Wow it got busy,
Catherine, Hugs to you, sounds like you need it right now, I am sorry to hear about what you have been going through . Hopefully this will be a better year for you. Welcome back.

Nathan Welcome back also. Doesn't sound geeky at all, although I could only understand half of it JK Today is a new day

Jill, How do you like the TOPS program? we have one in our town but they always meet when I am sleeping I have heard alot of great things about it.

Erika I wish you well on you NYR though I may not be much help as I am still working on mine. Let me know what you come up with.

Okay I need to get some sleep, drank over 80 ounces last night at work and diligently stayed away from all the goodies that are still floating around. So hard to break some of these habits. Have a great day all. Forgive me if I missed anyone
Anna

Howdy Chicks – AND our new Rooster!

First and foremost:

CATHERINE! We all missed you SO MUCH! I'm so glad to see you back, perhaps bent, but certainly unbroken, it sounds! That first year of marriage is hard on anyone's diet, but it sounds as though you've had more than your share of stress and trouble. Let me say how very sorry I am to hear of your miscarriages. How sad for both of you. I'm glad, however, that you have stayed together through both that and the family problems. You deserve happiness with each other! I'm so glad you have found your way back to us. I hope that you find the support here that you need just as you were always an inspiration to us. You are a remarkable person and I know you can get your weight back under control again. Again- WELCOME HOME!

Nathan: Hope you don't mind being the only guy here – we seldom talk about "female stuff" without first warning about it being TMI! I know losing weight can be different for men, but my DH started this with me when I was at 328 and he was at 285 and he's done very well following the basic Weight Watcher's plan with me. I hope you find lots of tips, encouragement and inspiration here.

Luan – Like the new avatar! Good hair!

Erika Leigh: Probably not what you had in mind, but if I want to see something every day I stick it to the bathroom mirror. Can't help but look at that every single day!

Brenda: How awful to be sick over Christmas! Hope you are recovered!

Well, I tried out my new yoga dvd's last night. I like them both and was suprized that they were a decent work out. I only did the warm-up/stretches parts of them, but did both dvd's. Here's a little review of them if anyone is interested:

Yoga for the Rest of Us does the warm-up seated in a chair, but it's the same warm-up I did when I took beginning yoga classes, just seated instead of on the floor or standing. You could just ignore the chair and do it the regular way if you've had any yoga training. It breaks down into four, 20-minute sections. Warm-up, standing poses, sun salutations and relaxation. All use a chair for assistance and balance or you can do it without. The man and women doing the examples are not really overweight, but 40+, I suppose to show that it is for everyone regardless of age.

Just My Size Yoga is more like what I learned when I took classes. The woman doing the exercise is a definate plus-size and it's nice to see someone who can do it without being a size 8. She does the basic warm-ups and stretches on the floor with a mat and does a number of standing poses. It is broken down into warm-up, the workout (which is the standing poses) and relaxation. I think it runs about 45 minutes. It also has a "tips" section where they show you alternative poses and use of chairs to help you if you are not able to do the poses without assistance yet.

I haven't decided which I like best yet and didn't do the actual work-outs...instead I fast-forwarded thru them and checked them out. But I really think they both look like a decent beginning level yoga work-out that anyone can do with a little effort. No standing on your head, no twisting up like a pretzel, just a nice, gentle stretching work-out. I'd recommend them to anyone.

I also got up this morning and did 15 minutes on the dreaded eliptical. I'm getting the hang of this morning exercise thing...even if my poor husband is being abused when he comes in to tell me it's time to wake up. I told him to suck it up and help me! He should know by now to ignore me when I snap in the morning! Poor man!

That's it for today ladies and gentleman! Have a happy, healthy OP day!

Hi ladies and gents!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, but, as for everyone, the holidays have been hectic. Still don't know anything about moving, and I'm trying not to think too much about it since there is still so much in the air. I have not been OP *at ALL*. I'm refusing to weigh myself until Jan 1 to see if I hit my goal or not. We're going to Dallas for the weekend, and the hotel should have a gym (and it has a fridge!) so I'm going to try to make an effort to work out and eat healthy while I'm there. Maybe working out in the gym there will get me more motivated to work out at home! I'm also hoping by going there I will finally kick my cigarette habit. I smoke 3-5 a day right now, and by being in a non smoking hotel and at my uncle's house, also non smoking, should do it.

