Howdy yall....thanks for the warm thoughts.They Do help!!!

Battle..lol about the scale!!! Can I borrow that sometime??

Kayley..congrats on teh job!!!

Hi Ammi!- I'm glad you are feeling better and are able to post again, we would be lost without you !

Val- I was in TOPS when I was a teen, both my mom and I. I liked it because it was like mother daughter time. And the other ladies were great support too. Good luck to you if you decide to join.

Catherine- I always enjoy your posts because you always write something to make me chuckle!

Johnnie- 9lbs...you're smokin' !

Kayley- Congrats on the new job! Hope all goes well for you And 2lbs. is a wonderful loss, great job!

Annie- Yay....another 6lbs. gone!

Nancy- Hope you feel back to normal soon.


As for me I am down another 7lbs. from last week! I'm in with a great bunch of ladies and I am making new friends And I like the leader she's really motivating.

Ammi: Congrats on being op all week long! See, you are already on a roll. Glad that the Sweet Syndrome is not acting up currently. I hope it stays at bay. Sadly, I am salry at my job so no overtime. If things ever calm down, the plus side is I get to leave early some time and not have to worry about taking pto unless it is too much time at once.

Val: Have fun at the horse show. Congrats on the job extension. I hope that before June rolls around they will realize they NEED you and hire you permanent.

Cath: Just.... HUGS.

Johnnie: Woop Woop to you on -9 pounds. You are rockin it.

Nancy: Hugs and feel better soon.

Kayley: I knew it. Congrats. I knew they would fall in love with you. Great job on another -2.4 pounds down.

Heather: Great job making it to the gym.

Brenda: Hope you feel RELAXED tonight.

Battle: I think how you handled your friend is perfect. Good job being firm and hopefully putting an end to the pushy food pusher friend.

Cyn: Hi sweetie

Colneed: Yipee to -7 more. You are doing fantastic.

Well, I am so glad to be home and I think I will go put my feet up. I had dinner and it has been almost an hour since eating so I'm about ready to drink some water. Hope you are all doing wonderful and have a great op weekend.

Blessings,
Annie

Hiya gals. I've been away from the boards a week. Classes started up this week plus work is super busy this time of year. (I definitely empathize with Nancy, my fellow accountant.) My eating has been atrocious this week although I have continued to exercise. At work I realize that I am a "nervous" eater. I get stressed or feel anxious about what I have to do and how I am going to get it all done and next thing I am stuffing sweets or chips into my face. I am ready to put that behind me and deal with it better this week.

On a positive note, I think I am going to really like my classes this semester. I was really impressed with both my professors. Much more so than the ones I had last semester. They were so bad that I seriously considered transferring to another school. It was my first semester last semester and so I thought if all the profs were so lazy and unprofessional I needed to go somewhere else. Happily it seems there are some good ones there afterall.

cyn - I wanted to extend my condolensces to you. I was raised by my grandparents as well so I understand what you mean when you say you feel like an orphan.

kayley - I love the bridesmaid dress you picked out. Is that the color you will be wearing as well? It's beautiful. on the new job.

Catherine - I will be praying for a safe and healthy pregnancy for you.

Nancy - I agree with you about "How to Look Good Naked". I've seen 2 episodes and was crying both times. I loved Carson on Queer Eye and love him on this show as well. It's so funny how compassionate he seems. On Queer Eye I remember his humor being very biting so this is like a whole other side to him.

Ammi - Welcome back to the boards. You are still an inspiration to us because the fact is losing weight and keeping it off will be a lifelong struggle. It is admirable that you stopped the gain when you did. You easily could have given up completely and gone back to your old weight. That's inspiring.

Sharon - ouchie! Just reading what happened to your finger makes me cringe. Glad it is feeling better.

OK, I am off to get some work done around the house. In the spirit of one of my 2008 goals of making my house the home I want it to be I am off to start an organization project in my laundry room and my pantry.

Good morning all - last night was the first of the round of parties - another tonight. Fortunately I did not have to face a hotel room and its challenges. Unfortunately - that meant a round trip drive of over 400 miles - after working all day. It was a late night but I wanted to be home for my yoga class this morning - boy did she push us. Tonights dinner will prove to be a challenge as well but it is local.

Xena - Hi - missed you!

Off to do housework. Everyone have a great day!

Hugs,
Carol

I'm surviving on stale bread and diet ginerale right now. We went to Chinatown last night to the grocery, and they were out of alligator. Guess it is not their season for it with New Years coming up for them. I've got to order it from a sea food place on the south side of town. Now my big quest is to find some okra. The last time I was in the Somalian grocery they had some, so I'll check there first. I will have to substitute Chinese sausage for andouille, because folks around here don't even know what okra is, so unless the sausage has elk or moose in it, they don't know what I'm talking about. Who knew it would be so hard to make some garbage pot gumbo?

