I am just gonna try and keep the sweets to one or two per day this week, haha. I've figured out the calories for most of my holiday favorites, so I'll make sure they work in my daily plans.

This thread IS too quiet, I hope everyone is doing really well. I've been super busy so I hope that is the reason everyone has been gone. Hope you're doing well today, Lemon!

Hello Les: I agree - quiet, but I do hope that means everyone is doing really well and loosing lots of weight and having a good time celebrating right now! DH and I spent the day out of state shopping in a big city. Went well, except for the fact that I sat in the car and my hip is now complaining big time. I need to go bike, but have been on hiatus due to making gifts. Ugh the endless circle of running out of time!

I keep adding to my schedule when I should be knocking things off. One of these days I will learn to either start work on my plans months in advance or just say NO WAY. hah.

Weight is somewhere, haven't been on scale recently due to TOM and having some issues health wise that I need to contact the doctor on, but who wants to deal w/that during the holidays? Not me, clinics/hospitals are always short staffed and I really hate having to drag myself to clinic or the other in the winter. Plus usually they are all on vacation now and you get whomever or a fill in. I don't mind waiting, I don't think it's life threatening, just an annoyance. But my weight goal by new years eve is a small one to hit 229. Nothing more nothing less, but after today that might be a bit hard to hit. Will see.

wishing you well and to all the other violets - HELLO!

Morning! Haven't stepped on a scale all weekend that I recall. I just ate breakfast so it will kind of give me a small idea of where I am at. I am still running ragged trying to get my sewing done. At some point I just have to cut it all off and say I am done, and I am feeling I am getting close to that point soon.

Not struggling w/Christmas foods yet - haven't had time to bake, so that's a big help. However I have fallen into the soda trap the last few days. BAD. So today I urge myself to push water instead. I do believe I can get that done w/o issue.

Wishing you all well!

I'm eating Christmas treats already, but so far have managed to stay under my calories. Had a big drop this morning and have now lost over 50 pounds. Feeling really grateful and happy about everything. I'm super excited for Christmas and spending time with family and friends.

Good luck with getting all of your holiday projects done, Lemon! I hope you and everyone else have a fabulous holiday week!

Merry Christmas Violets!

Haven't baked yet, so that's been good, chocolate flowing into the house - bad, as has been mindless snacking when sewing on graham crackers. What the heck? Today i hope for better choices. Will see.

Sewing is almost done! tomorrow I may bake as school is done today until January, and I should have at least a few for the house, right? I think I will make my standard ones - chocolate chip or something similar. They are easy and well liked by all.

Hopefully diet goes well through the holidays. I will be mindful of the celebrating meals and try to limit the snacking in between. I do hope my SIL does not send her 20 lbs of holiday candies that she makes, you find you pull one out and one leads to three etc. So I am hopeful that won't be in attendance this year.

Wishing you all well. Anyone going to be back on here Jan 1? I need cheering on to get to my mini goal of 229 for the start of the year. I don't even know where I am at right now. But hopefully close enough to lumping there. Did I say I haven't been 100% on my diet of late? I keep trying so a pound here and there is helpful.

Well, Christmas is finally over! We had a fabulous time. I have gained a couple pounds in water weight, haha, but it was well worth it! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

I am hoping we see some old/new thread members soon with the New Year coming up.

Les: So happy to see your weight going down. I need to get back to being good and committed to my loss. I feel better when the weight goes down, I look better too. Not that anyone is looking, but its nicer not to see as much hanging off of me when I do look at the mirror. It'd be even nicer if that weird belly issue would just go instead of slide all over the place.

Glad you had a nice Christmas time. Thats always a joy to have an enjoyable time and no drama.

Hello violets!

AM: Bad on the weight, the cookies got the best of me, however I did weigh myself after breakfast and coffee, but the scale went up and not down. My DHs this am went down 2 lbs. He ate plenty more than I this weekend and he looses weight and I gained. Sometimes things aren't super fair in the weight loss world.

I am hopeful this week to get back on track and keep sweets at a bare minimum. I plan a salad and chix breast for lunch today. My kids are with the ILS so I am being leisurely today. I should clean the house, do laundry and put all the new items away. Instead I am going to sit on my duff, wait for the 10+ inches of snow to start falling and enjoy the quiet and my coffee at least for the present time. Tomorrow is another day and it's not like the mess will stay picked up at this house. Besides, I may trek out in the snow to exercise, but will wait and see in this town they wait until the end of the snow to plow.

Happy loss to you all - I am hopeful like Les that the thread will pick up w/the new year and people hopping on the loss train - welcome to anyone wanting to jump in.

