300+ Weekly Thread #1165
 

Battle-Thanks for the kind words and my head knows this....my emotions are still trying to catch up with my brain.

Luan-Sounds like a lot of fun!

Penny-GREAT JOB!!! On the weight loss!!!

Tricia-Thanks for the info on contacts....yeah I just saw a commercial for bausch & laum having bifocal contacts......I know right now I can only wear Toric contacts due to astigmatism.....but maybe when I go in today I can find a different one!! I will definitely have to tell my son about 1800contacts because he is officially too old for my insurance after this year......I am having him get 1yrs worth of contacts and a new pair of glasses so he is covered for awhile....but after that seems he should use that way of getting his contacts! Thanks!

JuliaH-I want some strawberry jam!!! LOL good job on making it!!! I made raspberry jam once......wasn’t SF but was good......and it was gone really quickly! LOL

Anne-Glad to see you!!! I know what you mean about TBL!!! I have posted my weights only........not going to get over my head in the extras.....but since I’ve been not losing each week feel kinda self concious about my even being in it! Took a freebie week last week with my weight gain.....and will be taking another freebie this week.........if I have to do that again I will drop out as well.....I am hoping I don’t have to do that.....

Julee-Glad you had a great time in Sacramento.....I grew up in CA and never made it there.....Hope your visit with your mom is twofold! Fun visiting and exercise while you two go shopping and walking together!!!

Annie-food wise I am watching what I eat till I over eat what I wanted to! LOL I have increased my vegies which makes me feel fuller faster.........as far as water I haven’t drank even my “normal” amount.........Today is a new day though! Glad you had a good time at the theme park even though you didn’t feel good.....DH wants to take youngest DD to the one close to here next month! I went a few years back and wasn’t even at my heaviest and on some of the rides I was STUFFED in them........I never was too big for them....but I’m afraid I might be now! We will wait and see.



So today is my "NEW" day!!!! I weighed in and didn't lose but didn't gain either!!! so I feel good about that!




my goals for this week are....
1. drink more water
2. eat more vegies than meat on each plate
3. exercise of some sort every day!
4. track everything I eat & all exercise




back to the basics!
Bernice

Good morning all,

It's not gray or rainy - hooray. That doesn't sound like a big deal but it seems like we're having a overall yucky summer. It's either hot and raining or cool and dry. So it is a little cool this morning, but at least the sun is shining a little bit. I've generally switched off my weight training to the mornings now so I can do a little work in the garden in the afternoons (weather permitting).

Annie - sounds like you had a good day at the theme park. I really can't remember the last time I've been to one. I suspect it was in my teens though. Good luck with the interview on Thursday.

Bernice - filling up on veggies is good, but don't skimp on that protein too much. It should keep you from being hungry. The one thing I've dropped almost entirely from my evening meals is potato/rice/pasta. I'll have them maybe once or twice a week (depends on the menu) and even then a small amount. Both the Canadian and American food guide put potatoes and sweet potatoes in the veggie column but I really think they belong with the rice and pasta.

Anyway, that's me for the moment. I'm off to do a few things before I get the weights out. Hope everyone is having a good Monday morning.

In my time of stress this morning (saw a cat get hit by a car... not my cup of tea... was nausiated and cried for two hours) I wanted so badly just to grab a ciggarette (quit for 2 years now) or to get some kind of sugar laden food and just down it, but I didn't. My fiance talked to me for a little while I was still driving... It calmed me down but by the time I got to work I was still an emotional wreck. So far this morning I have only had my protein shake and my fiber lemonade, and I intend to keep it that way.

< /stress >

Naytally - So sorry you had such a disturbing start to your day. I'm an animal lover since childhood and can well understand the stress of having to see such a horrible thing happen. I'm so proud of you for handling the stress and remembering your goal. I usually short-circuit and segway straight to something totally off limits. Try to relax and take a few deep breaths to help clear your mind. I'm learning that this really does help to recenter myself.

