positive thought: surrounding yourself with people who lift your spirit will always bring happiness and a day filled with smiles :)

positive action: another no snacking night gone. I am going to relax today and watch my episodes of Ghost Hunters. Ghost Adventures comes on to night so I am going to DVR it....

Learn: my night was pretty uneventful but I did finish reading a good book by Sandra Brown.

Cakegirl: good luck on sunday!!

Sara: Don't worry I am sure its probably muscle.


Lynn

Hello everyone! I've been crazy busy with a bunch of events this week (all our student organizations are winding down the year since the semester ends in exactly one week!!!), so I haven't been able to check in. I did catch up on all the old posts though and I am so happy for those who have hit goals and had wonderful weeks. And even for those stumbles, proud of those who have overcome the hurdle and remained positive!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and a fantastic weekend! I will try to keep up with everyone, though I don't think I'll have time for personals.

Good Morning Chickadees!
I'm here again! The scale said down another pound this morning! I can't wait until Monday's official wi so I can change my ticker, and post a new short term goal ticker! Yay me. Also, I just completed Day 3 of the 100 push up challenge - I'm loving this new found strength.

Learn: I'm sorry your stories are being cancelled. What will you do with your free time now? ;) You can star in your own story of One Life to Live, I currently star in a story called "All My Fat Rolls"!

Lynnie: Keep it up! Soon your little old ticker with be at 22 - no problem. :carrot:

Saracandoit: I'm so jealous you can spend the day at Disneyland! It is actually my reward for when I'm under 150. Of course, I bet there were all knids of food temptations there too! Good for you for the endurance!

Cakegirl: :wave: how is your exercising coming?

We can do this ladies! Let's keep on trucking!
If you can't tell already, I'm on a super major life is good high, so someone get ready to pick me back up soon - like Monday after WI!
Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend!

learn...i am sooooo with you on the booo hisssss abc....i have been a fan of AMC since the 70's....i "grew up" with liza and tad and greg and jenny and erica....omg....and for what?? another freakin talk show??? sheeesh! if they had better writers then they wouldn't have lost so many fans!! also, i hate it for all those who up and moved to la when they changed the production from ny to la....and now this!! booohisss!! even when i was working i took my lunch break on AMC time!! oooo where will daytime tv be without erica??? timeless beauty indeed!!! i heart u erica!! amc....u will be sorely missed!! i rode my exercise bike nearly every other day while watching!!! booohooo!!!

Wow Learn,they're cancelling "All My Children".. I feel ya cause I love "The Young And The Restless" and "The Bold And The Beautiful" :D
Ah..thank you for the lovely compliment the other day :hug: you,Ags and Degramie(to name a few) were so kind to me when i first joined, I knew that with all of you and this thread i would make it to goal.You guys have been a god sent to me and I can't thank you all enough :hug:I wish that i can only help all of you as much as you've helped me :)

Great Job Laura:bravo: you're doing excellent!!!

:wave: MBW,good to see you :hug:hope you've been able to make good choices w/your food w/so much going on :)

Lynnie,you are in the zone w/your snacking :bravo:

Sara,no problem about those 3 lbs.You're focus and doing great!! They'll be gone soon.Fight on!!

Ags,hope you're feeling better :hug:

Hello chickies!!
Right into personals we go:

Sara- TOM can sometimes make me retain up to 10lbs the 2 weeks prior to me getting it and then whoosh its all gone and then some once it starts. I've started having to chart my tom's along side of chart this big upswings. Don't stress over it, women have a different ebb and flow with weight. You also could have built yourself some muscle as you said. Either way, it's not a bad thing. Personally I feel its better to watch how your weight is trending. If over 3-4 months you don't see a change or see steady gain, then maybe its a problem but as long as it is going downwards, the week to week numbers aren't as important, you know what I mean? You don't need luck, you've got this and those 3 lbs will be long gone soon enough, but good luck anyway and enjoy the gym. Its sounds like you had a blast at Disneyland! I hope you enjoyed time with your cousins.

