Debbie -- That promo was okay. The rules have softened over time. We don't like a lot of self-promotion, or a lot of extensive charity promotion, and you can't join just to promote, but your request was, I think, okay. Of course, policies change over time as needed...

Hi everyone :)

I'm on day 3 of FA (Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous) and day 3 of not eating any flour or sugar. I haven't been posting a whole lot but I have been reading a ton! I am supposed to have 30 minutes of quiet time each morning and I have been spending it on 3FC because I get motivated for the day! You all rock :)

- Courtney

Cyn - I love Yoga. I used to do it years ago, when I was in much better shape, and because of that I'm pretty flexible. I remember as a teen not being able to touch my toes, everyone else seemed to, but I could not. About a years worth of Yoga and I could touch the floor. :D Now I can touch the floor, sit and pull my leg up almost behind my head and I'm still this big! I also relearned how hard it is...it isn't pretty when I do it either. I just do what I can... :D

****

Today is my rest day! :D I decided to have it today and not on Sunday. My ankle is very weak, I've been feeling it causing me issues for awhile now and after all my activity this week it is really not doing well. So, I got a brace and have that on and am giving myself a break today. I'm very sore, but feeling great otherwise.

Very frustrated with my weight. I am convinced the pills I'm taking is causing me to put on some pounds and bloating on top of that. I know that sometimes when you take meds you gain some weight, but it scares me and I know you ladies know why! I have this fear of gaining it all back! So, I'm hoping so much for the next two weeks to go well. I really really want to see the weight go down! I'm stubborn now and determined. We'll see. The thing is that I'm always bloated now...always and I was not like that before the BC pills. Grrrrrr!

Things are good though. I have a slight body flare up with my skin condition...or should I say conditions as they flare up together. So, I'm probably going to have to start taking antibiotics again soon, but I'm hopeful that some turmeric pills will help. I read that people with the conditions I have as well as other autoimmune diseases take Turmeric in some form as it helps. So, I'm going to the health food store this evening.

One thing I MUST change is when I eat dinner. I am eating way to late and it is because of my boyfriend. He likes to eat like at 7pm - 8pm and that is just too late for me. I need to eat around 5:30 or 6pm to get things digested and be able to turn in early.

I went to the store, got loads of healthy things, I'm ready for today. First full raw day in a long time. No cooked..just raw raw raw. :D Yay!

Hope you all are well! I'm going to have some fruit for breakfast and a smoothie for lunch. :D

Julia, what the heck are we going to do?

Heather, thanks! I'm glad it was ok. I'm having a hard time connecting to 3FC. Any ideas how come?

Another rainy day here in Washington. I think summer is going to get skipped this year and we'll just dive into another winter. The lawns really need a mowing!!! I miss my walking time with the mower.
Hope all are doing well.
Debbie

Courtney, I did SB a couple years ago and lost 70 pounds. I discovered what a trigger sugar and flour are. I hope that sort of regiment works well for you too. My brain actually changed so that I didn't even THINK about food like I used to. I wish I could get back to that point. Hang in there!!

Committed myself to this journey in a bigger way than usual last night, when I joined TOPS. I think for me it will be a place where I'm held accountable without being told I HAVE to lose wt in a specific way. I'm excited about the next weigh in.

Gardening tonight with a friend who makes everything more fun. Raising my own veggies is just a healty plan all the way around.

Happy Thursday everyone,

Jenny: Glad you had fun in San Diego.

Debbie: That was so sweet of you to paint your Mom's living rooom. Ouch, what a bad time to move to CA. I hope they rethink it. My SIL is moving here from Sacramento in July and she will be here tomorrow night for about a week of school interviews.

Jacquie: Glad your power is back on.

Smiles: Hi there.

Carol: I love a routine too. At least a good one. It is so hard to establish one once things change. lol.

Cyn: I have been wanting to see that movie. It looks interesting.

Anne: I can't wait for summer either.

Catherine: Woo hoo on your 5 days op. Great job at the restaurant!

Val: Hugs and it is so nice to see you back here doll.

Debi: I woke up this morning with the oposite problem with my rings. Weight is up and TOM is here. UGH. lol.

Courtney: Congrats on 3 days of F/A. Keep up the great work.

Well, I am cleaning my house today. I'm almost done with it. Just moving slow and feeling blah. TOM is bad right now but I know that should only last a day or two.

Blessings all,
Annie

Debbie-I eat right after I exercise because exercise just tanks my blood sugar levels. I take a liquid meal to the pool with me to drink as soon as I get dried off. If I know I'm going to go walking at the mall, I put something in the crockpot to have the second I get home. Partially because I know that I'll be too tired to cook. I also read somewhere that immediately after exercise, and for a couple hours after, your metabolism is raised, so you burn the food you do eat right after exercise faster.

TOM hit this morning, and I'm still not craving anything. Normally, I'm eating everything in the house including paint chips. I'm almost afraid to hold my breath because I want this to last.

Hello! :) I'm very new here and just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Ronnie and I have just started trying to get healthy and lose weight a month ago. Well, I guess you could say I've been trying to lose weight for years but it was only a month ago that I really started making real changes in how I live my life.

I was diagnosed with diabetes, which was a huge shock since I am only 22 years old. I'm following an exchange meal plan now that my doctor gave me and it seems to be keeping my blood sugar in a good range and helping me lose weight. So far, I'm down 16 lbs. :D

Anyway, this forum is huge and I am still getting the hang of it, but I just wanted to say hi and I hope I get to know everyone better soon!

Ronnie, welcome!! So glad you joined us. Sounds like you've got yourself on a good plan that is working for you. YAY on the 16lbs gone!! You'll find lots of great ladies here and tons of support.