Hi

we have a beautiful day here in KY. Its only suppost to hit 80 today. I spent a while this morning in the garden. Squash is growing fast and needs picking daily. I will be having to share with the neighborhood by the end of the week at this rate.I love it and eat it daily but you can only eat so much.No real room to freeze much.
My youngest just had a friend she graduated with get killed in a car wreck on sat please pray for the family of this young boy. HE was the 1st in her class to die. Its unusual to make it thru high school with everyone still alive in our area. Seems like a wreck takes someone every year.

dmpls_ glad to see your back at it in full force. Eating veggies will be pretty easy right now with all the fresh ones . I increasaed my water 2 weeks ago up to a gallon a day and I sure love it. It really keeps me full.

anne- enjoy your day in the garden..and weight training.I have laid off the weights for the summer months but will start back up in the fall.

mimz-natally- glad you are getting stronger and not turning to food. Its a big accomplishment. sorry you had to witness something so horrible!

annie_ hope your feeling better today.

julees _ glad you had a good trip.

julia_ the jam sounds wonderful!!

debi

G'afternoon all,

The water sprite didn't entirely leave this weekend and I woke up to my potty continually flushing itself (no, my house isn't haunted.. hehe). The ball that floats detached itself and was floating free in the tank. Just another run to Home Depot. All is fixed.

My parents are coming to visit over July 4th weekend. My house isn't NEAR ready. I wish I could kidnap Annie (btw, I hope you are feeling better) cuz it sounds like she keeps her house ship shape :)

Hugs and luv to all!
Ratkity

Annie, thanks for telling me about your goal weight. I set mine at 200 because I can actually remember when I was around that weight and felt pretty good. So I'm shooting for that to see how I look and feel and like you, the skin issues, and take it from there. I know I'll want to lose more, but for now, it's just something that I feel is doable for me right now. I'm almost afraid of the 100's
Hope you feel better soon. The water park sounds like so much fun, but I'm too self concious about my legs so I don't wear shorts except in the house. I carry most of my weight in my hips and legs. One of my legs is even bigger than the other right above the knee, it's like a flap of fat.
Good luck on your interview. I'm sending waves of good vibes over the mountains to you!

Penny, 5lb loss!!!! That's really good! Keep it up.

Battleax, good to see ya!!

Anne, good to see you too!

Bernice, try to hang in there on the BLC. I quit and now I sorta regret it. I'm so glad to hear that you've gotten yourself back on track and have set a goal for yourself for the week. I know you can do it!

Naytally, oooooo so sorry you had to see that. It certainly would of ruined my morning too. Try to get involved in something to occupy your mind and hopefully the vision of that will fade away. Great NSV though with not going overboard on food!

Debi, that's so great that soon you can share your bounty from the garden. Mine is growing so sloooow. I need to get out there and weed it! I think mine just seems slow because I only got it in the ground over a month ago. It was a late planting this year due to all the rain. I put slug poison around it and I think that is even keeping the bunnies out of there.

Ratkity, :wave: You can't take Annie, I need her here !!

We went out to weedeat a couple of nights ago, I got eaten alive my mosquitoes. And they bites are all in places I can't reach!! So I'm one itchy lady. Today or tomorrow we are having another load of gravel coming in for the road. All the weeds grow up thru it and it looks awful, so Mom sprayed the road with weedkiller and now we'll just cover them. Hopefully they will stay dead. We also want to get the deck powerwashed and then painted this weekend. All this sprucing up but it sure looks so much better when it's done. I started cleaning the mini blinds too which makes a big improvement. I love it when the house and yards look nice.
Hope everyone is having a great day. Keep staying OP, drinking that water, and moving those bods!
Debbie

Bernice: Great job on not gaining. You are right, today is a brand new day and you can do better then you did yesterday even a tiny bit and each day do a bit better than the day before. I think your goals are great!

Anne: I'm glad it is a nice day weather wise. I hope you are able to enjoy it and swim or do something outdoors that you enjoy.

Nayt: So sorry that you saw a kitty get killed. I know that is such an awful feeling when you are an animal lover. I adore animals and hate to see them die or laying on the road. Hugs to you. Good job not going to smoke or eat something you shouldn't have. You have such a wonderful reason to want to get healthy , getting married next year. Just think of that everytime you want to do anything damaging to your body. Hugs.

Debi: So sorry about your daughter's friend. I will pray for the family. So sad.

Rat: LOL. I have a touch of OCD. Seriously. My sisters make fun of me for my cupboards and stuff. They call me "sleeping with the enemy" although I don't think I am that bad. lol. I for sure wouldn't hurt someone for not putting things back where they go. I do have to keep things straight in the cupboards and occasionally I go and pull everything out of the pantry to wipe it down in there and reorganize it. lol. Luckily my DH is pretty used to it and keeps things clean too. I have to say though, if you came into my house today there is enough dog hair floating around the hardwood floors to build a puppy. My dogs are both 1/2 lab and 1/2 golden retrievers and they are shedding like crazy plus they just had a bath on Saturday which loosened up the hair. lol. I need to get the vacuum out and brush the heck out of them. Hope you have fun with your parents.

