I've got no time for personals tonight but just wanted to pop in and note that I am getting closer to size 12s again. I can fit in more of the clothes I bought this spring (though wouldn't want to leave the house in them yet). A few are still eluding me...

Hi all,

No whining today. I am working on being more focused. I don't have lots to post, but I have created smaller goals. No date limits, because I don't want to be disappointed when I don't make it. I will march toward the goals in the period of time it takes. See my signature and my goals. My DH laughed a little at the number of them, but baby steps may be the way to go for me.

Take care,
Real...

Well, I’ve had another fairly productive weekend. Hubby and I went in to school today for just over 4 hours. He worked on some computers while I organised myself a little and did some planning. We did the same thing last Sunday and I feel much better after getting myself a little more organised. I still have some programming to do, but I am much further ahead than I was.

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments about how I’ve been going lately. I wore my Old Navy size 12 jeans to school on Friday (we had Jeans for Genes day as a fundraiser) and I felt pretty good in them. They are more comfortable than my Aus. Size 12 (more like a US 9/10), which I can put on, but are not as comfortable for sitting in and if I bent over for too long I would probably have to stand up again to breathe!

I have a busy week ahead, as it is our State testing week. I've tried to not make too big a thing of it with the kids, as they get nervous enough as it is. I am sure that they will look forward to the end of the week as much as I will. Perhaps I will have to plan a special treat for Friday.

Ammi – I am sorry that receiving your mum’s ashes has brought everything to the surface again. I know that I still get moments where I cry over some memory or other about my dad. It is certainly easing, but there will still be moments. Father’s Day is coming up over here, so I will probably go and spend the day with Mum. Of course Christmas is going to be a very hard time as well. I hope this new pain will ease for you and I know you will plan something lovely as a farewell for your mum.

Catherine – I LOVE West Edmonton Mall!!!!! My hubby is from Calgary and we went and stayed there for a few months just after we met as he had to satisfy some visa requirements. I couldn’t be THAT close and not go to the largest shopping mall in the world! We were there all day and didn’t do ANY shopping. We just spend the day checking everything out. We watched the dolphin show (it doesn’t sound as though they still have that) and pretty much just walked around all day. They had the submarine then, but I didn’t go in it – there were a lot of things I didn’t do then, because I was VERY large. I would love to go back again and try a few things out. Mind you, I still wouldn’t be trying out the rollercoaster.
I hope that your day wasn’t TOO hard and you didn’t have to be called to sort out any problems at the counter.

Heather – Well done on getting back into those 12s! I was getting a little worried that I had outgrown some of my clothes, but I seem to be safe for the moment. You and I are SO similar on the exercise front, as I still have to tell myself it 'isn't an option' when I try to get out of exercising too much. Mind you, YOU seem to be doing EXTREMELY well with the strength training. I tried that for a while on the home gym, but I ended up selling it because I found that each time I focused on strength training I got REALLY tired. I'm not sure what the cause was, but now I'm just sticking with the treadmill, exercise bike, cross trainer and aerobics DVDs. I envy you for being able to tone up, but hopefully I'll still keep doing OK with what I'm doing.

Annie – I was cheering for you when you told us about punching that guy in the face. I wanted you to punch him one for me too, and I wasn’t even there! What a HORRIBLE person, to just turn around and slap you in the face. I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened to me. I am actually pretty pathetic in any kind of aggressive situation and I know I wouldn’t have been able to hit him, but I also know that I would have felt really bad about NOT hitting him. I think I would have taken great pleasure in having him arrested for assault.
I hope you had a wonderful day on the gondolas with your loved ones. It sounds as though you are having a lovely time with your niece. She seems to have fit in perfectly with you two. Do you all have the same kind of ‘warped’ sense of humour? It sounds as though you are very close.

Rat – Have you finished stripping yet? (The floors that is) Hey! At least it has probably been warm enough for you to have been ‘stripped’ while you stripped. Over here I would have had goosebumps on my goosebumps if I had done that!

