[Heather]

This thread is a sub-set of the 300+ thread.

This group is for those dealing with the challenges of having a significant amount of weight to lose and being fit which becomes harder after age 40. If you're an old or new friend and not over 40 and feel this is the place to post, jump right in.

[Heather]

How's everyone doing?

At 9:40 am, it's UP to 8 degrees here.

I have a short week this week, and hopefully won't have to work again until the new year!

I'm getting my food and exercise under control again. At least I hope I've stopped the upward slide.

[Lilion]

It was another hectic weekend. But okay otherwise. Friday I had baking to do and DS had a friend stay the night. I went Xmas shopping for a guitar for DH. There is another lawyer at the office who plays very well and who said he'd go look over what I found, before I exceed the Xmas budget on a guitar Eric Clapton couldn't even play well.

Saturday I went to WI and was pleasantly surprised that I was only at 253. I thought I'd gained more, but I'm still within that nasty 5 lb range I've been battling since July. Better than being over it I guess. Then I had a graduation party to go to in the afternoon and a Xmas dinner/party that night with a group of close friends. It was pleasant, if fattening.

Sunday we slept in and DH and I then went Xmas shopping - all darn day! On the up side, DS Xmas is bought, as are the office people I needed to get something for, DH family gifts and gifts for the exchange at my SCA party next Monday. Of course, we ended up eating out three times yesterday, but whacha gonna do?

It was 61 degrees when I was shopping yesterday. This morning it was 10! Yep, we dropped over 50 degrees in about 14 hours and had about 1/2 inch of sleet fall! And we're better here than further north! It's supposed to be nasty on and off all week. My poor DS, he was so upset that school wasn't cancelled, but the trucks got the roads cleared.

Today - it has begun - the candy and cookies have started appearing at the office. They always do this time of year. I have office Xmas lunch on the 17th, another Xmas party on the 19th, then one on the 22nd, Xmas at home on the 24th, dinner with my brother's family on the 27th and Xmas with the in-laws big, extended family on the 28th. And maybe a late (11 p.m. until ?) party on the 31st - that's still up in the air. At this point, I just want to start 2009 no higher than I was when I rejoined WW in July 2008.

Hope everyone starts the week well! 10 days to

[j-ann]

Here I am, crawling out from under my rock .......again. It's been ages since I stopped in.

"Hi" to my old friends. "Glad to meet 'ya" to my new ones.

I haven't been anywhere near OP. I'm trying to get my act together small step by small step. Don't know why I can lose 75 lbs w/o any trouble then "poof", one munch leads to one crunch and I'm done. I put everything back on plus. Oh well. Time to convince myself that I matter!

I'm still working. Was considering retirement til my 401 hit the fan .... along with everyone elses. Still have the two Pointers. Old one is almost 16, skinny, incontenent, and too much in love with life for me to consider letting her go. The younger one just turned 5 and is finally showing a few signs of growing up. My knees hurt like **** but I'm very aware that a decent weight loss will bring on fantastic improvements.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm going to try to post every day or so because if I post I'm not eating. LOL

BTW haven't checked my sig. but you can be sure it's wrong.

[NoLifeWithoutHorses]

Hey Judy! I've been back for about a week. Gotta get a head start on the New Year's Resolution crowd. I'm always glad to see 'em, but it's nice to chat with old friends here too!

SUE, Nope. Don't tell anyone, but I just don't give a fig about OSU. Just never got in to college ball. EVERYone I know is in to it tho. The last two places I've worked had casual dress days where you could wear anything as long as it was OSU. I do have a nice OSU shirt friends gave me cuz I babysat their kids when they went to a game.

LILION, ya should write the paper and tell 'em that if the public wasn't marrying, popping out babies and divorcing seven times faster than you guys could right legal briefs, there wouldn't be such a back log. I hope the DH/DS issue settles down for the better soon too.

YEAH FOR ME> Sorry I know that sounds obnoxious, but I FINALLY had a day I'm proud of. Stayed OP except for one cookie, and ONE cookie isn't what keeps me from being a normal human. It's the lack of restaint to stop at one. Overall I KNOW that I burned more calories than I took in today. Plus I actually went shopping, bought wise choices, put some chili on to slow cook over night, and was generally a good girl today. Considering that I haven't done any grocery shopping in like, two months - just ate fast foods - I'm really feeling strong and re-directed in a really good way. I just may get back on the scale again soon. Just to see the 280's again would make me feel like I was back on track.

I was thinking of taking the 4H club canoeing next year... and then it hit me. ME? In a CaNOE??? Not happening at this size! Can you imagine if we tipped over? And that's half the fun sometimes! So there's one more motivation for getting back on track.

Have a great Tuesday girls!

[Heather]

Morning ladies!

I snacked too much yesterday, but I'm going right back on plan today. I have to get this controlled.

Lilion -- I am grateful that my college is in downtime mode from now till New Years. Hard enough dealing with everything at home and at work! Be strong!

Val and Judy -- So good to see you both posting! I've been struggling a lot, too.

[KristasMom]

Good morning, my friends!
Judy, I don't think we've met. Nice to make your acquaintance, and hope that stopping here is the start of something good. I haven't looked at our 401K statements since all this nonsense started - I can't do anything about it, so why make myself insane? I am meeting with our investment guy today, though, so maybe I'll have some ideas about how to invest going forward. My theory right now is that I will just work until I die.

