Good morning all. Cold but crystal clear morning here and the wind storm has finally stopped.

Shan84 -- So glad that the doctor didn't find anything abnormal with the blood tests. I think that with any diet it's very smart to get the green light from our doctors before starting. Good luck!

Sam -- Yet again you've shown a lot of class and maturity. I, too, don't know what it is with some people being mean/nasty about those of us who need to lose some weight. People who act that way definitely aren't worth the effort of responding to them. Sounds like you have a lot going on and are ready for a weekend. Hope you get to see your friend.

I seem to have finally gotten my mind back in the game and realized that I have 30 pounds to lose to get back to my low point. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm shocked that I have 30 pounds to lose. Obviously I've been weighing myself, but I realized that mentally I was still in the 330s as that's where I've been for most of the last year. Somehow this summer, I managed to put on another 25 pounds. When I got to thinking about it, I realized that there have been times in my life where I've had big weight gains and most of the time it just "happened." Nothing dramatic going on in my life, no reason just a total loss of anything remotely resembling control. Have any of you had that happen? The only positive here is that normally when I have one of those gaining periods, I put back on all of the weight I've lost and then some. So, I'm hoping that at least I'm beginning to get whatever habit this is under better control.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hi All!
Just a quick pop in to say I am well. Busy day and really missed posting this morning. This thread may be addictive.
See you in the morning!

Betsy ~ Yes Ubee has knocked some sense into me so to speak, If Ubee lived in my neighborhood I would have this weight off of me too in 6 months LOL.

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I woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning. I had a appt. today and it went good. My left foot on the bottom has a blister on it, I've been dealing with it for a couple of weeks with pain off and on but last night Scott told me that it had opened up so now its hurting alot so much for stepping up my walking again , If its not something then its something else. Anyway I hope everyone is having a good night, Talk to you all tomorrow.

Hi everybody....have you missed me? I have really missed you guys!
I have read everybody's post, so I am sorry no personals....not quite back up and firing on all thrusters!
I have had the second bout of Winter Vomiting bug in 6 weeks. I know.....I can't even blame my young man for importing it from school....can't think where I collected it from, although I did go to the doctors for my flu jab on Tuesday along with about a zillion other people....why don't parents teach their kids to cover their mouths when they are coughing....sigh....???
You just feel like you are up and running with the whole exercise/gym/got my head around it all and bam........both ends explode! Sorry if that was a bit graphic.....but really!!!!!!

There is of course an upside and when I weighed myself this morning I didn't leap off the scales screaming "Aieeeeeeee!" like I do usually. I have changed my signature and will weigh every Saturday. It is time to face reality instead of "Ooh my trousers feel a bit looser". So I will be answerable to you guys and will try to remember how to put a ticker on!
Have a great weekend.
Donna.....

Meant to say to Sam........Turn your music up in your headphones.......heck ...sing if you want.....you are there, working out and if some ignorant norberts are sniggering then that is their problem not yours. I get some looks in the gym, miming away to Madonna as I do (and I am much bigger than you) stare right back at them!
YOU GO GIRLFRIEND!

Good Morning!
Donna I did miss you & hope you are better!
Terra I find it much easier to encourage others then to motivate myself. However I know I can and will do this! If you go on you tube you can find some chair exercises so you can keep at it while your foot heals. Let me know how it goes.
Betsy, yup I gain massive amounts when under stress and slow but steady when I am not paying attention. I think of myself as still being in the 250's but the mirror and my clothes are starting to speak loud and clear. Yippee for the whoosh! Did you see where they bought jeans for the Pillsbury Dough boy? I saw that and thought "he's going to need a stretch pair cuz those are never gonna fit him!"
shan I am so excited for you. You can have a massive drop in 2 1/2 months on Atkins. The ladies on that forum are kind and very willing to help. Where are you going on your cruise?
Sam I so want to give those girls a piece of my mind! I will stoop to their level. If they only knew how awesome you are they would ask you to show them how it is done! Sorry but I can be a mama bear when someone is mean to one of my cubs. Chest bump and keep at it!
Fi hope all are on the road to recovery at your house. How was Qigong?
Hi Jane, Silent, Bllondy, Anticake,...
Yesterday was so bad food wise. I am getting mad at myself and that is OK I should be. I admit I have a sugar problem but I am afraid to admit how bad it is.
Have a peaceful day.