Brenda – I hope you have a lovely trip. I have NO idea what Ontario is like, but if it is anything like the west coast of Canada, then it will be beautiful. Oh... I don’t think I have told you yet... I LOVE your new avatar! You look gorgeous! I also love the photos of you and hubby in your old pants.

Xena – I would be in the same predicament you are about whether to pay the fence guy or not, because I hate causing any kind of conflict, but I think I would have to accept the fact that I wanted the job done PROPERLY before I paid for it. I hope things turn out well for you.
I have to say that I agree with the others about how lovely you look and I think you will look good no matter what you wear. I think they would have to accept that you may not have the professional attire needed for the presentation and as long as you looked ‘neat’ I figure that would be fine.

Emily May – CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! What a thrill to finally be finished your course. It must also be an incredible relief to know that you don’t have to go job hunting now, and you already have a position that you love. I have to agree with Ammi and I take my hat off to anyone who can work in that sort of situation. You have to be a special sort of person to do that and I am proud to know someone who will be helping those who need it so much. Thank you!

Jill – I hope things settle for you soon with the move and everything. I have sometimes thought that I would like to go to a different suburb, or just into a new house, but the thought of moving just reinforces how wonderful our current home is, and how I just couldn’t be BOTHERED with moving everything.

Luan – I was SO sorry to read about the troubles you have been having lately. I hope that you are over the worst of it and you are able to move on into a more positive stage of your life. Good luck with the job prospects! A new job could be just what you need to start you on your way to a better view of life.

Well, I’m going to head off and get ready for dinner now. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Take care,

Zelma

Catherine – Thanks for the tip on frozen stuff. I do find that one thing that helps is when I eat frozen fruit (similar concept) especially grapes and strawberries.

Jill – It sounds like you are really having a tough time with all the things you are juggling. However, your experience sounds like par for the course from everyone I have heard talk about buying a house. You always want to think it will go easily and it never does. The same thing with contractors.

Battle – Way to go putting the smack on that guy in the theater!

Annie – I can’t imagine cooking all that food for other people and not eating it myself. I hope you had a lovely time at the bbq.

Ammi – You know, it has been over 15 years and there are still moments when I just want my mom and I will break down in tears. I think it says something about how important someone was in your life how their loss ripples its way through your life. I am actually thinking now of going back on the pill and taking one of the ones that will let you skip several periods because I am thinking of trying to get to the gym in the morning. I can almost get my head around showering in public during normal times, but someone when during TOM I can’t imagine it. Even after getting the fibroids removed I bleed A LOT, and I have a hard time envisioning dealing with that in a semi-public place.

Luan – I hope the interview went well! That would be so cool. We could get the insider scoop (although you will probably be under all kinds of NDA’s)

Kymberly – You may not be having large losses anymore, but you are still losing! You are getting so close to your goal!! Do you have any kind of reward planned? (forgive me if I have asked this before)

Amy – You are totally rocking with the weight loss! Have you gotten your new computer yet?

Deb – Since you are in a Masters program it will probably be different, but I found that as an older adult student I had no problems outshining the younger students in professionalism. I had a lot of people want to be on my team because they knew I was smart and that I would help them get a good grade. Also, several teams I was on were chosen by the professor. The hardest part was finding a time for everyone to meet with such busy schedules. I am sure you can find something professional to wear. It isn’t cheap, but zaftique.com has some beautiful stuff.

Rat – That is great that you realized your hunger was thirst and acted accordingly.

Heather – OMG!!! You look so fabulous in your new avatar pic!!!! Well, not that it surprises me that you are so :flame:! I say this because I was going through pics with my ex yesterday and he kept saying “wow, you look so cute in this one” with a surprised kind of voice. I was a bit offended that he sounded so surprised. So, for you – here I am not being at all surprised. :)

Real – If small goals work for you then that is the way to go! It is so amazing you different it is for different heights. At 267 my BMI is 47, while for you at 350 it is 45. I know – I don’t need to lose weight as much as I need to grow taller! :lol:

Zelma – I really like going into work on the weekends occasionally for that reason too. It can really lift off the stress by getting to things you never seem to have time to do during the week.


