loss on the scale this morning, bringing my total so far to 14 pounds lost.

Not a bad result for 30 days! It's also given me the motivation to keep at it. I'm enjoying a little creamer in my coffee this morning, and I might still have a little wine tonight, but other than that I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing.

I was thinking about picking up a Cobb salad for dinner, which is mostly on plan, other than the cheese and dressing. I've really been craving Cobb salad lately. So maybe a nice Cobb salad, a glass of wine and a little chocolate, and then right back to it. Then again, I'm only four pounds away from being under 200 again, and I'm not sure even a great salad is worth messing with that!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It looks sunny and beautiful out this morning, but it's only 34 degrees, so I guess I will stay inside and work out rather than going out to freeze. Jeans shopping later today. I don't want to do it, but I really don't have a choice. At least I know the size will keep going down if I keep doing what I'm doing.

Can I play? I am a regainer. I've lost and gained 20 lbs but my real regain happened after a huge loss. I went from 223 to 146 and then maintained for about a year then....up , up , up....I've dieted my way back to 240. So, I'm back to what got me to where I needed to be and I need to stay on it. Starting tomorrow (was going to start on Monday but why wait?). I hope I have learned a few things along the way....time will tell. So, good luck to us!

Great attitude, Kristen! Welcome :) It sucks having to relose weight, but at least we all know exactly how you feel.

Yesterday was a healthy day. :) Am always grateful for that.

I did eat foods from all the different food groups. I didn't do well with a fresh apple. So, I'll stick with applesauce for a few days. Today I am planning to do my stretches. I accomplished some of my healthy living goals planned/measured/logged food, lots of water, left a bite, took a few deep breathes before each meal/snack, went to grocery & picked up a few healthy foods, and did some extra dusting & moving around. I am still really tired, but, the doctor says I'll get my stamina back as time goes on.

thistoo - 14 pounds in a month is awesome. I am doing a happy dance in honor. Ya know...everytime you resist eating something spur of the moment you are reinforcing your reserve to not do it next time. So glad your new dress fits. yay

justwant2bheathy - yes, yes, yes - we can only learn from the past, plan for the future ... but take one day at a time. Sometimes I write this in my journal in the morning: Plan, plan, and plan some more. I do best with planning - it doesn't go well for me without some kind of a plan. Carry on!

Lyn - I understand how you feel. You/we must forgive ourselves for gaining the weight back. The frustration is kind of negative force on us. You CAN do it.

mahtha - cleaning is good exercise!

konfuoozed - parking/walking from the farthest place while running errands is great spontanious exercise. Thanks for the reminder.

pwpenguin - I am joining in with you and your happy dance in honor of your lost pound. Remember one pound is four sticks of butter.

kmac/kristen - WELCOME! Great that you are on board to relose your weight. Good to start now... you are right ...why wait?

Have a good day. Be kind to yourself.