John - Yep, that'd be the one. I'm probably going sometime in mid-October. Do you happen to know how chilly it is around that time? It might affect my costume choice...

Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I posted. School started a couple of weeks ago and I haven't gotten my time management down yet so I really haven't been online much. School is good so far. It's not too difficult yet it's just a matter of getting used to giving up 2 evenings/week to classtime plus spending time studying. Today I have a case to read for my Organizational Behavior class and write a 1 page analysis of it. That's pretty easy. Last week we had 4 to do and I was scrambling at the last minute due to my own procrastination.

My eating has been off-track the past week or two and am not getting much exercise either. Trying to figure out why and I have come up with the following reasons:

1. Last time I weighed in I was at -19.6 which put me perilously close to a milestone weight and I seem to always sabotage myself at points like this.
2. Feeling nervous about writing my case analyses for class. It's been so long since I have been in school I just didn't know where to begin so I kept putting it off and it made me nervous and, therefore, want to eat.
3. Feeling anxious about friend's upcoming wedding in Boston in October. I am trying not to let my weight bother me but it is going to. I am sure I weight 80-100 pounds more than I did last time I saw everyone and while I do love this family, they are somewhat looks-oriented.


Anyway, same stuff, different day, right?


OK, putting all that aside, I want to throw a wild idea out there to the group. The idea came from me getting my high school alumni newsletter in the mail and reading that my class reunion (20 years) is coming up next summer. The idea of reuniting with friends of old always sounds nice. Then I thought "What about uniting with friends we've never met in real life?" I think it would be fun to get to meet some of the great people we share our joys and struggles with. It's just an idea. I know there are all kinds of reasons why this isn't practical - geographic, financial, family, etc - but it could be fun if there is anyone who is interested and able to do it. I'd love to meet some of my 3FC friends. Any thoughts?

EmilyMay – I am so glad to hear that your career is going so well. It also sounds like you are in a very healthy place. You may not be losing tons, but you are maintaining and getting activity into your daily life. That is no small thing!

Vicki – I am glad to hear the surgery went well. That is so fantastic that it has made you feel so much better about yourself. It has done the job! I try to picture myself without the stomach and it is really hard. It has been part of me for so long, but I would really like it to go away at some point. I want my lap back!

Lesley – Is it really possible to have too many books? I suppose so, but that’s an awful lot of books.

Misti – I am really glad to hear that you found a place you love! All those amenities sound amazing! Where I live, you couldn’t find a place like that for under $1500.

Donna - Hope mom-taxi **** ends soon! I know we "drove" our mother crazy! Kids have so many places to be!

Debbie – I have a certified black thumb. I have always wanted to garden and I generally think that I have a nurturing personality, but plants don’t seem to agree with me.

Catherine – Thanks for the padding idea. In fact, there are a number of removable gel pads specially made for use at gyms (spinning classes are grueling I have started gathering). I think I will pick one up so that I have that option.

Battle – Way to go being down another 3 pounds! That is fab!

John – Sorry to hear you didn’t see a bigger loss, but at least it was a loss!

Lindsey - Congratulations on getting out of the 300’s!!!!! That is so exciting! One place I haven’t ordered clothes from but seem to have cute stuff is alight.com. Have you ever gotten anything there?

Peggy – It is chilly here in CT too! I don’t have a thermometer, so I am not sure it got that cold, but I was under the down comforter last night. You tucked in your shirt?! I think only here we can understand just what a milestone that is. Way to go!

Ratkity – I wrote the note to Catherine before reading your comment. I should have known someone would have thought of a padded seat for gyms. I will definitely invest in one.

Ammi – That toffee and honeycomb ice cream sounds great! Here the Skinny Cow’s only come in basic flavors. I used the ordinary bike at the gym. The recumbent ones they have there are weird. Maybe I will try them though. The thing is, as much as I love the community feel of my gym, all the equipment is really outdated and not the greatest – the bikes especially.