On Friday afternoon I really wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go to the gym and had a nice dinner and an early night. Yesterday I started by getting a permit for our local dump so I can recycle cardboard and mixed paper. I had lots of stuff accumulated from the move and I didn’t want to throw it out if I didn’t have to. The really cool thing is they have a book swap at the recycling center. You can take up to 10 books a day for free. It was pretty hot out so I didn’t want to stand around looking too long, but I nabbed one.

Then I loaded up my car with more cardboard – the boxes that I promised my ex since he is moving at the end of the month. I took them to his place and then we went to Ikea together. I got my bookcase and some other items – mostly kitchen stuff. I am now totally confused about what to do with my bedroom. I finally found a duvet cover I really like there, but it completely clashes with how my room is currently painted (it is a deep red and my walls are light blue). It seems kind of silly to repaint just to match linens. I have to think about it for awhile. I just hope I don’t think so long that they no longer sell it!

I got to bed early and woke up early on my own, which tells me I am recovered from whatever was bothering me last week. I will head out to the gym soon and get in a really good workout since I have missed the past several days. I then have more shopping to do – Costco probably and then somewhere for fruits and veggies.

I have a quick price comparison question. How much do Boca burgers cost where you live? I seem to remember in my old area they were around $3.50/box of 4 and they would go on sale everyone once and awhile for less than that. Here in my new area they are like $4.70! That seems outrageous to me, but the difference isn’t enough to warrant a long drive. I am hoping I can find them at Costco and stock up.

It was a bit rough going through years of pics with my ex yesterday (we were dividing them up between us). However, I do have some GREAT before pics. It is really great to see how far I have come. I will post updated pics once I have hit 100 pounds lost.

Heather: I love your avatar photo. You are so beautiful sweetie! Congrats on getting back into size 12's. I can't even imagine myself in a size 12 lol.

Zelma: My Lindsey (niece) does have the same warped sense of humor as my hubby and I do. It is nice not to have to explain things to her. She just gets it. We had so much fun yesterday. Congrats to you too on the size 12's. Wow, you and Heather are doing so great. Glad that you got your stuff organized at school too. That should make it much easier to teach when your stuff is organized.

Nancy: We didn't end up having a bar b q yesterday. We stayed up at the mountain too long. WE had soooo much fun though. Our Costco has Boca Burgers and I'm sure yours will too. I buy them there all the time for my niece and prior to me having only shakes, I used to eat them too. Good luck. Sorry that it was so hard on you to go through pics with your ex. I hope you will get happier and happier without him as the time goes by. Hugs.

Well, yesterday was one of the best days ever! We rode the Gondolas up the mountain. It takes a tiny bit over 20 minutes to do it. They are advertised as the "World's Longest Gondola Ride". AT the top there were sooooo many people because there was a concert that night for a country singer named Jodee Macina (sp). Once we got on the top, there is another ride to even higher mountains. It is a chair lift ride like for snow skiing. My DH Joel and my niece Lindsey wanted to go on it. I was sooo scared I would be too fat. We walked up to them and I asked the man running it if I was too fat and he said absolutely not. Lots of larger folks ride it. So, off we went. It was awesome. It lasted about 10 minutes then you got off and walked about 50 feet towards another mountain and got on another set to take you even higher. It was so peacful. WE were laughing and joking and just enjoying each other and the beauty around us. We rode it to the top of that mountain and then there was another walk about 1/2 mile all up hill to the very tip top of the mountain to the lookout tower that they used to use for fire fighting. I said, I want to go. Lindsey and Joel were very surprised that I said this because it was so steep and walking all up hill. Off we went. I was breathing really hard because of the altitude. It was very thin air. WE were at 6300 feet and climbing. I MADE IT! I was so happy. I even climbed the ladder thing to get inside the tower. I was so proud of myself. That was an awesome NSV for me. We took lots of photos. I don't know how to put them on but it was really pretty.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy Sunday. We are going to be doing yard work after church then Joel will BBQ the stuff I took out of the freezer for today.