Debbie: I thought I would be so uncomfortable showing my arms especially. My shorts when almost to my knees so that was okay but my arms really look awful if I lift them up at all. I just tried to focus on that fact that I deserve to have fun too. I deserve to be there just as much as some of them. So, I was okay and always enjoy the water. I want to do my deck like that too and paint it. My dogs are sliding on it a lot because the paint is kind of warn away. lol.

Well, I am so excited guys. I weighed this morning for the "Biggest Winner" Challenge and low and behold, I am down to 255! I have lost 1/2 of my fomer self exactly. 50% of me is gone forever! I can barely fathom that I have lost 255 pounds. I think I am so excited because once I get out of the 250's I will be closer finally to the 100's than the 300's.

Thanks for all of your support and pushes along the way.

Blessings all,
Annie

Thank you to everyone for your support... It means a lot to me. I have been finding things to get it out of my mind, and right now I'm planning out my menu for the week (which can be tedious because I have to have exact ammounts of fiber/protein, haha)

I appreciate all of the support!

Annie -- :woohoo: 1/2 of you GONE!!!!!!! How awesome is THAT!!!!!!

Good afternoon all,

Just sneaking a few minutes before lunch to drop in and catch up on the morning's posts. It's actually a sunny day here today (although not too hot) so I'm going to spend most of it outside after I'd had my lunch.

Naytally - I'd probably have a huge problem with what you saw this morning. It's great that you didn't turn to food or cigarettes to deal with your emotions. This is something I've never really done (emotional eating) however, I do know that if that's a problem for you it has to be dealt with. Life always throws things at us, so congrats on finding a better way of dealing with it. Oh, and on the planning, it's sitting down each night and planning what I'm going to eat the next day that I believe is the biggest part of my success.

Debi - you're just a couple of weeks ahead of us I think. We'll see how long the zucchini takes to grow to picking size. I picked a fair number of cherries on Sunday, mainly to keep them from the birds and squirrels. I was going to leave them for another week until I found two squirrels trying to break off one of the branches over the weekend. I'm sorry for your daughter's loss. I know even when I was in school we had a few deaths (although nobody I was close to). I suspect it's because as teenagers we think we're invincible.

Ratkitten - I'm not a housework person myself. In fact, I really quite hate it. I can ignore dust. :)

Debbie - funny how we all forget about the mosquitos and bugs when we're longing for summer, isn't it? Sounds like you have lots of projects though keeping you busy.

Annie - wow, that's an amazing milestone. And just think, having lost 255 pounds you have such a small amount to go! :)

Well ladies, it's almost 2pm so I should go off and make my lunch. Then there's my chores and such to do. Hope everyone is having a good day.

Anne - love your new avatar - what a difference.

Annie - another milestone - I'm so proud of you.

Hugs to all,
Carol

Carol - thanks - it's the only place I really see much of a change. I added it to my blog's picture page and I do see the changes. I finally see a little bit of change on the body shots (not posted) but mainly from the highest weight shots I took (368), not from the ones I took at 322 or even 300. I know that they are there, I just don't see them. :)

Hi all!

Annie~Not sure about hot tamales, but I know you can fry an egg on the sidewalk. You can also fry bugs with a magnifying glass! (lol..don't do either one of those anymore, but it is possible! :mag:) The themepark sounds like a blast..I love that kind of stuff! And the dog hair...lol...I used to actually vacuum my German Shepherd...just skipped the brushing altogether..lol!

Julia~Sounds sooo yummy! I loooove strawberry-rhubarb pie, but it's pretty hard to find here! YUM!

Bernice~Glad to help...and by the way, I'm going back to basics with you! So, let's get movin'! :kickbutt:

Naytally~So sad for kitty...glad you hung on!

Debi~Prayers for the boys' family. Very sad. My 1st experience was in the 1st grade-Tom Fite got hit by a car right in front of the fire station. (I can't believe I still remember his name..wow) Then, we had at least one practically every yr from 6th to 12th grade. It never got any easier. Prayers for the kids too...having to deal with death and loss. :cry:

Debbie~Hey, I have one leg bigger too...my left leg. I thought I was the only one! I don't remember it being so prominent when I was younger, so I think mine is cuz of a sprain like 12 yrs ago...you know, those suckers never get any better...almost better off breaking the darn thing!! lol

Anne~I hate to dust too! Especially since it's usually back the next day..lol! I too just ignore it and hope it goes away on its own (he he)!