I haven't really set any NYR except to save money and eat better and exercise. My WL goal for Jan is to lose 15 lbs, because I'm not sure what is going to be realistic, so I figure it's a good starting place.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and New Year's! Be safe!

Thanks for the warm welcome back. My first NYR is to post at least once a day. Admitting I have a problem or that I need help, is so hard for me. I actually joined OA once years ago, but only after I had reached my goal weight. How sick is that? I must have looked at a hundred other web sites trying to find one that would work for me rather than come back here and admit I had gained weight. We are only as sick as our secrets.

So today, I have started keeping my food journal again, and I'm going to get my exercise in because himself mentioned that it snowed last night. I shovel the walks for the condo where we live. I'm still not "legal" in Canada, so I can only work doing certain things if you know what I mean. My immigration application has been approved in principal, which means that I filled out all the paperwork correctly, paid all the right fees, that my husband is qualified to sponsor me, and that immigration feels our marriage is real, and not one of convenience. Final approval comes only after they satisfy medical, background, and security. I had my blood work to prove I don't have HIV, urine to show I don't have diabetes or kidney failure, and chest x-ray to show I don't have TB or lung cancer. Their thinking is they want to eliminate anyone who might be a burden on the government's health system. However, spouses are exempt from that requirement. It's mostly to keep out sick elderly parents or kids adopted from overseas, but I still had to take all the tests anyway. I also provided all the information to prove I'd never been arrested, including fingerprint background search from the FBI. The only thing left is for CSIS (Canadian FBI) to decide if I am a security risk or a terrorist. I'm told that could take as long as an additional year. Now, I'm not an expert in these matters, and they have not as of yet asked my opinion either, but it seems to me that deciding if I am a terrorist or not should be done first, maybe even before they let me in the country, rather than as an after thought. If I had been a terrorist, I could have had quite a bit of fun thus far.

The most subversive group I've ever belonged to is the Camp Fire Girls (you know learning to start fires and use axes), so I'm not worried, but the wait is so hard. Without a Permanent Resident card, I can't go to the city pool, so I've done without my beloved water aerobics for over a year now. The YMCA is just too expensive. I'm not allowed to leave the country, or they wouldn't let me back in. At least Alberta lets me be on the health insurance, or we'd have really been in trouble. At 44 years of age and my size, the doctor's are trying to figure out why I can get pregnant so easily, but can't stay pregnant. The last test was a new kind of ultrasound that was beyond invasive, and I can’t imagine how much it would have cost if we’d have had to pay for it. So today, a fresh start, and I have to remind myself that they only way to fail is to give up, and I will never give up.

CATHERINE -- WELCOME BACK!!!! I'm sorry to hear of the difficulty of the year, but it is SO GREAT to see you back. You are such an inspiration to me. I know that you CAN do this again, especially since you have a supportive husband (forget about what everyone else says!). Please come back frequently!!

Luan -- I love your new avatar!

Nathan -- hey, welcome back! stick around!

I identify with everyone struggling over the holidays. My advice (which I need to take myself!) is to remember that this is a LONG journey, and if we have a few days off, that's okay. It's important to get back TO it, and to be as consistent as we can. But this is for LIFE, and life requires us to sometimes indulge, right?

So, if you, like me, have indulged too much, and are having trouble getting back to it, take a deep breath. Make a new plan to get back on track.

We don't have to be perfect to do this.

AMEN!!

Catherine -- It really is great to hear from you. It must be so frustrating to deal with such an extended immigration process (and I chuckled over the terrorist issue!)

2007 is just around the corner! What better time to set exercise goals?!!

Please join us for the 300+ exercise thread. It's simple. We set exercise goals for the month in terms of MINUTES we want to exercise (the exercise you do is up to you). I recommend that you set a small goal when you first start out and build.

Then, come to the thread and post your minutes. We also keep a running total of how many minutes the group has done. We will get close to 200,000 minutes for 2006 -- I think we can surpass this for 2007.

It's a great way to be accountable for exercise and build great habits!

Everyone is welcome, please join us here:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100566

Hi Everyone!
Hope all of you enjoyed your holiday. Ours was great!
I'll try to get all caught and posting next week. Things are
busy here and work.
Take care