Blessings all,
Annie

Good morning everyone. Well, the fence guy never showed yesterday. Or maybe he came while I was at the gym but if he did he didn't leave me a message or anything. The stain on the fence is evening out some as it dries but there are still many areas where you can see the boards just did not get enough stain and the raw wood is showing through. They do the stain with a sprayer thingy but I think they are going to need to come back and fill in what they missed by hand. I am paying them a LOT of money so it needs to be right!

Not much going on with me today. I plan to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise today. When I do, I will have achieved my Active Lifestyle Award from the President's Challenge website. (Thank you, Misti, for turning me on to this). The ALA is an award for exercising at least 30 minutes 5x per week for 6 weeks. Next I am going for my bronze medal which is awarded based on points earned and luckily, all the points I accumulated doing the ALA will count towards my bronze medal.

Other than that I will just be doing laudry and picking up around the house. I was going to try to go clothes shopping but between the horrors of that in and of itself along with the heat I decided not to torture myself. ;) I am going to stay home and read. When school starts I am sure my reading for pleasure is going to go right out the window.

Heather - Can I just say "hubba hubba!" You are looking lovely. I love your curls. Makes me wish I had some! Congrats on working your way back into your 12's.

ratkitten - Wow, stripping the floors in all those rooms sounds like some serious work! I think I would be one giant walking ache if I tried to do that!

realist - Small goals are definitely the way to go when you have lots to lose. In my mind my next goal is 25 pounds because for some reason that one is a mental block for me. I will get very close to it and then sabotage myself and gain weight back. This time I am going into it more aware that this happens to me so hopefully I will be able to get through it. I already have my reward planned for making it to 25. There is a beautiful set of red dishes at WalMart that I want. The dishes I currently have are starting to chip and crack and are to the point I would be embarrassed to serve guests on them. When I saw those beautiful red dishes I decided they would make a great 25 pound reward because it's something I really want.

Zelma - I am generally not a shrinking violet so I am ready to stand my ground on this one. Yes, it can be uncomfortable to confront a conflict, but you have to stand up for your rights even if it is hard. I think I have learned from a young age that no one is going to stand up for me but me.

Annie - Your trip to the mountains sounds like bliss. I wish we had something like that here but it is pretty much flat as a pancake here in North Texas. As for the guy slapping you in the store, I cannot believe someone would do that! Clearly he had anger management issues. But good for you letting him have it right back!

Nancy - Good points you make about being the older student. The average age in this MBA program is like 27 so while they are not 18 year olds, I still think I will be in the older range of students (I'm 37). And I do remember in the spring semester when I was taking Business Calc there were 2 girls who always wanted to be in my group for our group homework assignments because they knew I knew what I was doing. I hope that will be the case. I just have this fear of it being like grade school where no one wants the fat kid on their team. Oh, and thanks for the website. I will check it out. And speaking of frozen fruit, have you ever bought frozen blueberries? They are delish just to eat out of hand. I bought them because everytime I bought fresh berries they'd get fuzzy before I used them. I mostly used them in smoothies but one day popped one in my mouth while I was putting my smoothie together and it's like eating a tiny bite-sized blueberry popsicle. Yummy! And as for your red comforter, I say go for it even if it means a paint job for your bedroom. I know painting is alot of work but I truly think your home is your sanctuary and you should have things you love in it. Rather than finding another comforter you love less and making it work with your blue walls, I say just go for it and get the comforter you truly love and make that room your own. Of course, that is easy for me to say, I live too far away for you to ask me to come help you paint. :lol: ;)

Zelma-I didn’t have to sort out too much, but it was the Calgary game, and they had this crazy promotion where if you bought a burger, they got a free ticket to next weeks game. I cooked over 800 burgers, 500 hotdogs, and just boxes of fries. We kept running out, so people were getting a tad nasty. One wanted to know how long she had to wait for a footlong, and I screamed out an hour and a half, and if she pissed me off anymore, I’d give her a frozen one. I realize that’s not the kind of behaviour I should model since it is a church run concession, but even I have my limits.

Nancy-I used to buy my Boca burgers at Sam’s. First they were bigger, 100 calories instead of 75, and the box had I think 20 in it for like $15. I really miss them, and the boca sausages too. I just can’t get them here.