Last night I went to a Moroccan restaurant with my ex. It is down by where he lives in Jersey and it was a lot of fun. I know I ate over my calorie limit, but I was proud of myself for something else – I got up and danced! They had a belly dancer and after her performance she invited everyone in the place to get up and dance. My ex wouldn’t get up, so I inserted myself into a group of women from a table next to us and asked if I could join in. It felt so great to have the confidence to get up and dance like that. That is the whole reason why I want to lose weight – to enjoy the world and not sit on the sidelines and watch while other people dance.

I should go to work today (I meant to go yesterday) but I really just don’t feel like it. I am trying to find some new workout pants and want to keep the cost low because I like having 5 pairs – one for each day of the week. That way I don’t have to do laundry mid-week. JMS has some ok ones, but I was hoping to find some local. I will check out Walmart today and see what they have. If not, I will just go ahead and order online. I really need new sports bras too (which I think I mentioned before) because the ones I have now don’t do the job anymore. Since I got them at my highest weight that isn’t surprising. I also saw a really nice yoga mat in Target yesterday and I didn’t buy it because it was expensive, but seeing as I am doing yoga regularly now, I think I might invest in it.

Hello my peeps!!

Ammi: No contraceptives for me, thank you...that's how all this weight started!! Besides, after we had Sammi, Doug was on the phone right away for an appointment to be "fixed". All his idea, but it was comical to see a
6'5'" man laid out w/ a bag of frozen peas on his crotch!!! I think the reason no TOM is that I am 45y/o and seem to be peri-menopausal. It has been going on for a little over a year now...my periods were getting further apart and I seem to get hot flashes now and again. (Especially when I am at the checkout of any store...I wonder if it's because I am spending money?? ) I love Skinny Cow, I wish we had that flavor here, it sounds delish!!!!


John: Congrats on your loss...you will definately hit your goal by your B'day!!
Oh, and sorry if the above is TMI...both the male and female end of it!


Peggy: Oh to tuck in a shirt again!{{sigh}} I always make sure I buy my shirts long enough to cover it up!! Unless I have a tummy tuck, since I am swinging low, there is no way this chick is ever going to tuck her shirt in!!!


Lindsey: on getting out of the three's!! That's so awesome!! And that's a great idea...I would TOTALLY LOVE to meet these great people in "real life"!! It would be so fun to give real hugs instead of virtual ones!!!!


Nancy: I am so proud of you for joining in and dancing!! There is a quote in Sammi's dance catalogs that says "Dance like no one is watching". You must feel that way. Your ex was just being a party pooper, and I am glad you had the courage to do it anyway!!! Oh, and I know that Walmart carries JMS workout clothes, so I hope your shopping was fruitful.


Battle: Oh I long for the day I don't have to shop at the ridiculously expensive Avenue or Lane Bryant!! (never without a coupon!!!) I now can actually fit into some things at WalMart...I haven't tried the jeans yet, but I made it into some gauze capri's this summer, which I loved. It is a happy day when you can buy something that doesn't have any stretch material whatsoever!!

Right now Jack is attacking the monitor, so I must go find one of his mousies to occupy him.

Have a great OP day!!

Linsey-In college once after spending the day running chainsaws, my roommate was basically sore all over. So we icyhotted her all over. She first started shivering, and then started screaming and ran for the showers. I was a little concerned that might happen, but it was great fun at the time.

Peggy-I wish we had a fireplace. We’d run it on the newspapers our upstairs neighbor throws away. He empties the newspaper boxes. I am beyond irritated that he doesn’t take them to recycling.

Rat-Our neighborhood gets a lot of new immigrants, and with what’s going on over in Africa, there are a lot of new Africans here, and apparently my shape is sexy there. God help the Africans. I guess I don’t look like I have AIDS or malaria, so that would be a plus over there. I made the mistake of taking my shoes and socks off on the bus in front of one, and I think I practically initiated some kind of mating ritual. I had ace bandaged my ankles for a day of heavy walking, and my feet had swelled, and they hurt, so I just had to take them off. I put the ace bandages on the seat next to me while I put my shoes back on, and he grabbed one and smelled it. I was torn between never wanting to touch it again so let him have it, or being afraid that he’d make a shrine out of it somewhere. Luckily, he dropped it back on the other one in such a way I couldn’t tell them apart, and I quickly grabbed them, stuffed them in my bag, and got off at the next stop.