Annie, they have their hearts set on moving. The only thing I don't like is them coming to borrow $2500 from my dad, he said no and then they hit up my mom for $1500, she said no. They know they would never see it again from past experience. If they have to borrow money to move, they shouldn't be moving at other people's expense. I want to knock my son in the head. I didn't raise him to be like this. But his wife is so controlling, he would do anything for her. It's really a shame.
That will be nice to have the company of your SIL. That's something I need to do is clean the house. I just got done with laundry, at least.

Catherine, good job on staying OP!!! My problem is sitting here alone at night. I just think that I might as well eat since there's nothing else to do. Bad habit.

Val, I used to go to TOPS when I was a kid. It was pretty good. Good luck to you!

Time to go watch the finale of ****'s Kitchen. I hope Danny wins!
toodles

Ronnie - WELCOME! :D You rock and we all rock. We can do this...learn how to make these changes and stick to them. :D Of course not without all the struggles, but for some reason I always find myself mumbling "anything hard is worth doing" lol. I dunno why...motivates me I guess.

*****

I didn't get up early today...got up a bit later and didn't go for a walk this morning. Giving my ankle a bit more time and going to see how it goes with a workout later on today. I have a brace on it a lot of the time now and I can feel it throb when I put it on. It feels good with the brace, and weak without it. So, hopefully this will stop the pain when I exercise and prevent further injury. I remember when I hurt my wrist, an actual injury, I over extended it and the pain was horrible. I put one of those firm, plastic braces on and it felt SOOOOOO good lol. I kind of feel that with my ankle, but not as much. I totally caught this BEFORE I got seriously injured. So, hopefully it won't slow me down.

I gotta ban myself from my scale AGAIN as I'm obsessing and getting upset. So, I'm going to be patient, which is hard for me lol, and see how the next two weeks go. I'll weigh myself once a week and see how things go.

VENTING TIME:

We have idiotic workmen around our apartment. What I mean is, they are pretty....annoying and inconsiderate. It is the area I live in to be honest. People around here have a mindset that is...well...I don't know. It isn't every one though, just seems to be people who come around to do things. Like...fix our cable, set up cable, set up all things electric, work on this, work on that. It is sort of like "um...yeah...like I'm gonna splice into your cable to um like give your like neighbor TV cable. Yeah." My response "1. We don't have your cable TV service so splicing it won't do anything will it. 2. You're not SUPPOSED to splice ANYTHING. Not only does that interfere with the service it creates problems for future people coming out here to fix things that YOU guys screw up!" This is after, I swear, 10 visits from the cable company and this was within 1 and a half years! Most of the time Cablevision, which I hate, sends out contractors who are not officially with the company. They screw EVERYTHING up around here. I mean it. The last time we called to have official people come out, I mean we made an appointment, the guy was like "Oh my god...what has happened here?!" He rewired everything, professionally, he was awesome. He isn't from around here hahahahahahaha.

So EVERY single time my internet connection starts to get weak I just know...I KNOW they are messing with the cables again, they being the stupid jerks our landlord has bumbling around my apartment. They are fixing up another apartment. So, low and behold, they've been messing around with the cables. I go out, tighten everything, CURSE anyone who has ever touched them when they were not supposed to, and now it works. I swear these people piss me off. lol GRRRRR!

Along with that, they use up all the garbage cans for their junk and now I hear from another dweller, that our landlord is dumping ROCKS from another property IN OUR bins! So, we can't use them. How the *CENSORED* are we supposed to like dump our trash?! I swear...living here is much better than where we were previously, but AHHHHH! lol

Okay..end of rant. *HUGS* Hope everyone is well! :D :D :D

Happy Friday everyone! Welcome Ronnie!!

Good Morning all,

Ronnie: Huge welcome. Glad to have you aboard! Congrats on losing 16 pounds so far! Way to go.

Debbie: I'm sorry that your son is frustrating you. Hugs.

Jacquie: Hugs to ya.

DC: Happy Friday!

Well, I am still feeling all icky from TOM but. I need to go get some stuff done. I am going to go mow the yards so Joel won't have to do it while his sister is here. It is so nice and sunny outside. I am planning on getting the yard work all done and get myself some added sunshine in the process. I will be doing the entire yard by myself which is tons of work so I will count it on my exercise today. I am hoping that my cramps are gone enough that I can bounce today. I did the whole house except for vacuuming and moping the floors. I saved that because my furbabies track in paw prints on the hardwood floors when it is so rainy. Did I mention I am so excited that it is sunny outside?

Blessings all,
Annie

hey ya'll i've been MIA for quite sometime. I'm back for some motivation and support. Hope you all have been doing great!

lauren HI!!!! I thought about you just the other day. Im glad you are back with us. How is your life?? how is hubby?/ Im going to be in your town tommorow for my daughter graduation.
hugs
debi

Ronnie: Welcome to the group!

Lauren: Welcome back sugar!

Jacquie: Sorry about the cable mess! Maybe you should just take a few of them out behind the shed lol

As for me: Yesterday me, son and hubby went out to take his senior pics. I don't ahve them professionaly done because for one they touch up everything and make you look like a phony balony! Also I don't have the rights to them so I can't make copies! Oh and they cost too much! I am pretty good with the camera and I have paint shop pro that I am pretty good with. They turned out really great. They so catch his funny sense of humor.

Tomorrow is going to be cleaning for me! I havent cleaned reall good since I first got sick.

I have been a little nautious the past few days, I think ti is because I have had 2 root beer floats in the past few days and I think the ice cream really messes with me. So no more of those for a while.

They say it is going to be 104 all wek! (YUCKY) I hate the HEAT! I become more grouchy then I usually am lol