Good morning all. Nice relaxing morning here except for getting up and down to let Toby in and out of the back porch. Does this count as my exercise for the day?

Ubee -- OK, yet another thing we have in common although I'm not sure that both of us totally losing control of our eating is a good trait. It's hard enough to eat right each day, but then the holidays come along and there's temptation at every turn. We can do this. We will do this. And I'll go with you to Sam's gym and teach those mean girls a thing or two about messing with one of us.

Donna -- It is so hard to find that silver lining when the weight loss comes from feeling like death is imminent. OK, I may be overstating that a little, but stomach flu is one of those things that I put up there right with getting a tooth filled without novacaine. Hope you're feeling better soon. And you will get back to the gym albeit you may have to build your strength back up.

Terra -- Watch that blister on your foot. That's an area where it's very easy to get blood poisoning from an open wound. That's a good idea that Ubee had to find alternate exercising especially since it's so cold outside now anyway.

Fi -- Hope this finds things going much better for all living creatures in your house.

My nephew came out yesterday and helped me get the furniture moved to put down new area rugs in the living and dining rooms. We went out to lunch and I had what had to be the world's worst salad, but since it was an Italian place that was about the only thing I could have and remain on plan. My nephew had chicken parmesan with spaghetti and covered in Alfredo sauce and Bill had a small pizza. I've gotten 8 pounds off this week, of which at least 5 have to be water from the unfortunate canned soup episode. I'm heading into town to look at sofas and new bedding for my bedroom and ceiling fans and and and. Here I am retired, so I wait until Saturday to go into town -- how dumb! Of course, between now and Christmas, there isn't going to be a good time to go into town. Hope everyone has a great day.

Ubee ~ Thanks for the tip about the chair exercises, I will definitely check them out

Betsy ~ I will keep an eye on my foot. I didnt know about the blood poisoning though.

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I woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning. Its now 6:25 a.m. I'm currently eating breakfast while having a Cherry Coke Zero. I let Clyde outside for a few mins and then I brought him back in, He is now sleeping on the couch. My plans for today are to do my laundry and clean the bathroom and check out the chair exercises on youtube.

Ubee- We are doing the Western Carribean so it includes three stops in different parts of Mexico. This is my third cruise and his first. I'm really excited. I even started a countdown for us. 74 days to the USA and 91 days to cruising.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I've been mentally preparing myself to be totally committed to this change in my life. Today's plan is to get rid of things in the kitchen...either the boyfriend gets his own cupboard for his junk food (can't hate him because he's a stick lol) or I'm sending a bunch of food home with my friend Erica who is coming over to dinner tonight. The other option is that the food hits the trash can. If I was in the USA I could donate it to a food bank but unfortunately those kind of things are few and far between here in Chongqing. Anyways, that's my plan for today. I might even start today instead of Monday with the Atkins plan. I will just play it by ear and see how I feel. Back to work tomorrow and excited for my second week with my new schedule. It's good to be busy and I love teaching what I am actually trained to do. Have a good one everyone!

I wish I felt good enough to do personals, but I'm overwhelmed by the prospect of how much work we're going to have to do to rid our kittens (and our house) of ringworm. The spores get everywhere, the kittens keep getting reinfected, I've got the itchy spots myself on my arms, and so does Bob. We're going to have to clean all the rugs, mop all the floors, wash (& bleach, whenever possible) all the fabric items (like futon covers), and give the kittens baths at least once a week, preferably twice. And we have to do all this stuff repeatedly for at least a month. And we'll have to do it at the farmhouse, too, since we made the mistake of taking them to the farm right after we accidentally re-exposed them (via sorting my dirty clothes).