It's very quiet here - I hope that means I am the only one struggling and needing some support. I have literally wore myself out to the point sleep will not come - I have a tendency to do this when I take on too many things.

Keep on moving-----

Hugs,
Carol

Hi Xena: Glad to see you.

Catherine: I hope you find all the things that you are looking for and you are feeling better really soon.

Carol: Hugs. I was just checking in and saw you said you were struggling. I hope you can sleep soon.

I cleaned my house and am not feeling so spry. lol. I wish TOM would just get here and stop messing around.

I was journaling last night and got to thinking about the last time I weighed this much. I believe it was in 1989. My Step Mom's mother passed away and I had never been to a funeral in my life. I was around 22 years old. The only thing that was even remotely appropriate to wear was a pair of black zip up jeans size 26. I remember struggling into them even going as far as mimicking my older sisters by laying on the bed to zip them. I somehow stood up and pretty much looked like Frankenstein's monster walking around. The only shirt I had that wasn't a tee shirt was a cotton candy pink shirt with a strip of rainbow colors across the chest. It buttoned up the front and was extra long. The buttons were about 2 inches at least in diamater and were all different colored to match the rainbow stripe. The jeans tapered down to the ankle with gold zippers on the ankles. The only shoes I could fit my fat feet into were my birkenstalks. Nice funeral outfit. How I managed to get into the car is still like a magic trick that I don't quite understand myself. I thought if I sat almost in the back of the church I wouldn't be noticed. That had the oposite effect I was going for, that and my outfit. Thinking about that and remembering that it has been 19 years since I have tried on a "normal" pair of jeans. I mean, jeans with no elastic waist band and jeans that are not made from a stretch material. I decided that I would try on some jeans that some of the ladies from my weight loss surgery support group had given to me. All of them size 26. I have tried them on previously in the past few months but have not been able to zip them and some of them wouldn't budge much past my knees. Today, they not only fit over my knees and hips but I zipped them without laying down. Mind you they still are not leaving much to the imagination and are quite tight but, I got them on and feel so happy about that. Amazing how almost the same experience almost 19 years later can be so different. I guess it is because I am going down into them and not up out of them. Just a thought I wanted to share with everyone.

Blessings all,
Annie

Ratkity, thanks for the advice on what to do to make my back ease up. I didn't try it though, I just feel crappy from the cold. My back is doing alot better though and I plan on DDR'ing tonight...but I will stretch before and after now.

Catherine, well, I'm torn. I think it would be so great for you and Himself to have a child, but on the other hand, I don't want you to endanger your life. So whatever you want, and whatever is best for you, I hope it happens. In the meantime, I hope you get to feelin' better. But really blueberry jelly and mashed potatoes? EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Kayley, you did a fantastic job of staying away from all the junk you could of eaten. You deserve a big pat on the back!
YAY on getting the job!!! And even better news of losing the weight. Go girl!!!!!

Carol, love the new avatar!!! You look like your beaming. You've done so well with the exercise and I bet it feels fantastic to be moving in the right direction on your WL.Keep up the good work!
YAY on the jeans!!

Annie, you are sooooooooo close!!! You should be there in no time. Don't get burned out on all those hours you're putting in at work. Take some time to treat yourself and indulge in a nice hot bath with candles. You outfit for the funeral was quite, shall we say, bright, but just you being there is what counted...to heck with anything else.
I'm always in jeans. I love em. They might not look great on me, but that is what I'm most comfortable in. It takes some getting used to but you'll be fine in them.

Ammi, glad ot hear your Sweets is not acting up. What a relief huh? Hopefully it will just quit and be done with it. Thanks for sending the pics of your Christmas. It was so nice to see family members and put a name to a face now. It looks like you guys had a great time. I love the one of you playing guitar!

Val, how did the girls do? That's great that the horses will be moved soon and life can get back to normal.

Johnnie, Woo Hoo on the 9 lbs gone forever! That's just fantastic!! Keep up the good work. I'm so glad you found some good DVDs on Netflix. It's better that way so you don't go out and buy them and then find that you can't do them.

Battle, good for you on not giving in to the pressure to eat more AND putting them in their places. Now maybe they will realize how committed you are to taking care of yourself and wanting a healthier lifestyle.

Colneen, love the avatar and congrats on the poundage lost!!!