Sue-I probably only walk a couple of blocks with my groceries, and we don’t own a car. That would be a bummer to have to do that after paying for a parking space. We have a space that came with our unit, and since we are ground floor in the back, our patio is 5 feet from our space. We don’t use it obviously, but guard it jealously. Our friends get a close space that way, and we can always see when someone is here to pick us up.

Ammi-You and me both about the kids. I am mostly glad to be able to hide in the back and avoid the actual customers. I’m a bit too terse to do customer service on a prolong basis. Besides, I might tell someone, “do you know how many grams of fat that cheese burger you just ordered has in it?” Wouldn’t sell much that way. In high school I worked a drive through window at Burger King at the intersection of two major highways. I kept hoping for someone to stick me up just so I could have an excuse to throw the coffee pot out the window.

Donna-That’s all I have worn is JMS since I lost down enough to be able to buy store bought stuff. It’s just the walmart here is out of practically all the sizes of them. Back to school decimated them. Things just don’t get restocked here as fast as in other places. We’re a little to close to the Arctic Circle. The Northwest Passage became navigable this summer because the sea ice is melting so quickly. I’m with you on the thongs. I spend too much time trying to keep my underwear out of my crack to buy some designed to sit there.

Debbie-I ended up getting a low fat carrot muffin mix, and added some oatmeal to it, plus some dried tropical fruit. I tried some, and then didn’t want anymore. I made them real moist. I’m calling it Florida swamp cake. It wet and gooey, and you’re not quite sure what’s in it. People up here go nuts over my cooking because they are used to basically either British food, or a Prairie diet of meat and potatoes. The food has little flavor outside of salt and fat. I won’t even try to explain their idea of chili. The last time I made some Oklahoma chili here, I had to make one of those institutional sized stock pots full of it. I didn’t have to worry about left overs either. I take people on adventures to the myriad of ethnic shops and groceries here, and they act like they are Alice in Wonderland. Edmonton is a huge melting pot now, but most of the natives think going out to an adventurous night of ethnic eating is spaghetti in Little Italy. There’s a new Nigerian restaurant a block away that I want to try. It’s by the bus stop, and the smells at lunch are just exotic. They are supposed to have a chicken soup with all sorts of spices, and the bread they serve with everything is made with their native grain called teff that is gluten free, and has natural iron and calcium. There’s also a new Laotian restaurant that serves red and green curries. We’re saving that for a special occasion when we have to go out with someone.

Battle-I have often told people that my view of “normal” is being able to buy store bought clothes. I will consider myself normal again when I can buy all my clothes at the thrift store.

John-Your goal sounds doable. I try to avoid making goals for myself. When I can’t make them, I end up having such a big let down that I go nuts. I wish I could set goals though. When you make them, it feels so good.

Xena-I sabotage myself the same way around milestones. I seem to sabotage myself for anything these days. I also haven’t been in school in many moons. I think Regan was still in office or maybe Bush, the elder. I’ve got some traveling coming up too, which actually terrifies me, so I’m trying to just maintain this year. Last year the fall travel cost me about 40 pounds of gain, so maintaining would be a victory.

Emily-You are living life. For some of us, that is the ultimate goal.

Nancy- I can’t wait for the day I can get up and dance like that. There’s a Greek restaurant in Banff that does the dancing and plate breaking thing on Tuesdays. I think I am going to try it this time when we go. I used to love getting all my exercise stuff ready for the Y. I even have prescription goggles for the pool. If you have nice stuff, it makes it feel more like you are owning the process, and not just an outsider looking through the windows at the real people.