PS: is anyone a big disneyworld fan? I am not, been once w/DD and now the ILs are thinking to go w/DS. I am not one that has to be immersed in the whole disney experience, so if any of you have ideas for non-disney places to stay let me know as DH and I don't have to stay in the same place as our kids if we can save a bit of money on the sleeping rooms.

I still didn't get a fasting weigh in today, but after breakfast it looks like I am up 8 lbs

Well, I need to push the water today and probably just eat an egg for my other two meals and get this started in the downward cycle. My DH showed up w/cinnamon rolls for breakfast this am. I felt bad pointing out the calories per each one. Now he's in a funk because he thought he was being nice and good and thoughtful. He was, just with the wrong type of items. I wish weightloss were easier, I wish it'd fall off when we decide we have carried it around enough. But it doesn't and it relies on me not putting crap into my mouth that causes the weight to go up.

I CAN DO THIS.
At least, I hope I can.

Wishing you all well as we trudge into the new year here soon. We got our obligatory snow dump last night. Found the new snowblower doesn't work well, also found the brakes on the car are throwing error codes saying no antilock brakes and no traction control. With 10+" of snow, that's not a good thing. So today I feel kind of beat up w/stupid emotions. Yeah.

May you all have a lot better day ahead and that you find sunshine where you least expect it.

I am up 3.5 pounds since Christmas Day. I have eaten more than I should for sure, but not even at maintenance, so I'm sure mine is mostly water weight. Hoping things catch up later like they usually do.

Sorry things are stressful lately, Lemon. I'm hoping the New Year lets you relax some. I cannot imagine dealing with snow and cars and brakes and tires, geez. It must be so stressful to worry about. I hope you get it all figured out so you drive around safely and stress-free. I hope your weight loss gets easier as well. I know how frustrating it can be to not see the scale move, or for it to love the wrong way!

well it moves up when I don't bother to track my meals, exercise my allotted time that seems to work and block up my days where I swear I could eat a whole cow (that would be today!). I just get frustrated that it's not easy, that things that worked int he past don't work now, but that all makes this a journey that I should appreciate once the weight is moving down again. However, maybe it's not as bad as I speculate, because I have been weighing after breakfast and my morning coffee. If I were good I'd get up and get moving early and get weighed in before I go.

Oh - and the car - who knows it's issue, but driving in the snow is always a blast, well not necessarily the first snowfall - you have to relearn your winter tricks. It's always fun to see non-snow people deal with it as well. I am an old soul when it comes to that.

Hi, all. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was a little bittersweet. My dad passed away a year ago Christmas Eve. This year we had a wonderful time with the family. My mom is doing well and is happy. I made little wrist purses for the female members and lanyards or key fobs for the males out of Daddy's ties. Everyone liked them so I'm glad about that. I've been down in the dumps the last 2 months and really haven't cared enough to watch what I eat. My weight has steadily climbed and I'm back where I started. To add insult to injury, I decided to get on the scale yesterday morning to start fresh and my scale doesn't work at all. I'm hoping it's just the battery.

So . . . I'm going to get the scale fixed or replaced, get my journal and my diet plan back out where I see it every day and jump back into this. I'm going to make 2016 the year I reach my goal of 160. That will be 108 lbs lost. It sounds like a lot, but it's really only about 2 lbs a week. I can do that.

I finally screwed up the courage to go to the dentist last week. A toothache kind of forced the issue. Next week, I have to get 3 teeth pulled. They are beyond repair. Then I need a deep cleaning and a couple of other teeth filled. Not bad really considering this is the first time in over 20 years I've sat in a dentist chair. As you can tell, not my favorite past time.

So I'm sitting down and setting some goals for myself and making 2016 a healthy one for me.

Fire: I am sorry for your loss. It's not easy, but it does get easier. I lost my dad almost 20 years ago there are moments that can just hit you and knock you back, even that far on from loss. Good for you to focus on you and your health! The dentist, I conquer that by looking at what tools lie on the tray before work begins. Not the greatest motivator -as most tools look like those in a toolbox, how medieval! But you are getting the care done, you will find your health may improve some at the same time.

I hear you on the weight - mine crept up, and I aim to knock it back. Two pounds a week doesn't sound too bad when you look at it that way does it?

Les: did you take advantage of after Christmas sales to stock your slimmer you wardrobe? I went online last night for inspiration for a thinner body to see what is trendy, in the now moment - I haven't really updated my wardrobe in such a long time, everytime I have meant to get myself something a child has grown, or my husband has worn out, so they have come before myself. So I hope you found some nice things that make you happy and proud to show off your 50 lb loss.