Learn- I'm sorry about your shows. I always get so sad when shows I like get cancelled. :( :hug: The scale isn't so bad. I was forewarned by my hubby that there was a very good possibility that I'd be far from where I thought and not to let it get me down. I'm glad its consistent and even more pleased that it's accurate. My hubby is mad though, for the first time in our relationship I weigh less than him. Granted he is taller and super muscular, but still! He has lost about 30lbs himself since I started just from better food being in the house and I think he is just playing with me, but he was all huffy about it earlier. I'm just wondering if I was always 10 lbs heavier than that scale said, if so I started at 460. I'm so glad it's coming off but I do wish it would go faster. I'm ready to have it all off and because I am that spoiled, I want it off now! :D

Lynnie- WTG on another snack free night! Ghost hunters sounds cool. I used to love watching shows like that....but we bought a house almost 100 years old and with people living in the apartments above us I tend to freak out over every little noise if I watch shows like that! I'm such a wuss. :D

MBW- Don't worry about personals, we know you're super busy with school. Just check in and let us know you're okay and everything! I hope finals are/were great and :woohoo: for the end of the semester! Are you taking summer classes?

Laura- :woohoo: Another lb gone! WTG on the push up challenge! Keep up the good work. I'm so proud of you for not giving up and sticking with us as well as with your plan! Exercise is going great for me. I'm up to 330/800mins so far but I will be adding 50-75 mins to that total tonight after I decide what I want to do for exercise. I'm feeling better with it too, no more episodes of dizziness or anything. I find that the more I exercise the better I feel and if I miss even one day, the next day I can really feel the soreness. Its like if I exercise every day I stay limber and my muscles are pliant but when I miss even one day they seize up and everything hurts. With that said, I'm trying to work up to doing an hour a day and I think I'm up to 5-6 days so I'm almost there! I'm sure your WI will be ok. Either way, we'll be right here to share in your news with you!

Susan- I'm sorry for you as well about your shows. I didn't watch them but in my opinion if a show can survive 40 something years on the air, a new talk show probably isn't the best replacement for it. I imagine there are a lot of bummed out/angry fans over this change and I hope ABC knows what they're doing because this screams of a misstep to me. I was watching extreme couponing this morning and it made me think of you and your awesome shopping skills! I still wish I even knew where to start with it! Hope you're doing great. :)

Ona- You do help us! You are so kind and always have an encouraging word for us. You're an inspiration to us that we can reach our goals. Just being here with us cheering us on as we cheer you on helps us. I think you're awesome and I'm so excited for you and your success. :carrot:

Alright... I think we need another M.I.A. shout out, but I don't know the full list of people we are missing! Just know that you're missed and I am so making a list of everyone missing asap! :D

Today was awesome. Jerry did the grocery shopping because I didn't sleep so well. See, there was this loud little furball screaming in my face all night long and I swear it's like having a new baby in the house! Lola just didn't want me to sleep. She even stepped on my head at one point, then she started licking my nose. So I got to sleep in while he shopped. Sadly they were out of perch, so he got some flounder instead. It's another fish I have never tried, so I'm excited about that. I got my new shampoo and conditioner with b-12 and glycerin so hopefully my hair will stay attached to my head now! :D It smells lovely as well so WOOT! It was a very large shopping trip and I was finally allowed to help bring stuff in. Usually Jerry tries to pull this whole macho chivalrous thing where I'm the dainty lady who can't lift a bag of groceries without fainting and he's the workhorse who does it for me. I hate it. I mean, thanks for trying to be sweet to me, but omg I can bring in a back of groceries! I can open my own doors and cut my steak too! Lol. The reason I'm happy I got to help is we took it all in through the front and we have a full flight of stairs from the sidewalk to our front door... so I got some great calf work in! When we take it through the back there's like 2 stairs because the driveway is raised to meet the private drive behind the houses, so this was more exercise but better for me. I tried some flavored tuna for lunch on wheat toast with lettuce and wasabi paste. Turns out I love wasabi and the smallest amount packs a ton of flavor! It was so good and I had 8ozs of simply grapefruit to go with it. Its been 3 hours and I'm still stuffed and the whole lunch, juice included was 390 calories. I also finally got some greek yogurt to try. All in all, great shopping trip. Tomorrow I'm going clothes shopping with my sister so that should be fun. They're doing a sale tomorrow in store I guess that takes $10 off every $40 that you spend and according to my sister's boss there's a coupon online to print out that gives 30% of your purchase on top of that, so basically it comes close to 50% off your purchase. I was just going to get some jeans but its hard to pass up 50% off, especially since the coupon expires tomorrow. I'm going to try on everything, shoes too! Its going to be so much fun! Then I get to come home and have a stay at home date night. Low cal tacos and Harry Potter is my idea of a good time.