Just for the record, I am not pregnant. I am trying very hard not to dwell on whether I was or not previously. It is best for me not to. I know my mom went through this 8 times after I was born, and it would be really nice if I could talk to her about it, but she doesn’t speak to me since I moved to Canada. I guess she felt abandoned. It is sure easier to stick to a diet when you are sick to your stomach.

OOPS DOH

Xena: Sorry I didn't give you proper credit for your idea!!

Lindsey: Sorry I gave you extra credit for Xena's idea!!

Sue, isn't it crazy how prices have doubled and tripled in Washington? It's really a shame how it's making it harder for the average joe to live. The property taxes are crazy too. The color "wool skein" sounds beautiful.
I'm sure you will have it feeling like home in no time. Take pics!!

Ammi, another one that is really good is the Morning mile with LS. That one has alot of upper body movement too. I'm not to coordinated, but I got most of it. I'm glad you found the mile muscle one, I really think you will
like it. I'm with you on wanting a tummy tuck when I'm at goal. I hate this big ol thing hanging down. It seems to be getting flatter, but still hangs. I have big floppy flabby arms too and I want to do more arm exercises. They say
they are coming out with something else in the way of surgery for the arms. It was just a teaser on the tv, and I forgot to watch the news to see what it was about, but if I hear anything I will let you know. I've had big
arms since I was probably 18 or so. I used to do alot of mechanical work when I worked in assembly, and built muscle, now its just a bunch of flab hanging.

Xena, I've always thought it would be so fun to meet people from a support group. The thing is, is where would it be held? We're from all over the place so I wouldn't know what would be convenient for everyone.
I'm the same as you on sabotaging myself when I reach a milestone. But I really think I've reached a big plateau and just can't get past it. I'm going to add more protein to my diet and see if that helps. Honestly, I'
think I've been stuck where I'm at for close to a month now. Just going back and forth, back and forth. It's getting to the point where I just feel like going out and eating a big piece of something sweet!!!! But then
I think it's better to stay where I am instead of gaining another pound. Tomorrow is my WI, so we'll see what happens.

Nancy,how fun to get up and dance like that!!! I really envy you...I just don't have the self confidence to do something like that. I think that is the reason I don't get up and do karaoke either.
I love to sing, just not in public. You are doing so well on getting out there and enjoying life, keep it up and i hope to follow in your footsteps one day.
Oh, and if you want to garden, start with some kitchen herbs. They have little kits that you can keep right in your kitchen if you have a sunny window.

Donna, you're little Jack just sounds so cute. I love kitties!

John, congrats on the loss...any loss is a good loss!!

Well, I'm going to go exercise like a mad woman and see if that will help break this plateau. I'm tired of this and I'm determined to get more weight off. Tomorrow I
go to the doctor and see how I'm doing with my diabetes and hi blood pressure. I'm hoping to get off some meds.
Have a good day and enjoy!!
Debbie

Lindsey- Well Maryland weather can be weird till Nov. Its sometimes been in the 70's other times its been in the 40's. We tend to get a good bit of rain in Oct and the place can be VERY muddy. I would plan for mid to low 60's. I find jeans and t-shirt with either hoody or sweat shirt the most comfortable.

Donna- you need never worry about TMI with me I'm the kind of guy who can go to a store buy tampoons and pads, a box of condoms and a playboy and go to the check out that either has the hot chick or the lady that could be my grandma and have no issues. Now you put the smallest spider you can think of on me and I freak out **** just spider webs and I'll damn near scream.

Hi all,

Last night and this morning were a big eating fest. Last night was the 50s party I have been preparing for. It was fun, but there was baked macaroni and cheese topped with bread crumbs from an excellent area restaurant, as well as other delicious and fattening goodies on offer. I took leftovers and will not do that again with items I know I can’t control myself with.

I haven’t been hungry since my morning to midday binge, so haven’t eaten since then. Tomorrow is another day.


Dolfingirl: Thanks for writing about your experience. I can understand how you felt about the skin on your abdomen. I don’t know how I will pay for it, but I plan to get a tummy tuck when I’m at goal.

