Hi everyone! Week two of atkins saw a 3.8lb loss which I am so happy with considering I was showing a gain for the first half of the week. Then I got that whoosh you had all been telling me about. It also helped that I didn't have a real Thanksgiving here in China. My plan this week is to stick to an extended induction but I am also going to try to incorporate some official exercise in this week. I have lots of exercise DVD's so I am just going to set the goal of two videos this week. If I do more, great, but at least I won't feel pressure to do so. Hope everyone had a great weekend, and if I'm correct we are moving into a December thread very soon. Betsy, my Christmas goal is to lose 6.9 more lbs but the rate I'm going I hope to hit that and lose more! :) Let's do it!!!

Boy do the kittens take up a lot of time! They are on five different medications, some of them twice a day. No, six. And Bob and I both are kept very busy by our ongoing effort to rid the kittens, ourselves, our house, and our clothes of ringworm spores: antifungal baths twice weekly for the kittens, washing and more washing and bleaching of towels and sheets and clothes and whatnot, steam cleaning of floors and rugs and whatever else can't be washed, etc., etc., I'll spare you the full list. Those nasty spores get everywhere! But the kittens are free of ringworm lesions, and the fur on their ears is growing back in. And they are breathing much better: the new régime our vet has them on is helping a lot.

They are fabulous animals: sweet, affectionate, intellectually stimulating, and loads of fun to play games with—many of which are invented by the kittens themselves. But they are feisty and mischievous critters: I'm always having to clean up the messes they make, mostly with books & papers. One time, for example, Oscar launched himself, all four paws out, at a bookcase, and succeeded in bringing down a whole shelf's worth of books! It's like being parents of toddlers: they're big enough to cause a lot of havoc, but too young (at 7 1/2 months) to have learned to respect all the rules. My hands and arms are covered with scratches from giving them their meds (which is 100% my job). They have not even completely learned not to give us "love bites," although Nénu is almost there, and Oscar is coming along quickly.

They need us very much, and we are committed to being good parents for them. Oriental shorthairs are demanding cats to raise, because they are so athletic, so lively, so smart, and so social. Plus these two may end up having chronic rhinitis (upper respiratory problems), which is not uncommon in cats. I know full well, because this is our third pair, that in the years to come they will many times more pay back the investment they require. But temporarily...!!!

I am reading all of y'all's postings with interest, and cheering y'all along in your weight loss efforts. I wish I could say that I do my leg exercises every night and that my eating is completely on plan, but I can't. I'm exhausted by the kittens... And don't get me started on all the stuff my Qigong instructor has me doing.

Now I must sleep...

STOP! Please join us in the December thread.

Is this group still open by chance? I would love to offer/receive support from ladies who know what I am going through.

Hi Tabby and welcome. There is a new thread for each month. Please come over and join us in the April thread.