Ratkity~Don't like to dust, but I do vacuum...

Well, had salad for breakfast...it was almost 11am. Got a late start today. Going to ride the bike now. Have a great day all!
Take care
Tricia

ok so I went to the eye doctor and asked his professional opinion about my eyeballs loosing weight and he got a good chuckle out of that! LOL but he did say that my eye could of had more of a curve in the astigmatism from my dieting....so technically I didn't lose weight in my eyeball but it did change a bit LOL so I was kinda right LOL

He gave me one contact for near seeing and my old prescription is still good for my other eye........the right eye is the one that wiggled around on my eyeball alot.....and that just so happens to be the one he is giving me a new prescription for.....its amazing how now I can read as well as see far away!!! Just kinda makes my stomach a bit queezy LOL Like the first time I had bifocals when I'm walking the ground looks odd.....he said that should all settle down within the week and if not we will try another version of this new contact. I got a new pair of glasses as well......thank goodness for my flexspend acct!!! LOL we primarily use it for glasses/contacts and dental so it comes in handy!!! As soon as I pickup my glasses I will snap a pic so you all can see them!

Today's food choices were great so far! for breakfast Go Lean Crunch cereal with 2% milk(have a hard time with skim) for lunch DD & I went to ChickFilA I had a grilled wrap and fruit cup instead of fries!!! (YEAH me!!!) After this past couple of weeks choices that was a huge thing!!! LOL

Still need to workout but will get that done in a little bit!!! I feel good about my plans and I know that has a lot to do with my WI's LOL

Annie!!!!! WOW!!!! that is SO AWESOME!!! I'm so proud of you!!! I know if I get down to where I would like to be...I will be at 50% of me as well!!! I know I can get there eventually!!!

Debi-Wish I was your neighbor!!! Would love some of your garden harvests!!!

Naytally-Sorry to hear you having to see that today! That's horrible.....glad you made good choices though instead of going to cigs or food! that is a great NSV!!!

RealCdn- I never knew emotional eating was a problem until I started keeping track of my moods and what I eat with fitdaypc... This morning I really just wanted to grab something, but instead of grabbing something bad, I just drank my water (which was hard enough to stomach, given what I had just seen) and tried to continue on to work.

I love planning my meals... Its so fun for me to do calculations and figuring it out and what i find at the end of the day is I'm actually full and I havent even met the calories I had alloted myself for the day.

OMG...Annie...I almost forgot...congrats on hitting your goal! That is sooo awesome! I can't wait to get there myself! Are you going to celebrate? I think you should...go get some nice pics done or something...or go on a shopping spree (accessories mostly since your still going strong!) I am soo proud and yes, jealous!
:cheer2::congrat::cheer2:

Tricia

missed a couple

Anne great pics!!! Yes there is a great difference from your before and now....but I see the difference in your neck between the last three....each one you can see your neck shrinking!!! that's awesome! My youngest DD looked at them and said your eyes stand out more now too! Not just because of the different glasses either! She was majorly impressed with your faceshots!

Tricia-Sounds good girlfriend!!! Lets get with it!!!!

Greetings again everybody :)

Well, my days at work just got a bit busier. A big project with an impossible deadline has been mandated and I'm assigned to it.

Nay, hugs to you for what you witnessed. I know the sick feeling you get and have witnessed both a kitty and a puppy getting hit at different times. The feelings were the same.. yuk.

Debbie, who'd have thunk that slug poison keeps bunnies away too? Maybe the bunnies are full? The real reason is they are prolly out telling their friends to come visit or making MORE bunnies.. EEP! I *always* get eaten by mosquitos. The horrible thing is that it takes 3 days for the bumps to get big and irritable (has to do with an allergy to the bites). When I was weedeating this weekend, the sweat flies were biting me hard. Grrr. You are cleaning mini blinds? Pffft, you don't need Annie, you got it all covered (Note to self, check the dust on the miniblinds).