Well, the pound is off again, along with a little partial pound cousin. I think I feel comfortable claiming it.

Next Monday is my first follow-up mammogram. I keep pointing out to myself that I have no symptoms, and that it wasn't the type of tumor that spreads easily. I wish that the nightmare demons would just read the memo! I think being obsessed is just normal, and I'll have to ride it out.

I may be posting about this separately, but my size 22 pants are finally getting too big - I know that it's menopot, but did anyone else still not get into size 20 pants in the 220s? It seems like all the posts I read talk about being at least a couple of sizes smaller than I seem to be for the weight I am. I know that exercise will tighten me up, but still, this seems ridiculous.

[Terri in MO]

Hi ladies,

I guess I might as well slither back in here too.

Our good friend, BarbPA has lost 70 pounds. And not by doing anything other than being completely committed to achieving her goals. I'm so happy for her. And I have been questioning myself why I don't do the same. She's exercising everyday and its reasonable exercise; not hours upon hours a day. She's keeping track of her foods and consistently staying within her calorie budget; which is a reasonable goal of 1800.

What can we learn from Barb? One, that is can be done. Two, it can be done. Three, it can be done. Commitment and consistency.

What can we learn vicariously through Barb's personal trainer? Building muscle through weight training three times a week. This helps to boost our metabolism. Cardio, 30-45 minutes a day. There is no reason why that can't be done.

Now, what is it going to take to get the right mind-set, once and for all? What's it going to take to get us focused and being accountable to ourselves and to each other?

I have a goal. Next spring, Julie Goodnight (a horse clinician) is coming to the area and I want to take Spanky and ride in her clinic. I would be too embarassed to ride in front of all those people at this weight. She'll be here in April.

Barb - You should post your before and now pictures that you put on Facebook. You look fabulous.

Good you see you Val and Judy. to all!!

[KristasMom]

My boss just dropped off my Christmas present. We got together and gave her a certificate to Coach.

She gave us a stocking containing: peppermint bark, spice drops, ghiradelli chocolates, candy canes, sugar cookies, starlight mints and toffee.

Anybody know a charity where I can drop this off on my way home? Kid has announced that she wants to lose weight too, and DH is a diabetic, so this is not something that should get through the door.

It wouldn't bother me so much if I hadn't been commenting on being down almost 55 lbs only a few days ago.

Terri - could you let us know what the title of Barb's facebook page is? That is so cool!

[Terri in MO]

Sue - That is sad to get the foodie gift. That has become the gift to give when someone doesn't know what to get, or doesn't want to put effort in a better gift. Take it to a grocery store or Wal-mart and look for some kids that would love it. In the spirit of "paying it forward". Or the church welcome table! Wonder if she feels a bit silly after getting the Coach gift cert?

[BarbPA]

Hi Ladies!

This will be a fly-by post as I'm trying to get presents packed/shipped to my family and then on the way to the gym. Thank you Terri for the shout out!

Here are some of the the pics Terri is refering to... I'll find more time to post later tonight hopefully.









Have a fabulous Day!

[miradoblackwarrior]

Hello, everyone!
I guess this is the place I should be. Your pictures all look so good! I'm embarrassed to even take a picture, let alone post one.

I'm restarting--again. Once upon a time, I weighed 312 pounds. Now I'm down to 306, but that really wasn't from dieting. Just started a gym--today! and I'm really looking forward to resuming my low carb/workout routine. Once upon a time, I got down to 247 on that diet. Now, at 53, I'm starting to get scared. Low carb really worked for me, if only because I actually felt better than I ever had before in my life. And I used to love the gym, expecially the iron-pumping part.

So, now I'm on restart. Just saying "Howdy!" I'm back again.

Susan

[Iwillbe]

Looks like the gang is all here. Might as well drag my sorry butt back in here too, and admit I didn't just fall off the wagon, I jumped off!

It is good to see everyone posting again.

I am having such a hard time getting myself back into the routine of counting calories and wrting every thing down to make sure nothing slips by. That is the problem right there. It is all of those tasting bites that add up so fast you don't realize you have gone way over your limit.

I am here, just not sure how much my head is back into being op. Good luck to all. Ruth

[KristasMom]

Barb - I Cannot Believe How Good You Are Looking!!! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Ruth and Susan - Welcome back. We need you.

[j-ann]

Afternoon All.

It's been a l..o..n..g.. day. At 3 this morning my old dog asked to go out. She did and came in and to put it semi-nicely had a poop event down the hall and into my bedroom. Poor baby. So at 3:10 AM I wa scrubbing beige carpets, scrubbing the old one and shoving Imodium down her throat. Not a good way to start (???) your day. She seems fine this afternoon. I gave her another pill, just in case, and I'll have to do the carpets with the big Bissell this weekend. Oh joy.

It's good to see so many old and new faces. Hi Terri, Ruth, Barb (You look fantastic, BTW.), Sue, Heather, Lilion, Val and Susan.

Today's been pretty good. I haven't gone for the chocolate or the cookies! I'm seriously considering giving low carb a try. I'm a carbaholic so I'm not sure I can pull it off. I have my WW books from last year so I might just review their low carb plan and see if it's doable for me. God, I hate being this fat. Gotta do something. That's for sure.

I'm being nose butted by a brat Pointer who needs to have her stuffed toy thrown for her RIGHT NOW! I'd best do it or she'll drive me nuts