julee - i liked the gazelle. its easy enough, i just never have time. i have to force myself into the gym. i know ammi had real success with it.

annie - i formatted my computer and lost most everything email related. send me your email address again, please?

rat, catherine, sharon, and everyone else who commented on my boy issue. thanks. its not easy. but i think the best thing for right now is to just let it go. we're still friends. we always have been, but i dont think i want to be right now. i cant go hang out and have coffee and know that in a few hours hes gonna go spend the night with someone else. i just cant deal with it.

oh well. off to the dr's to see if i lost any weight at all.

:wave:Battle:woohoo:

Catherine - I like carving and ultimate too!

Rat - you crack me up.

Hiya Battle - nice to see you! Six days - nice job.

Bumblebee: Huge welcome to you! Jump in whenever you feel like it. Most important is don't let being overwhelmed by all of our chatter keep you away! No pressure to comment on anything or everything. Glad you are here.

Debbie: I love your focus!

Penny: Hi

Julee: I hope you enjoy the concert. I love the gazelle. I got one and stupidly let my dh talk me into getting rid of it because, 1. I was too heavy for it at the time and 2. not much room for it. I am kicking myself now and wish I never got rid of it.

Sharon: Hope Steve feels better very soon. I think that there is probably someone in each of our lives that we allowed to treat us like crap because of self esteem or body issues. I myself have one that sounds similar to what you were saying.

Catherine: I didn't realize that "Himself" would be gone so long!!! Yikes I would be going nuts without my dh that long. lol. Hugs to you on that.

Battle: wooo hoo on your 6 days back op. Way to go.

Carol: Smile and drink and move. lol. Hugs.

I finally am having TOM and my back is killing me. I just feel all bloaty and blah. I think I will not have the get up to exercise. I am debating a bike ride before it gets too hot. Maybe I'll feel like it more this evening.

I am going to a gourmet party tonight. I don't know the name of the company but it is a cooking type party that sells spices and dips etc. She said there will be lots of tasting going on. Hopefully not for me. lol. I have had a protein shake so far this morning and am planning on getting a 32 oz. glass of decaff iced tea to drink in a minute. I am having a don't feel like eating day today and nothing sounds/ looks good except soup. I may go buy some at the deli later. If I am going to have soup I want the kind I want. I can't eat a whole bowl of it or even a cup at once but I can eat a tiny bit here and there throughout the day.

I straightened my hair yesterday for my job interview and then went and saw a friend in Coeur d alene that is right above my old work and so I stopped in there to say hi and I got sooo many compliments on my "look". I went to group therapy last night and had much more of the same. Everyone thought I had gotten a cool new hair cut. Nope, just straightened it out and that is it. Maybe because I am getting tan or something. I was amazing how many people said I look pretty. It makes me a bit uncomfortable because I don't feel pretty and I always feel like they are just saying that to try to make me feel good. I'm sure you guys can relate. I had one lady whisper in my ear, "You really don't know how beautiful you are do you". I just kind of said thanks and giggled. What does one say to that and, how do you handle it. I am so struggling with this whole "attention" on my looks thing. Help if you can.

I thank you guys so much for all the support and help over the past 3 years that I have been here. I don't know what I would do without you all.

Blessings,
Annie

Hi All,

Just got back from camping ...going back tomorrow.......Love the scale today down another 4/1/2 lbs. I am down 39 lbs so far.....

Battle - Wonderful to see you again. WTG on your 6 days OP and being on track again.

Luann - I think you are right to remove yourself for a while and give yourself time to heal. Wish there was something I could do or say to make the pain better :hug:. Hope your doctor visit goes well.

Annie - Like someone said the other day... Have you looked in a mirror lately?? You are not just pretty, but beautiful, blooming and glowing. Watching you since I joined this sight has been like watching the cocoon become the beautiful butterfly. Graciously accept all compliments and enjoy them, you deserve every one and I believe they are all sincere.

I was at the doctor today too. A few weeks ago I was having stomach pains that just wouldn't go away. Since much of the medication I take can cause stomach and liver problems I thought I'd better go see the doc, who ordered blood tests, ultrasound, etc. Got the results of the tests today and thankfully the news is not as bad as I feared it might be. I have gastritis, which is what was causing the stomach pain. After several weeks now on Prevacid, the symptoms have mostly gone away, but he wants me to keep taking the Prevacid for 3 months to make sure the stomach lining is completely healed. Cholesterol is perfect and sugar and all other blood tests were normal so that was good news. The not so good news is that I have gall stones, but with no thickening of the wall or elevation of white blood cells, it is not an acute problem. Therefore, we decided not to consider removal until either I have released more weight or it becomes acute. I see him every 3 months anyway so he's just going to monitor it for now. He said as long as I didn't eat a lot of fatty or fried foods (which of course I don't anymore) it may not act up at all or at least may be delayed for a long time before it does.