Annie, you are too funny about your cupboards! I have 2 golden retrievers and know about retriever hair.. it goes everywhere!! I have wood floors, so it floats along like it's alive. CongoRat Dancing at being half the woman you used to be! Of course, inside, you are more complete than you were at twice the size (did that make sense?). You have overcome obstacles and continue to grow in ways that make me proud to know you. Your pictures are AWESOME btw. Wow, just wow. *hugs*

Anne, it's good to see you here and posting. I missed ya, but it's always good to regroup. My cherries were long gone here before I could pick them. I have 2 trees that had fruit for the first time this year. Next year, I vow to spray more and cover limbs more.

Hiya Shic! A salad for breakfast.. um.. not sure if I could do that first thing after waking up. I hate veggies, but have created a truce between them and me. I know they are good for me and I'm trying more and more to make healthy choices. Stay cool there!

DMPLS, the eye doc is the next thing on the list of stuff to do. I need my contacts changed cuz it's hard to read my odometer when I'm riding my bicycle.. hehe. When it's cooler, I can ride with my glasses, but this hot weather has me sweating buckets! I wear a tie around moisture-wicking headband that helps some.

Debi, sorry to hear about the boy's family. It's always very sad. Regarding veggies....I wish I was your neighbor too! Squash is one of my most tolerated veggies and I can say I like it above most other veggies.

Julia, I want some strawberry jam too! I tried to encourage my overworked little sister to make me some, but she was stressed and couldn't get to it this year. I've been buying homemade stuff at the farmer's market this year. I love a teaspoon of it in cottage cheese.

Julee, glad you had a good trip! I can't believe the temps in CA.

Mizm, how are you today?

Catherine, I'm glad you got home safely and I'm hoping the edema is lessening. I've sent my check in for a book and am waiting! I'm also excited about your upcoming murder mystery as well. You'll probably work on Himself's compliation of speeches first, but I can still hope you'll get to work on the mystery as well. Just FYI, compliments are hard for me to take as well. I like to do stuff anonymously and take satisfaction of doing a good job. You deserve all the compliments and one day, your brain will believe that concept too!

Battle, I'm here with ya as you baby step and/or maintain balance. You were there when I was having a rough time this past winter. It's good to see you post, even if it's just a flyby to say hello!

Speaking of Flybys.. ProfHeather, I like your flyby posts too!

Hugs to all of you and my lurking peeps,

Ratkity

Taking a break from cleaning the house. lol. It is so hot today and we have no air condit. So, the house is closed up with fans going in every room. Well, the rooms I am in. I so far have done the spare room and the master bedroom along with doing laundry. I am shooting for getting the whole shabang done tonight when it cools down but wanted to get a jump on some things.

Heather: I know right!

Anne: Glad you are having a nice day.

Carol: Thanks :)

Tricia: Thanks. I thought about vacuuming them or even giving them another bath both to get rid of some of the hair and to cool them down with.

Bernice: Alas. I still have so much more to go before I am close to my goal weight. I can't wait to see the new glasses.

Rat: I have wood floors too and it does tuble and roll about making you see a well, rat or mouse, lol in the corner of your eye. lol.

Okay ladies, back to the grind. I want to get this whole place dusted by 3 p.m. and still have 3 rooms to go.

Blessings all,
annie

It warmed up here to almost 90F. I had to open the windows and turn a fan on. The polar bear I'm married to has melted down to the point he can't speak in complete sentences. I've been freezing wet wash rags for him. My thyroid is too messed up to notice it's hot.

I've spent half the day in the bathroom, so my legs are finally getting back to size. Diuretics are a great invention. There has been many calls about how big my feet still are. We have a football game on Thursday, and they don't care if I have to sit with my feet up, as long as I'm there to direct traffic in the kitchen. Kind of Patton sitting on top of a tank directing the war. I wonder where I could buy one of those riding crops to slap on the side of my leg?

Russian Demantoid
 

Hi all,

Haven't posted much lately. I feel like I should, and yet honestly I don't really feel part of the group. Not really feeling poor me, just stating a fact. :)

I need help! Allow me to start with an explanation. My DH and I met on the internet about....wow, I guess about 10 years ago. Anyway, we used to watch DSN (Direct Shopping Network) "together"...3000 miles apart. It was always late at night, and therefore it was really hideous jewelry. He moved across the country to be with me in 2001, and then we watched it together while going to bed. We still do watch it, to this day (well, unless there is something else going on in bed :o ). Strangely, he really LOVES the mafia looking rings with Russian Demantoid (green garnet) stones. Since we are in bed, it's kind of hard to sneak off and buy one, and they seem to be on rarely anyway. Our 5 yr wedding anniversary is coming up in October and I really want to find him one. I have been searching the net, and definitely find quite a few loose demantoids, but no mens rings (he prefers mafia looking white gold). So....any ideas? I keep thinking of buying a loose gem, and then bringing it to a jeweler to make into the ring I want. Is this doable?Would I need to talk to a jeweler first? Any ideas?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Angie

Hi Angie!