Hello Violets!

AM: Argh - hate feeling lousy, and indeed I feel that way. DH and I aren't seeing eye to eye right now, my kids are home on Christmas break and both are needing mama time but at opposite ends of the day/hours etc. My house looks horrible (I hate living in a constant mess, and of late that's what mine has been) and I guess it'd be really nice to just run away. I listen to family members prattle on about their planned winter trips, their new cars etc. It's hard to not be green eyed.

I didn't even bother w/the scale this morning. I have an idea of what it will say, and I don't need that reminder for the moment. I had a weight friendly breakfast but I feel the hint of a sugar need urging at me that I need to put deaf ears to.

I hope in between my cleaning today I can look through my seed catalog. I can't even complain about winter/snow - it finally just got here. But I will look and plan what will go in the garden this spring and hopefully do well and flourish. i have to look into ways of keeping my tomatoes alive - this year I am trying buckets, I am not sure if I have a black walnut or a butternut tree on the property line - but both in the end do the same thing and kill off everything else. Oh well, got to love the errant squirrel that planted that nut at some point.

My best to you all celebrating the new year to come. May it be spectacular for us all in terms of weight coming right on off!

Glad to see you back, Firewife! I'm sorry about your loss but that was so nice of you to make gifts for the family to keep your father's memory close to them all. What a sweet gesture. Good for you on the dentist, sometimes getting up the nerve to go can be worse than actually going. As for the weight, you can do it! Two pounds a week is totally doable, at least until you get very close to your goal. We are rooting for you!

Lemon, sorry about the house and family stress. My place is a wreck right now, too, but today will be a much needed cleaning day. Starting with the laundry now, haha. I did get a few new clothing items right before Christmas. Managed to save quite a bit, and was surprised at the sizes again. I managed to buy size 12 jeans, when the last time I bought a pair of women's pants, I was in a 20. Pretty big difference! I also bought a fitted jacket in a women's large that fits well and shows off my waist.

My weight dropped a little today, maybe I'm finally starting to go back down. TOM soon, so that may have something to do with the water weight as well, who knows. I seem to be losing more weight in my hips and legs, and my stomach has started to do the sliding down thing you described, Lemon. I hope it goes away soonish, haha!

Happy NeW Year to all of you. 2016 is going to be a great one, I think.

Les: the landslide that's my belly is still there, looking weird and very pliable. I do hope you find yours goes easily. Mine has been residing since I had DD and that's been a while, I have just added to it.

Good for you on the fitted clothing! One day I long to fit into something nice. Right now it's all long sleeve t-shirts and jeans or yoga pants depending on the day. Since I rarely get out, I tend to think it doesn't much matter since no one sees me but my kids, but I should dress nicely for them as well. What colors did you go with? Yes - hit the clearance sales now, you should be able to get a whole lot of nice things. In the past I have always had luck with Kohls after Christmas sales.

Les: totally horrible on the diet, trying to right the ship here. Fantastic for you to continue your weight loss - keep up the good work! Hope your new years went well! Has your cookie making slowed?

Fire: how are you doing this morning?

Mam: Happy new year! How are you and DH doing?

Amber: How is your new year going? Did you celebrate well? Any engagement yet?

HAPPY NEW YEAR VIOLETS!

AM: Struggling, but I know I want the weight off, I just need to get the sweet stuff out of the house. Thats the one thing I have been struggling with of late. I can go a while w/o the sweets and then it's like I see them and have to have them. I really hate that part of my psyche. Lordy - at this rate I'll just put back on everything. Glad the holidays are about over for eating wise. I have one more meal to go to tomorrow and hope there is a lot more lighter fare and dinner on time. That's been my downfall, is we are told what time to arrive and dinner shortly thereafter, then like the other day it becomes about 2 hours because the cook is watching his favorite movie. ARGH! I did too much snacking.

So I didn't hit my mini goal of bringing the new year in at 229. In fact I gained weight. Now my mini goal is to get to the gym three times in this next week. I do hope I can do that. Bundling up in boots in the dark either early am or later pm is not super fun, but it's the only time I can seem to fit it in. So hold me to my mini goal. My other is to make sure I keep up with the water. I did well yesterday and am about ready to begin todays intake. I plan to aim for my 66 but rather get in at least 99. I seem fuller that way.

So go Violets go! Welcome to anyone new who is thinking of joining us! Good luck Violets who are here but not here. I wish you all well and lots of pounds less in the new year. WE CAN DO THIS!