LitChick: Hope you had a great day at the book sale. I’m a big fan of libraries and used book stores. I buy very few new books.

Misti: Welcome back. You apartment sounds great. I hope you’ll be happy there and it will feel like home in no time.

Lindsey: Good job on your test. CONGRATS on getting below 300. That is a huge milestone. I felt so happy when it happened to me recently. You are doing great. Being able to stay on plan while going out is the challenge, and you rose to it.

Brenda: Yay on 1 lb. Every lb. is a victory.

Nancy: Sorry to hear about your injuries. I am optimistic that you will find a way to get in some exercise despite your problems. I hope that whatever is wrong heals quickly. I am prone to injury, and have been derailed numerous times because of them. This time I am determined to find exercise that I can do no matter what happens. I’ve come up with a number of contingency plans. One of my Plan Bs is to tape Sit and Be Fit, and use that if I can’t do any weight-bearing activities.

I’m proud of you for getting up and dancing. Something tells me your ex may not be keen on your newfound confidence.

Catherine: Oh, I know about the African immigrants. My, how they love a large woman. There was one living in my apartment building, and he invited me over to the new house he bought. When I inquired about his wife, he informed me that she was on an extended trip to her home country in Africa. I told him I'd be delighted to visit them when she returned. He never called. Imagine that.

Donna: I know about those leftover bags. Last night I left with a big bag of food from the party I went to. Last night and this morning were not good because of it. Some day I’m going to learn my lesson.

Ratkitty: Yikes for your sister. Come to think of it, I haven’t been accused of flirting in a long time. I’m sure it’s coming. This time I think I’m more prepared for the male attention and for being seen as a sexual person.

Good job staying OP and meeting your goals.

Debbie: I’m in awe of anyone that can garden.

John: I know you can continue to lose weight and blow right past your birthday goal. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area of CA. Prices here for housing are insane. And salaries are not high enough to make the cost of living reasonable.

Peggy: Oh my gosh, congrats on the shrinking size of your body and tucking your shirt in. That is an amazing step. Huge NSV.

Ammi: I’m so pleased for you that you are staying OP. The toffee honeycomb WW ice cream sounds delicious. I would buy it if it were available here.

Xena: Nice to see you. Glad to hear your school work isn’t too difficult. It is the time management that is the problem, for sure. But, I know you will be able to manage it.

I would go to a get-together if it were local. Traveling isn’t possible for me right now for a number of reasons. I have met members from other boards I frequent, and it is always fun.

Emily May: It’s wonderful that you love your career. I’m happy for you. You may surprise yourself by losing weight just by all the running around you’re doing.

G'morning all!

Lindsey, RenFest can be hot and muggy or cool and crisp in the morning! Like John said, the weather is schizo in Sept/Oct. It only truely gets cool on Halloween. I think layers are the way to go.

Xena, I understand about the stress eating. The types of stress I endure seem to have cycles and they appear to be associated with weight milestones, but really, the stress is just doing it's high cycle. I've done get togethers with net folks, but like Battle, I'm not able to visit more than a days drive.

Nancy, you keep on dancing girl! Dance like nobody's watching!! Isn't that a country song?

Donna, ooooooo I wanna just catch Jack and hug him! My cats haven't been interested in computer mousies or monitors in a long time. I just had to chase Psychokity off the the old cat's heating pad. She's so bad.

Catherine, ew about the ace bandages!! but too funny at the same time. My family eats bland things as well and gives my baby sis and I odd looks when we bring in exotic things for them to try at family gatherings.

Debbie, if you find out what surgery they are talking about for flabby arms, let me know too! I hate that my upper arms continue to wave when my hand stops moving. Good luck at the doc's today!!! And gratz on exercising

Battle, I understand about leftovers. For some reason, I think a little kitten is hurt when I throw out food or leave leftovers. DOH! NOT!

2 days in a row with all goals met.. hydration, veggie serving, exercise and within points!!

Take care all, especially the lurkers!

Luv,
RK