Hey y'all. I mostly lurk too but I do read the thread every single day and I always send positive thoughts to everyone who seems to need it. :) I can't say that I have that much of a goal this month...I'd LOVE to be able to fit back into all my old size 16s by the end of July but I don't know if that's a possibility. All my new 18s are swimming on me so I'm only wearing old 18s and new 16s right now...I was a very small 16/large 14 in 2003 but sizes seem to have gotten larger in the last 5 years. So right now I wear a 16, but I'm not really a 16. That is probably way TMI for all y'all LOL! It's just been a lot on my mind lately.

Last week was super stressful for me. Instead of diving into a popeye's fried chicken, birthday cake, beer, wine, and smokes...like I would have done anytime previously in my life...I actually went to the gym and ran the stress/nervous energy off.

To me, that's more of a victory than any single pound I've lost yet. Dealing with stress healthfully rather than by hurting myself is not something I've EVER done in my life before. I'm starting to think this might be a permanent lifestyle change...and as a cool side effect, I lost 7 lbs in one week. That hasn't happened since last October.

Happy Monday everyone. :)

Hi all,

I had a nice long post to everyone and I couldn't post it for some reason earlier.

Just wanted to say hi to you all and say that I may be MIA for a bit. Tons of company coming tomorrow for a week and one of Joel's sisters is moving in with us for a year. I will check in this week when I can.

Blessings all,
Annie

Hey everyone...just got back from my morning walk. Yeah, starting that up again lol. I'm sort of "restarting" and hopefully going to punch through this wall I've hit. Going to tackle a few issues this time around, emotional eating, things like that. I still do that, even though I've made two promises to my boyfriend. It is just hard for me to cope with emotional things, so though lately I've been doing really well with it, I still slip up.

Starting each day with making myself look into the mirror and say something positive about myself to myself. Though today I just thought it as I walked hahahahaha. I thought, "I'm a beautiful person, inside and out." I even got the courage to jog a little, but I have a hard time picking up my legs. However, since the last time I tried I did see an improvement. :D I can pick them up in order to jog, so maybe that is a good sign.

Going to start participating in the exercise tally thread again. WOO! :D Today I plan on doing my aerobics and possibly another walk this evening. Today I am drinking juice as a "day 1" on a juice feast. Apart of me doesn't want to drink juice, but you know I know myself. When I focus on proving people around me wrong like they think I can't do it, then I do it and then focus on me in the process. So, I don't know what that is about. I think that is part of my Mother in me. Kind of like "Oh yeah! Well..I'll loose weight out of spite then!" lol

Anyhow, I'm also going to be looking into maybe going to the YMCA or something..I dunno. I am lacking friends and activities, so I was thinking about getting out there more. ACK!

*HUGS* I hope everyone is well! I'm trucking along. :D

Good morning Peeps - just a quick fly by reminding you to drink your water, move your bodies and SMILE.

Jacquie -- Reading your post, I was going to encourage you to post exercise minutes, but you said you would, so yay!!!

Just another plug for the exercise thread -- you are ALL invited to participate!! We just keep track of the minutes we exercise and keep a group tally. We are trying to break our 2007 record and need everyone's help!! It's easy! It's fun! And it helps us be accountable!!

Heather - Will do... :D I totally sucked the past two months for the exercise tally thing, so I'm going to keep myself active this month. So far I've done 30 minutes of walking + a little jogging, but plan on doing more later so I'll tally it at the end of the day. :D

****
First juice of Day 1...AWESOME! Peach and Orange, how can one go wrong? Creamy goodness. Of course lunch...not too sure about. Carrots, beets, and cucumbers....eh. lol Yum...lol

Just a fast post here this morning running on 3-4 hours sleep couldn't get to sleep last night and my boys got up at 5:30am. It's not even stinking daylight out yet suppose to still be sleeping them lol. I'm gonna make them take a nap later I won't get one but at least it will be quiet as the girls will watch tv or read a book. I need to get up and excerise soon not sure what I want to do today maybe kickboxing. I'm doing good on my food plan counting my points and not having too many carbs. Will be back later for personals need more coffee. Oh my goal for this month is lose 10lbs, stay on Weight Watchers even during a move and to drink 8 glasses of pure water.

Morning all...quick fly by ...

I could sit here and complain about how I feel crappy..lol..but nahhh.

Everyone drink lots of water today! Its gonna be friggin HOT here today!!

Hi all,

I am at work and it's been an odd / stressful week so far. I have a question for you all. How does one go from being aggressive / competitive / outspoken / overly critical to at peace and content? I would like to know how to get from point A to point B.