Annie-I wanted to ride the gondola the last time we were in Banff, but it was closed for winter. We are going twice in October for meetings, so I’m really going to try to go again.

Xena-I agree with you, there is nothing worse than trying on clothes when it is hot. I also love frozen blueberries. I used to throw them on my cheerios before putting the milk on, so they would get a layer of frozen milk on them.

I think I survived my concession stand duty last night. I’m sure if I had actually died I would have started smelling by now. I can truthfully say that some people are pigs, and the drunken ones are even worse. It started raining and got cold right before the start, so they were also wet and cold in addition to being in foul moods. I made 3 vats of coffee, and 2 of hot chocolate. These vats are the size of a large suitcase. The last count I bothered with was 18 cases of frozen burgers. That’s about 50 per, so at least 900. They were expecting to sell 10,000 in the whole stadium. People were ordering 16 at a time. Who could eat that much? It’s not like the dollar menu at Wendy’s either, these things are $5 each. I’m going to sit with my feet up today, listen to a ball game, and try to steam clean the smell of hamburgers out of my nose.

:o thanks for your sweet avatar comments everyone. I think this is my favorite avatar so far. And as for those 12s, I am not QUITE there yet, but I know I can get there. :)

Nancy -- Sure you don't want to post some before pics now??

Annie -- Sounds like a great experience. I'm really proud of you and happy for you!

Catherine -- ugh. I don't envy your experience!! You deserve the rest today!

I do this almost every 2 months!! Steve tells me our rooms are getting smaller because I have put so many coats of paint on them! :rofl:

Hi everyone,

I have had a bad sore throat for a couple of days, and am getting congested. I'm definitely on my way to getting a flu or something. Also, I am expecting TOM early this coming week. Well, I have certainly been through a couple of interesting mind games over these two events. In the past, two such events would be a sure-fire excuse to overeat.

Yesterday, I went to a funeral, and the church was broiling hot. No air conditioning, and the temp steadily rose as the service went on, with all the people there. By the time the service was over, we were all sweating like pigs. There was an outdoor reception, and we made a beeline to the punch table....blech, it was like drinking straight syrup. I had about 4 glasses because I was desperate for something to drink and that's all there was. 400 wasted, empty and unsatisfying calories over the upper range of plan, but what can a girl do. That is life. I didn't go near the goodie table, didn't even want to. BTW the funeral was for the last boss I had before I left to run my business f/t. We worked together for 5 years. Sad. He was in his mid-50s.

Last night I came home and thought about how I was getting sick and was expecting TOM, and I could eat lots of junk if I wanted to and recover later. Then I realized I really didn't want to go on a binge.

This morning I woke up, throat on fire, but still not feeling terrible. I was going to let myself off the exercise hook because I'm getting sick, but then thought about it and realized I was feeling good enough to do about 15 minutes worth of pilates. And, for lunch, I really, actually wanted a turkey burger mixed with lots of veggies on whole grain bread. I'm not having PMS-y feelings of wanting to eat everything in sight, so why not go with the feeling! Why on Earth am I trying to talk myself into reasons for bingeing! muy loco.

Please wish me healing vibes so this bug passes quickly. I can't afford to be sick for a week.

Wishing health to all of you!

Catherine - I'm glad you survived working on the stand. I would have LOVED to have seen the look on that lady's face! Good for you! People say nasty things like that all the time and expect others to just put up with it. She wouldn't have expected you to actually answer her, let alone put her in her place.
That is a LOT of food. How many stands like yours are there at functions like this? I suppose they would draw quite a large crowd. Do they actually go over lunch/dinner, or do people just eat for the sake of it, because they are at a 'game'?

Heather - I forgot to say how gorgeous you look in your new avatar pic. Do you find that you are still experimenting with new looks? I will have to change my avatar one day, because I have changed my hairstyle AGAIN since that one. I'm just not sure what I want to look like.

Xena - At least you know that the fence guy won't run out on you, because you haven't paid him yet. I am sure that the finished (corrected) job will look great.
Isn't it funny how we let our weight worry us so much? I used to stop myself from doing SO much because I didn't know how people would react to my weight. I am sure that others wouldn't have paid as much attention to it as I thought they would, but I had faced 'just' enough prejudice that I didn't want to take the chance. I'm glad that you aren't letting it stop you from furthering your education and career opportunities.