Another awesome thing, I tried on my jewelry last night. I have a lot of non-costume jewelry rings that I can't wear because they're too big now, including my wedding band and engagement ring. I can't see the sense of having to size them down multiple times so I'm waiting on hitting maintenance for awhile before I bother with it because there's a lot. I do happen to have my husband's mother's wedding set. He gave them to me when she passed away but I didn't want to size them up from the super tiny 7 they were to my huge size 14/15 in rings so they've just been sitting in my jewelry box. Well guess what guys, it *almost* fits my ring finger. At least pretty soon I will have a wedding band again! I have another ring that I can wear in the interim that Jerry bought me that again I never got sized! Woot!

I probably won't be around tomorrow so see you all Sunday and hope you have a fabulous weekend. I have another positive for today but I'm going to save it for Sunday because it needs some back story and this post is long enough! I talk to much. :( Going to go work on my fitness as Fergie says. :hug:

-J

positive thought: Love is the immortal flow of energy that nourishes, extends and preserves. Its eternal goal is life. - Smiley Blanton

positive action: i am going to clean my bedroom today and vaccum.

My next book I am going to read is a Harlequin romance as soon as I get the title I will let yall know. You should hear the wind whipping today. Can't go for awalk I may blow away.

Lynn

learn...i know what you mean about susan...she is so elegant and just a teeny tiny thing!! she is a huge fan of pilates and it sure has worked for her!! she hasn't changed much in all the years she has been on AMC.

cakegirl...OMG....i have seen one episode of EC and wholly molllly!!! I can't even imagine buying like that!!! who needs that many toothbrushes and deodorants!!! haha ... here are a few sights online to help you get started..
www.iheartpublix.com
www.southersavers.com
www.mojosavings.com
www.passionatepennypincher.com
www.redplum.com (coupons you can print)
www.coupons.com (coupons to print)
www.target.com (cupon link at the bottom of the page)

most of the time you can print 2 coupons per computer.
i also check on ebay and get coupons on things i use a lot of pretty cheap.
recently purchased 15 .50 off fresh express salad for .99 with free shipping. publix doubles .50 coupons, so i got 1.00 each package...and they were on sale this week for 2.00 each!! :) i only paid 1.00 each!!

just go to any of those blog sites and read the introductions...or watch the videos on southern savers. they mostly do all the work and tell you when coupons come out. i check each site every morning and periodically through the day as they are updated often. there are tons and tons of bloggers similar to them....like www.totallytarget.com who focuses only on target sales. just click on the links of blog supporters in the sites to go to lots more.

i also write to manufacturers and thank them for their products and ofter get coupons in the mail. also, sign up for the little freebies...samples...because they send coupons with the samples.

publix here in sc...will take 1 manufactor coupon and 1 store coupon AND 1 competitors coupon for ONE ITEM. we are very lucky because not all stores do that. but most will take both the manufacture and store ones... for example, recently, publix had a one stop one shop booklet with coupons for kotex....2.00 off ANY kotex item. there was a manufactor coupon for 1.50 off 2 kotex items. and walgreens had a 1.00 off any kotex item. so i was able to use all 3 coupons on 1 item. 3.75 off each item...and the 18 count pads and tampons were only 2.93. that was .82 "overage". publix will apply overages to the rest of your order. in this case i purchased 12 packages for 35.16 plus tax...worth of kotex for free....applied the overages to produce...and got some tomatoes, a cucumber, some grapes and watermelon also free. then i sent off a rebate for a 10.00 publix gift card for purchasing 35.00 or more of kimberly clark items....so i got all my items for free plus will get a 10 dollar gift card in the mail!!! now thats my kind of shopping!!

also, watch for coupons that you can "stack" for example, i recently bought oscar mayber bacon while it was on sale buy one pack get one free...and i had regular coupons for 1.00 off each package, plus additonal coupons for save 1.00 on produce or eggs when you buy OM bacon, PLUS save 2.00 on salad dressing when you buy tomatoes. here is what i used
2- 1.00 off coupons for the 2 packs of bacon (manufacture coupon)
1- 3.00 off any 6.00 meat purchase (competitor coupon)
1- 1.00 off produce (for the tomato) (manu coupons)
1- 2.00 off salad dressing (for buying tomato)
1- 1.50 off 2 wish bone dressing (competitor coupons)
the bacon was 2/6.00, 2 small tomatoes for .97, salad dressing was on sale buy one get one free for 2.29. (but i got 3.50 off)
9.26 total of purchases before tax
9.50 in coupons!!
they paid me .24 to buy those items!! :)
gotta love that!!
anyway...the thing is to start somewhere....on those web sites you can preview the coming sunday paper inserts so you can see if you want to buy a paper or not!! good luck!!