Meanwhile, the upper respiratory infection they've had since we got them is still impairing their breathing. Nénu in particular is miserable. And the steam treatments they like so much are probably making the ringworm worse, because when the spores get moist, they germinate. =sigh=

I love these kittens so much... they're actively playful, they're gorgeous, they're funny, and they're SO affectionate... it's making me crazy watching them suffer when they can barely breathe. And what Bob and I are now calling Project Ringworm... it's going to be so much work! I just can't get my head around it.

And I'm very frustrated that I can't put my weight loss front and center in my life! I do plan to resume monthly weigh-ins on November 22nd. (I have a thing for the number 22.) I get in my 600 leg lifts about every other night, which isn't too bad. I'm still on the same diet I've been on for months—I actually love how boring it is, because thinking about food is one of my least favorite activities—but about 3-4 times a week I get a craving for more carbs and have an extra bowl of muesli with cream. So I doubt that I'm losing weight. My clothes fit about the same, but it's hard to tell, since my uniform is a really loose tee over stretchy pants like leggings. I'm not yet into my 3X tees, that's for sure: I'm stuck at 4X.

I simply cannot step up the action in either diet or exercise until this MAJOR issue of the kittens being multiply infected is out of my face!

The Qigong is going well, but it takes up a lot of time, too. My instructor is puttin' the pressure on for me to increase the intensity of this whole-body transformation I'm going through. I think he's fabulous, a real gem, but sometimes he's a little too much.

Sorry for the rant. I needed to blow off some steam. I'm not depressed—just stressed out about all this stuff. But when I get stressed, depression is usually right around the corner... eeeeek!!

Good Morning!
Fi one summer we had a flea infestation from HELLo! The veterinarian even admitted that the usual medication was not working for anyone in this area. To make a long story short it was one of the reasons I decided to eventually get rid of all our carpeting. If you can afford it hire some help. On the bright side think of how hard it would have been to do this task if you would not have gotten rid of so much when you were working on the BERP. Good luck Fi you have great strength within you.
shan I've never been on a cruise but it sounds so lovely and relaxing. I am excited for you to start Atkins. I started 2 weeks ago. The first week went well but this second week I am struggling with my emotional eating. I did much better yesterday and am back on track.
Terra how did the chair exercises go? Any big plans today since your mom is off work?
Betsy tell Toby thank you for getting you up and moving! Good doggie! 8 pounds in one week! That is a whoosh. Please keep it up. I need all the positive energy everyone gives off when they are losing. What is up with all the redecorating? Might be a good idea. When we shake things up often we shake up our poor eating habits.
Having a crabby day. Darn scale. I have a plan to show it who is in charge.
Have a peaceful day. Yes, I will also. No plans!!!

Hi everybody!
Fi....your ringworm situation sounds like an absolute pain in the bippy! All I can say is pace yourself. When I am having a bad time with my low mood I have to break almost every task in to bite sized pieces. Good Luck. And healthy happy thoughts to your poor kitties. Your Qigong instructor is obviously one of those very focused people but life gets in the way of all self-improvement.
Shan.......what a lovely thing to look forward to....a relaxing cruise with your beloved! Good luck with Atkins...I would be really interested to know about headaches etc when you first start.

Betsy......8lbs???? Blinking Nora that's amazing!! Well done you! You did so well with salad in an Italian restaurant! It sounds like your house is getting a proper pre Christmas makeover!

Ubee.......don't get cross with yourself.......be nice.....you didn't go and mug an old lady...you just craved a few jelly babies....(or maybe alot of jelly babies) It is such an easy habit to be in all that negative self talk!

The weirdest thing has happened. Since having this tummy bug a few weeks ago, I feel I have had a gastric band fitted! Then with this recent bout my appetite is VASTLY reduced and even if I wanted to eat what I shouldn't I can't because it makes me feel really sick! I am not knocking it......it's just a bit of a surprise.
Gotta go chores to do and homework to help with!
Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Good morning all. Another gorgeous but cold day. I actually hear a lawn mower going as we just had our first killing frost this week and everyone is trying to get their yards put to sleep for the winter.