Annie - I can't WAIT to see pics from the day! It sounds as though you all had a wonderful time. Did Lindsey's young man survive the day with you three??? Isn't it great that you were able to go all the way to the top? I am SO happy for you. I love going to places like that and just absorbing the view for a while.

Battle - I hope you are feeling better soon. I am very impressed that you didn't use the excuse of TOM or illness to allow you to binge. It is so easy to go over the top at those times when they are separate, let alone when they come together.

Brenda - Any time you get the urge to paint AND have a holiday, we have a spare room here and LOTS of walls that could do with as many coats of paint as you would like to apply to them.

Nancy - It would certainly have been a 'going down memory lane' time to sort through all those photos. Even though you know that you have made a move for the better, it still doesn't stop the memories from flooding back in. Even now, after being divorced from my ex husband for SO long, I still have some lovely memories of our time together, and he was a lovely man, but I KNOW that I am far better off where I am now and with my new, wonderful husband. I am glad that you still seem to be good friends with your ex, as this makes it SO much easier on both of you.

I am not sure whether it is due to the recent ovarian cyst, but my latest TOM, (which seems to have arrived with a few other people's on here) is VERY heavy! Not much fun at all.

Ok... I had better head off and get ready for work. It is a VERY wet and wild day today, so I am expecting the kids to be a little 'hairy', but at least we just had a beautiful weekend, so they would hopefully have been able to get out and about and work off some steam.

I hope you all have a lovely start to the new week.

Take care,

Zelma

xena - LOL they dont have to know that i know you, right?

unfortunatly, i wont be at the campus where they are shooting (at least not yet) so i wont have access to any of the equipment or staff. when you work on a show, you dont get any of the perks of being ON the show.. lol

i should hear tomorrow.

Hey all, just a quick post (I'll make time to do personals tomorrow). I've been MIA for a few days now, haven't been feeling well and have had a few struggles with the healthy eating, but ultimately things are going well. I went to the big sale at Macy's this weekend and bought myself a bikini that looks pretty darn good, and I'm optimistic about the weight loss.

I miss my boyfriend a lot, still 2 weeks until I get to see him.

Other than that, not much going on. I will do a longer post tomorrow though, totally tuckered out from the gym right now. I'm seeing Hairspray tomorrow with my best friend... has anyone seen it? Looks like a great movie.

Take care everyone.

Zelma -- Thanks! I have started experimenting. I've actually had short hair frequently in the past, but I had the girl go a lot shorter this time.

Most of my experimenting to date has been with clothing styles! I have no idea what's out there and what looks good on me. My favorite realization this summer is that I can wear skirts and dresses without nylons so much more comfortably now that my thighs don't rub together as much. They still DO, but it's just so much less. I hated wearing skirts in summer before. And I like wearing skirts a bit shorter now. I have a denim skirt that's just above knee length that I'm wearing everywhere!

I would like to get my hair colored -- at least to cover the gray -- at some point. And I would also like to get a makeup consultation maybe. I don't wear any foundation and not much makeup at all -- just some powder, eye liner and lipstick. I'm a little nervous about the whole makeup deal and not sure I want it sucking up my time every morning...

But I like to shop now just to try on different styles!!

Zelma-I don't know how many booths there are. The stadium holds 60,000 people. Some people I think come from work, and eat dinner, but others just eat because they are there, kind of like going to the movies. I understand drinking, especially when it is really hot or really cold, but this stadium allows you to bring drinks in as long as the bottle is less than two liters, and I'm not sure they even check. Some of the booths sell beer, but not ours. Then they also have souvenir stands. They take their football as seriously here as they do in the US NFL. We run 9 registers, and they are lined up at least 20 deep right before kick off and at half time. It's hard work, and most people only volunteer for one or two games. We go to all of them because we don't make much money, and can't donate as much as we would like to, so we donate what other people don't have much of -- time. The church makes about $12,000 a season, and that's a lot of money for a small inner city church.