A nice NSV for this doctor visit was my blood pressure. It has been averaging 130 over 85 for the last year. Today it was 117 over 78 :carrot: He is very happy about that and my weight loss.

Rat - Props to you for the term "release" as opposed to lost. The doctor thought that was an original and great idea.

Hope everyone is having a great day!!

Luan...can we talk more about the Gazelle when I get back into town next week? How big is it? Would it fit into my car if the trunk was empty and the seats were all the way down? I am intrigued and tempted...I like the idea of being able to exercise while watching TV in the living room.

smooches to all...

Angels: Congrats on loosing 39 pounds. You are doing so wonderful.

Johnnie: I just realized that your ticker shows a release of almost 100! One more my friend. Excellent job. Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it and will do my best to learn to be gracious and not suspicious of compliments. Sorry you have gall stones but, wonderful news about your blood pressure and other tests! Hugs.

Blessings all,
Annie

Battle-Don't feel bad. I've fallen so many times, and had to dust myself off that my knees are permanently stained.

Annie-I so understand how you are feeling. When people tell me I'm beautiful, I just think they are nuts.

Wow I'm exchausted! Spent 2hrs int the pool with the kids then we did the 20 minute challenge sponsored by the Running/Walking Room. Got free hats and the kids did awesome!

Just a flyby...

Julia, your kiddo in your avatar looks like she's wearing the dog food bag!! hehehehe I had to look closely.

More to come tomorrow!

Luv,
Rat

I'm flying by too - another great water workout tonight - my sister was even invited and I was nice - hehehe.

Johnnie - glad you got good news - you're doing great! One more pound - did you buy your Hermes scarf yet?

Hugs,
Carol

Nah! She was thrilled that she could carry it. Then I explained that it weighed 16.5 lbs and that is how much mommy "released" in TBL challenge. And I am only 3.5 lbs from making two bags in total released since March.

Thank all of you for the warm welcome, hugs, and good wishes. This is such an amazing group - I've been looking at some of your weight loss totals, and I am blown away! All of you are such an inspiration.

I had to go to a funeral today for the mother of a coworker of mine. She passed away suddenly over the weekend. So what else do you do but get in a mood and contemplate life, huh? So I've been filling my husband Roy's ear full of all the things I want in life...wanna lose weight, wanna have a baby (I'll be 35 in Sept, so the biological clock is clanking off the rafters), want my own house, wanna quit corporate America and go paint pictures by the seashore, blah blah blah. Roy patiently listened to me for about and hour, but I think the deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face told me he was done after that. Lol

I thought I would give a shot at a reply to some of these. If I miss anybody, please forgive me. I promise to do better next time. :^:

Penny - thanks for the welcome! I look forward to getting to know you.

JulieCeeS - Hi! Nice to meet you!

Luan - Hello there! I just wanted to say that I can relate to the whole guy thing, as I'm sure most of us here can (remind me to tell you sometime about the guy who tricked me into getting on a big scale in the middle of a steak house. Oh what a good time THAT was not!!). I know it hurts like h***. Remember that the person that comes along for you is going to know you're beatiful, all of you, inside and out. Hang in there.

voodoo1 - Hi! I hope that your significant other is feeling better so that you can get some sleep, bless your heart!

Ratkitten - Thanks so much for the welcome and the hugs! I'll take all of those I can get because let's face it, you can never have too many hugs.

CatherineM - Thanks for the welcome! Yeah, it's a little warm down here. 95 degrees...after the cold front came thru. I think you did move just a little bit north, didn't you? lol Tell you what...I'll send you some of the warm air if you send me some of the cool! lol

BattleAx - Way to go for six days OP!!

Annie - wow, what an inspiration you are!! I know how it feels to not be able to take a compliment. My hubby tells me I'm pretty all the time (God bless him), but I just giggle and shrug him off. Makes him nuts. Maybe people aren't just seeing the new outside of you though, maybe they are seeing more of the inside too. You obviously have a warm heart, and that beauty shines thru no matter what. And judging by your picture, I'd say the outside ain't bad either! Thanks for the welcome!

texarkgal - I'm glad the news wasn't as bad as you expected, and I hope you feel better soon. Congrats on the blood pressure, and your weight loss!

JuliaHood - Kids and the pool will wear you out. Hope you had fun!

Carol - Hi! Nice to meet you!

Well, time for me to sign off. I hope all of you have a wonderful night, and an even better tomorrow!!

Hugs,

M'Chelle aka Bumblebee

Hello ladies!

Just quickly popping on husbands work laptop while he is on the phone.

Im not getting on here much as my laptop is completely broken! Some hardwear needs replacing.

Im still keeping up the diet and feeling very happy to see the scales go down! Im near my first goal of 300lbs too! :carrot:

Keep up the good work ladies! You''re all fantastic! :D