Fi -- Oh what a headache to be going through the stuff with the ringworm and the congestion. Ubee's idea about hiring someone if you can afford it is definitely something that might be worth it. I know how close you are to Grace as well. Maybe she'd be willing to help with the cleaning effort. Not what you want to be doing when she's there, but that's what family is for. The dieting part will come back when you get some peace in your life. Yes, it would be wonderful if we could all handle the stresses that life throws at us and remain totally dedicated to losing, but reality has a way of sabotaging our best intentions. Just know that we've all been down this road.

Ubee -- I've lived in the house for almost 10 years now and decided it was time to spritz things up. Plus Toby has basically eaten the couch in the family room and 3 dogs have been house broken in this house so it was definitely time to change out the area rugs. No matter how on top of things I am, it was pretty obvious with white wool background rugs that I had missed a few accidents. And you're right (not a surprise, but thought I'd reinforce the thinking!), changing things up in my life does help with the dieting. I ordered a new bedroom comforter set and am going to get a bunch of pictures framed, etc. Hadn't connected the dots that indicate that staying on plan is happier when I'm either living in an environment I really like or else moving towards making that environment. Hhhhmmmmmm. "Food" for thought.

Donna -- Lap band surgery without the expense! That loss of appetite and the shrunken tummy are definitely the only benefits (ok, the weight loss might be another one) to having the stomach flu.

Terra -- The blister thing is from my mom who stressed it whenever I got one. She had a cousin who got a blister on his foot and almost died from the blood poisoning. Of course, this was back in the 1930s so a) there weren't the good drugs then and b) it was the Depression so I doubt if he went to see a doctor until his foot was almost beyond help. Anyway, put a band aid on it and some antibiotic cream and it should be fine.

Shan84 -- Ubee and I are now living vicariously through you awaiting your cruise. Sounds wonderful. And it's a good idea to have your boyfriend move his food to a separate cabinet -- preferably one with a padlock if you're like me! Starting Atkins a week early is a great idea -- jump in and get used to the diet plan.

Time to get it in gear. Toby and I are both getting baths today as I have to take him in to the vet's this week for his shots. Time to start with the Turkey Day planning and shopping and cleaning and cooking. The handyman is coming tomorrow to look at all the things I want to get done -- nothing major, just lots of little maintenance items that I can't do especially since I no longer do ladders. Have a wonderful day.

Just checkin' in... Project Ringworm is underway, and I'm a little less stressed about it than I was. It is definitely true that it would be just about impossible had I not done the BERP, but I started the BERP on the day the kittens were born. That is, the motivation for the BERP was entirely about the kittens, not about how it would improve my life or Bob's life or our joint life, although of course it has done all three of those. It's just that I expected that when the BERP was over and the kittens arrived, that our life would revolve around the kittens, for sure, but I didn't expect them to be sick. Maddeningly, frustratingly, expensively, and above all, stressfully sick.

My breeder is falling all over herself apologizing to me, and she said she would chip in for the medication expenses once it's all over. So that's something to be grateful for. She had been planning to include one of our kittens' littermates, a stunning girl, in her breeding program, but she told me just recently she had that kitten spayed. She doesn't think the fact that my kittens obviously have problems with their immune systems bodes well for the genetic package of anyone so closely related to them. That makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, I gotta stop writing now because Bob wants to teach me how to use the steam cleaner on our rugs. Thanks so much for the well wishes and good advice. Y'all are really good people, and I value our little community very much!

Betsy ~ Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine

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Today I woke up at 6:00 a.m. when I should of got up at 3 a.m. cause by 3 a.m. I had already had 8 hours of sleep but oh well I guess. This morning my younger brother,his wife,Their baby,my mom and I all went to church. It was a nice service, We're gonna go back next Sunday. Anyway after church we went to a breakfast buffet and then we went to Dillions to pick some things up and then we came home and cleaned the house. We had dinner around 4 pm today. We did FFS, "Fend For Yourself" night tonight since we already dine out this morning. I had 2 and half beef soft taco's. Anyway my foot is feeling better so tomorrow I'm gonna try to do at least 1 mile with my dvd and see how it goes. Talk to you all tomorrow. Good night.