Last night was tough. I went to bed early because of this cold. My nose is so stopped up that when I started falling asleep, I would wake up gasping because I don't think I was breathing. Today is better, so I'm hoping I'm on the mend. My back is better too so I will be doing DDR tonight or starting again today.
We had to take our dog Marilyn to the vet yesterday. Her ears have two different infections. One has a yeast infection the other has bacterial. So we got her some meds and hopefully she will be back to her old self. She's such a sweetheart. We went back to our old vet because this new one we tried won't release Daisy's prescription to Petmeds. We've been trying to get her Rymidyl meds scrip since Monday and they keep blowing us off. I called them 3 times yesterday and they told me that they don't know if the help had the time to fax it. Geeze. I will personally go in on Monday and get her records transferred to our old vet. This one charges 70 bucks for a 30 month supply while Petmeds only charges 45. It's amazing to me how a vet, who is suppose to be wanting to help animals, is looking at the all mighty dollar instead of the well fare of an animal.
Everyone have a great night. Exercise, drink and be merry,
Debbie

Hi all,

I haven't posted in a while, and was actually doing ok, but today I was hit by the "I really don't want to do anything and you can't make me" along with "congrats,today is binge day". So I did both...nothing and ate everything. I was still craving everything, so we went and bought a chocolate cake and I ate a lot. But I am done now, and tomorrow will be better. I promise...you and me.

That's it from me for now.

Angie

Today has been a ketchup day. I have wanted it on everything. Went to the doctor yesterday. He decided to talk to my doctor before I went in there eventhough I told him not too. I felt ambushed. I was so mad, and I had a proper Southern hissy fit. Wow it felt great. He made up by bringing me a small almond tart from the Portuguese bakery. I punished him by eating it with ketchup on it. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and with ketchup. The look on his face let me know that he had suffered enough for his indiscretion. I got my alligator ordered. It will be here Friday. I think it will fit in the bath tub. Gosh, I hope they cork the teeth before they load it up in my friend's trunk. He's going to pick it up for me on his way home from work.

Well Catherine, an alligator in the bath, you MUST take pictures, my boys will be dumbfounded! lol How many people are coming to eat as a WHOLE alligator sounds an awful lot!? I hope your tummy settles down soon, I used to want chocolate & gained around a 100lbs. I'm sure you don't want that to happen, ginger, either in cookies, tea or added powdered to warm water really helps.xxxxxxx
Xena, I'm glad you're back, I was about to pm you to check you were ok! You & Nancy blow me away being mathematically minded, ok I can spell & stuff but numbers really throw me. Great you have good teachers this time! How long should it be before you get your masters?xxxxxx
GG/carol Wow! love the avatar, it's great to put faces to names, especially when they're so pretty! DITTO FOR COLNEENxxxxxxx
I'm struggling a bit, getting bored with the same foods so anyone on South Beach got suggestions on dinners, lunches & breakfasts that DON'T FEATURE EGGS would be welcome!xxxxxxxx
I have to go & tidy up etc, hugs to everyone! Annie I can't wait til you get to 200& something, only a couple of days to being weighed now? Sorry about your step-mother's funeral, I could imagine you shame & embarassment.xxxxx My cousns attended my granfather's funeral wearing jeans, trainers & sunglasses, I felt like kicking them! They had no excuse except for their ignorance & lack of respect, this is the UK, sunglasses are only worn for about 3 weeks each year if we're lucky, & NEVER to funerals unless you're famous.Sorry, had to have a rant, they drive me crazy, lol. Still I'm crossing my fingers for you, not that you need it.xxxxxx
gotta go, housework calls....No luck with job hunting but I start the creative writing course on Tuersday.
xxxxsharon
ps Debbie I hope your dog gets the right medicine, your new vet sounds horrible!xxxxx

Hello Ladies!!!

I haven't posted in awhile due to the stress of holidays, working overtime, finishing the semester at school and now gearing up for another, along with a little case of the blues.

I hope everyone is doing well this morning!
I really love reading everyone's posts. The support is so great.

Anyway, wanted to wave to everyone and say HELLO!!!

Cheers
Meg

I just have to jump on to say:
Catherine: Um, when you said you were ordering alligator, I thought you meant a few lbs, nicely cleaned and filleted...not a WHOLE ONE!!! My dad and husband had some at a chinese buffet once, but I didn't know you had to order it whole!! And to keep it in the tub...oh my gosh, you totally crack me up!!! I hope you feel better and save the ketchup for a burger instead of pastry. I don't know what was worse, the jam on the potatoes, or that!! At least this time it's not dirt!!! (oh, and when I was feeling nauseous, lemon drops helped me)

Good morning everyone!!

Not much going on here. Still cleaning my upstairs level of the house. Doing some laundry and having my Coffee. The sun is shining today. Its going to be a good day

Catherine~ I too want to see pictures

Be strong Girls.... the weekend is almost over!