Angie

Hi everyone,

Angie...wish I had an answer for you. I have a hair-trigger personality - one minute I'm content and the next minute, even the slightest thing sets me off. I've never figured out how to control it. I hope someone can help you.

Anne: I moved from Windsor to upstate NY in 1998 to get married. Divorced now (husband was liar and cheat) but I'm still here...I have a good paying job for which I'm very thankful and am living on my own for the first time in my life so it's a challenge but also enjoying it too. I do wish to go back to Windsor someday - my mom and other family/friends are all there and I miss them. I only get home twice a year. It gets pretty lonely around here sometimes so I'm glad I found you guys. I understand thinking about moving out West. I have several friends/family who have done it for the jobs and they're happy.

Bazz...sorry to hear you're under the weather but you have a great attitude about it. Keep it up and you'll be rewarded!

Annie...my ex and I had the same problem with our dog and fireworks but we found even sedatives didn't work well so we had to put her in a well sealed car in a well sealed garage to keep her from freaking out.

Jacquie...I'm with you. I didn't do well with the exercising tally last month at all. Time to turn it up a notch! Good luck.

DCHound...great job. despite being stressed you didn't over-react and eat poorly - you got out and exercises. That's so great!!!! Good for you!

I don't want to leave anyone out - sorry if I did. I hope you are all doing well, hanging in there and fighting the good fight. I'm thinking of you and rooting for you all.

Angie, I know exactly how you feel. I think it's hormonal or at least it is for me. Half the time I end up apologizing to my hubby for things that I've said but it just seems they come flying out of my mouth without me even thinking about how he's going to feel. Sometimes even in advance, I'll let him know it's going to be a bad day so look out. If you find out what it is, let me know.

Boy, trying to come out of the fog and eating right is so hard. I have a headache, I'm sorta bit*chy, and feel like crap. Yesterday was a good OP day though. I got rid of alot of water weight. Hopefully in a couple days I'll feel cleansed and back to myself again.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying OP and drinking that water, speaking of which, I have to go get my bottle!
Have a great day!

Hi Ladies,

I got laid off last week just as I was heading out the door to my vacation. It was not unexpected but I was hoping the news wouldn't come just yet. An executive called me at home and said that almost everyone was being laid off, including me. They're keeping us for another 1.5 weeks so we can determine if any of our work will be carried on, and to pass it on the handful of people remaining. I will go in tomorrow and start determining if any of my projects will continue. I doubt it because my work was all about developing new offerings and there is no one to develop anything now. I lasted through 3 massive layoffs in one year as the company went into the death spiral but this time I didn't escape. So I guess I am in the first runner up category on the island.

I ate for a few days but have put myself back on track. I decided that I will use some of my free time while unemployed to kick up my fitness level and cook delicious, nutritious meals. This will be a great time to experiment with make-ahead recipes that I'll be able to use when I get a new job so that I don't end up bored and burned out on my food.

No personals today but I am keeping up with everyone. Hugs and strength to everyone.

Originally Posted by letstryitagain:
I ate for a few days but have put myself back on track. I decided that I will use some of my free time while unemployed to kick up my fitness level and cook delicious, nutritious meals. This will be a great time to experiment with make-ahead recipes that I'll be able to use when I get a new job so that I don't end up bored and burned out on my food.

Sorry to hear about your layoff :( It is just so hard right now.

But it is really good to hear your positive attitude about it - that is what I'm doing right now. I'm technically not unemployed - my MIL and I run a business but business is down so much that we are barely staying afloat and I am looking for PT work to supplement it. But with all the extra time I have since there is less work for the business I have been working extra hard - no farting around, that's how I got this fat to begin with.

So go us!

Goodmorning my Peeps!

Realist, I wish there was an easy answer. Right now, I'm going to therapy to try to untangle my emotions from eating. Boy, what a mess!

Lets, hugs to you... sorry you are being laid off. I'm glad your response by eating at it was limited! I do the same thing.

My back is still giving me fits. Ugh.

Meanwhile, I'm taking care of the collie across the street. He's a nipper and not a friendly dog. Well, I go to let him out and go look to see where the fish is located and almost stepped on a BAT!! UGH. I found an empty fish bowl and some paper and put him in it on the front porch, called the owners (they get them every 4th of July weekend) and waited for animal control to take it away. Took them an hour to show up, but the person was nice. I called the homeowner's cell phone and he asked if there was a charge for animal control coming out and testing the bat. Wha??? And the dog tried to bite me 2x when I was trying to look at the tags on his collar to see when his shots were due (he's due this month). Good thing these people rarely take vacations. I have to care for him all week.

Hugs to all!
Ratkity