We have a friend of the family that happens to be a jeweler. They are very talented little buggers..lol! We took him an octagon-like shaped amethyst (my birthstone) and asked him to make some suggestions for settings. He drew a few on paper and I made a little change to the one I wanted and he did it. If you can find someone that you actually trust to do it exactly how you want it, without cheating you, I think it's a great idea! Good luck...and oh, nice to meet you. I came while you were gone (or lurking..lol)!
Tricia

Hi All,

Survived another weekend of camping...... I feel like dancing passed out cake to 250 campers ....And was not tempted to have any!! Brought the left overs to my trailer for crib the next day ...And ignored it!!Yipppeee
Anne wow I am so proud of you your an inspiration to me!! Keep going!!I know you can do it!!

Just a quick post. I'm at school and the siren just went for the starf of the school day.

My choir got their photo in the school newsletter and it is now up on the school's website. I've made the link to the newsletter page, and you just have to click on "Current Newsletter". The pic (just a little one) is on the third page of the newsletter. I think they look very smart in their choir uniforms.

You may also want to have a look around the school site, but I'm not sure how interesting that would be for you.

Here's the link, for those who are interested:

My School Newsletter

Hello again!

Zelma, that's a really neat newsletter. We never had stuff like that when I was in school. Very nice pics...the kids look so well behaved. Thank you for sharing.

Angel, good for you not snacking on all the crap that the kids eat! I'm proud of you, keep it up girl!!!!

Well, I'm off to check on my client's dog....just thought I would pop in and say hi and see what's going on! Y'all have a great nite!
Take care!
Tricia

Good Morning,

Not much going on here. Trying to keep the garden picked which is keeping me busy. Tomatoes are finally turning orange...a few more days should have the 1st one ripe!! I have eaten so many green ones hubby is joking that we need to plant more next year so i can eat all the green ones i want without worry about them never getting ripe. Picked 2 bell peppers today and saw 5 melons on the vines. I am leaving all the squash till tommorow and let it grow a little bit bigger. I love gardens!! I dont have to worry about weeding now...the plants are so big now they have all grown together and no weeds can come up.LOL
Im heading out for my walk early today as i will be working on potty training again today with the boys. M&Ms are the reward for going to the potty. Now if i can stay out of them!! These kids dont get candy so the M&Ms are a really big treat for them!!
Have a great day
debi

G'morning my Chickies!

I pried the money out of my wallet and broke down to buy a Wii Fit. It is so much fun! My evening bicycle rides (I'm still commuting to work) have been postponed because of evening t-storms. Having something else to occupy my widdle mind and large jello body has me excited (hehe).

Annie, I hope you got all your rooms dusted. Don't over do it if you are still feeling icky!

Catherine, poor Himself. He's melting away. My thyroid makes me hot and cold intolerant, but it's my iron and B12 levels are what make me cold when everyone else is melting. I'm not sure if you take a multivitamin with iron, but it might be worth investigating..especially considering how you've had to do some major healing over the winter. I think an Indiana whip would be more threatening at the football game. Imagine your reach!! Think of the drunks who can't feel the frozen hotdogs pelted at their heads.. they'd feel the bite of the whip on their behinds, right??

Realist, I agree about finding a good jeweler. There are many talented ones out there. Just another idea, I bet there are great rings on eBay as well. Make sure you buy from a powerseller with a good rating :) I'm sorry you aren't feeling part of us here... posting more to let us know what's up with you perhaps? You might be extreemly busy though. Never worry about personals, ok?

Yay Angels for not wanting cake!! Camping always makes me retain water because of the heat. Doesn't seem to matter how much I drink either. Do you find that happens to you?

Zelma, what a sweet group of kiddos!! That's a very nice newsletter.

Shic, *wavies* have a great day and hugs to the puppy!

Debi, yah00 for your wonderful garden. You are too funny about the green tomatoes. Thinking about those makes my tummy turn, however. Not my veggie of choice, but the squash is!! I also like sauteed green pepper and onions. Have a great walk and try not to be tempted by the M&Ms!

Hugs and Luv to all,

Ratkitten

How is this for an NSV - I can now sit in the tub and not have the water plugged behind me my hips are now small enough for the water to drain properly and not have me as the fleshy dam

julia_ GREAT NSV!!! I can so relate to that one!!!

I am still waiting for my little guy to get here. I cant really start on anything for fear of his getting here in the middle of it and my not being able to finish it. I have been watering my flowers and working on laundry. Daughter hasnt even began to unpack from her trip so looks like I will be doing that for her on thursday. I cant stand looking at it any longer!!
Looks like we have another nice day here.........mid 80s no humidy!
I may try and spend a part of it outside and enjoy the weather while it lasts.
I am still in shock that this is JULY!!! Dang at this rate it will be time to put up the christmas tree soon!! I can say I have bought a few little gifts for christmas. Yes I am one of those early shoppers.........cant stand waiting till the last min and this year I am not buying alot of anything!! I mean the kids may get gas cards...at this rate that seems to be what everyone needs most!!
debi

Julia - wow that is awesome - I can't wait for that one as I love a bath.

Debi - I'm jealous - my zucchini aren't even blooming yet but there are plenty in the farmers market. We had our first cherry tomatoe ripen on Sunday - our grandson was here so he picked it while we were watering - we rinsed it off and he popped it in his mouth. He wanted another so he picked a green one - we rinsed it off and in his mouth it went too - more, more, more. We stopped him at the one green one. His folks don't grow things so he is very inquisitive at 3.

I released one pound this week which thrills me, especially after the big loss last week. The next two weeks will be very socially challenging for me on the food front - I've got a plan in place so now its all about the execution of it. I'm also off until next Monday which can present its own set of challenges for me - the lack of routine can derail me so tunnel vision for me.

As I totaled my exercise minutes for June I was shocked - only 792 when last month was a bit over 1200. I felt like I had been very active - maybe it's just the summer lifestyle but I need to concentrate more - I'm considering tracking miles rather than minutes or possibly both and converting. With the 5k this week and trying to do one each day that would be a nice jumpstart - see how far I can go mile wise.

Annie - did I miss something or were you off yesterday? Did you give up the collections position?

Angie - always great to see you - sorry I don't have any jewelry knowledge to share but it sounds like you've got some great advice. Post when you can - you've been so much support to me over the past months for me and I thank you for that.

Rat - are your parents coming to see you or your clean house? Yeah - I know - I'm the same way and I hate that I put it off until company is coming.

Move your bodies, drink your water and SMILE.

Carol

Good Morning Chicks!
Well, we are hopefully going to leave this afternoon sometime for our vacation. I just was trying to add some pictures to update but still can't get it. So I will have to ask the computer hubby to help as he is the "know all" when it is technical stuff. I am so stupid on this thing. So anyway I just wanted to say thanks for the yeahs on the loss this week. It has been a long couple of months to start losing again. I just hope it continues. Going to try and get a lot of exercise in while camping. We are all in to the biking. Hubby hasn't been doing to good on food lately but did lose this week bringing his total loss to date since start end of December to 134 lbs.! I am so proud of him, and he looks hot too!!! Still a long way to go but we are trying to do this together. He actually tried on a pair of jeans that he wore and were very tight when he started this lifestyle change. I was so excited to see the difference that I yelled downstairs to the girls to come up and bring my camera. Then they were saying how our 9 year old is 91 lbs., I bet she could fit them with him. So guess what? Yep, she had to step in too. It is so unbelievable. I wanted to post pics so as soon as I figure it out I will. For now I just put one of him on to my profile page so I hope you can bring it up. I told him I couldn't wait until we could both fit into his pants!!! So you know where that took us . . . . Anyway, I will try and use the hubbys laptop when we are out to check in. But I will try and check in and do some personals before we leave. Thanks everyone, Penny

(just click on my picture and it should take you to my profile page to see his picture) should?

Zelma—Your choir looks great! It’s a very smart write-up on the event too. You should be very proud!

Ratkitten—Hooray on getting the Wii Fit!! Isn’t is fun? I’m still so amazed with it. I hear lots of people badmouthing it, but it’s exercise I actually LIKE to do. Now that and my treadmill, I’ll never have to join a gym again…not that I ever went when I DID belong to my gym.

Julia—OMG, I can’t wait for that little bathtub victory. That really bothers me, and always has. Gee I never talked about it before! Congrats congrats!

I’m at work, which isn’t going well. I’m trying to look busy! It is such a nice day here in Toledo today I brought my camera and took a few pictures. I will put them up tonight on my smugmug account so everyone can see them. I am proud that I can now walk allll the way in from the parking lot (which is like a million miles away) and not get all sweaty, even on the steps! So it is nice not arriving to work having already messed up everything I did to get ready for work that morning.

I’ve lapsed a little on working out and I am dedicating myself to getting back on track today. When I go home, I am going to do my belly dancing video and I think I will break out my sauna suit again too! I know the sauna suit is dangerous, but afterwards, I feel like I have gone through a whole body cleanse. My skin is smooth and I feel lighter and just better!

I did have to go buy new pants the other day…not because the other one’s were loose, because they were worn out.  BUT I discovered the new Lane Bryant sizing system, and I got some pants that fit me better than any pair of jeans ever! I was glad I took my skinny little sister shopping with me. She has never made me feel like less of a person for being overweight (no one in my family ever has really—not on purpose) but she does complain about her own weight quite a bit to me which is rather irksome.

While we were in the store, the ladies who worked there helped me measure my waist and determine my size and shape and then had me come out of the dressing room to show them. We laughed and the sales girl who was about my size confessed she used to wear boys jeans all through her high school career. Which is exactly what I did! Mostly because I would shop in the same store as my sisters if I did that, because clothing stores didn’t carry youthful big women’s clothing but they did carry youthful big men’s clothing. So we bonded on that point.

While I was in there, a woman in the dressing room next to me began to almost cry, because she hadn’t bought pants in a store in five years, and the size she had on was too big and she couldn’t believe that a store, in the mall, would have pants too big for her. I was very very happy for her.

Anyhow, my point is, my little sister was jealous that I could go into a store and talk to the employees and have them respect me and talk back to me in a friendly way. I guess she never gets that treatment in the skinny stores she frequents. So I am infinitely amazed and grateful for the camaraderie that my size can create at times, in those select few places on this planet…one of those places being here.

End of story. Hope everyone is doing well this week, and happy July everyone—I wish Christmas wasn’t for another 40 months!

Dusty

Carol-congrats on losing! I understand your problem with being off of the daily routine. Nothing is more powerful for me than not having obligations! Sometimes I think that if my job was something like the biggest loser, where I had to lose wieght on TV, I would be able to do it! I wish I could be as dependible for myself as I am for my boss!

Dusty

Penny - what a great pic of DH - 134 pounds since December - wow - is he doing it in a healthy fashion? Also - where did you find the pb2?

Have a great time camping.

Debi, sounds like the garden is really producing!! How big is yours? It sounds like hubby has the right idea on the tomatos. :rofl:
Have a nice walk and good luck with the little kidlets and potty training.
I think now you could buy a gallon of milk to put under the tree with the gas cards. It's going up too!

Annie, YEAH for being only half of you now. Aren't you glad you lost that other half a person?

Ratkity, I retain tons of water with the heat too. Let's just slosh around together. Enjoy the Wii Fit. Sounds like lots of fun.

Julia, that's a Huge NSV in my book!!! :woohoo:

Carol, Yeehaw!!! for the 1lb gone this week! You're doin' great.

Penny, tell your hubby :congrat: ! He's doing so well, are so are you! His pic is pretty amazing! He even looks like he can't believe it in the pic. Have fun camping and can't wait to see the pics of you too.

Dusty, sounds like a great NSV!! I do think that people our size really bond. No one really wants to talk to us about it except in the negative. I can totally relate to the lady that was crying because the clothes she was trying on were too big. Good for her!

Today's my doc appt and I'm making Jim go with me. He's been sick for the last week and has a terrible cold, so I'm hoping the doc will work him in. I'm going to call and see if I can bring him or just him take my appt since mines just a checkup.
The weather is finally cloudy and only suppose to get into the low 80s, so hopefully we can get some yardwork done. It's getting mighty long out there.
Other than that, still on track and drinking even more water due to water retaining.
Have a great day!
Debbie

Here are te pictures of my campus today for those who are interested.

http://youwin67.smugmug.com/gallery/...23627536_niPhv

Dusty

I'm sitting in the Safeway using their free wireless because our internet went down today. Isn't the cable because that would have knocked our digital phone out too. After an hour on the phone with the technician, plugging and unplugging, turning this on than that, it still isn't working. Today is a holiday here in Canada, so no service call until tomorrow. Having trouble with the computer is so frustrating.

Dusty - what a beautiful walk you enjoyed.