OMG ..... THANK YOU FOR VIDEO LINK. ..forgot in my earlier post .. Im going to watch it tomorrow evening and hopefully incorporate into my days a couple times a week.

Hi everyone!
I am so sorry I haven't posted for a while. The main reason, I guess is that I have fallen OFF the wagon big time and get embarrassed to show my face! The other reason is that I have had problems with my chest which has left me feeling a bit wrung out and not only being unable to go to the gym but also not go to Welsh class or Mum's and Toddlers. Less meaningful activity means my head immediately sinks into a bad place and VOILA back (almost) to square one. However it's not all gloomy doomy. It isn't ALL the way back to square one and I know how to get right back on that wagon!

Big hugs to everybody.....I will do personals when I log in next time. I am forcing myself out to do some Christmas shopping........hooray for Costa Coffee Shops!
Miss you guys

Good Morning All

So im awake but refuse to get out of bed so im surfing random posts. Something that always catches my eye are people jumping for joy as they enter "Onederland" so im curious what are the other lands 200s, 300s, 400s? Pretty random I know. ..... i can be an extremely random person :-)

Morning Everyone!

Sorry I have not posted on here in a few days. I really need to work harder and getting on here daily. I miss you guys but I am feeling really lazy lately and I'm sure that is the problem with why I don't post.

Ubee I'm glad to see that you are being honest with yourself with buying the cookies and pretzels for your daughter when they're really for you. I have been fighting myself not to buy the pepermint covered pretzels myself because they are so good so I feel you here. I've been really emotional the past couple of weeks and it definitely has slowed down my weight loss but I'm not letting it get me down. We can do this and I would be a complete idiot to go completely back to my old ways. I envy you because you post here so much and are so true to everyone. I'm pretty open with everyone here but sometimes have a hard time just pouring my heart out like a lot of you. Thank you for always looking out for me it means a lot.

Betsy As I told Ubee, it has been a rough couple of weeks. I think my hormones are out of wack because for once my body is natural ovulating and going through my cycle without the help of any medicines. I'm proud of that, because I want my body to be normal, but I don't think I'm used to it so I'm crying over everything and REALLY wanting to emotionally eat. I'm not really sure why we do this to ourselves, like you said, there has to be a different underlying cause other than we can't control ourselves. Hope you were able to get the pictures hung on your walls I'm sure your home is just lovely with all the Christmas decorations

Fi I had a little chuckle about seeing you tackle Oscar. I've been there done that...One time when my oldest cat was a baby she ran out on to the golf course that DH and I lived on at the time and he had to chase her down with a raw piece of chicken to lure her back in. He didn't feed her the chicken of course lol....I'm glad to hear about your time with Grace again. She seems to bring a real joy to your life and I'm glad you have those happy moments with her and pass your wisdom along to her. She's real lucky to have you in her life.

Donna Glad to see you posting again. I feel you pain with the emotional times. I've been a wreck for a couple weeks now, just trying to get back on track. Hope it all works out for you honey. I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to. (((Hugs)))

Shan Great job on the loss girly! Keep going you can do this!

Terra Sounds like you've been a busy little bee lately. I need your motivation to get my house cleaned before I go on my trip at Christmas...Slowly but surely I'll get it done!

TOgden Great job on making it to the 420s!! I know that feeling all too well and eventually you get addicted to the results so keep pushing girl! You can do it!

Friday night after I posted here became even worse....DH and I got into a huge fight over something stupid to do with my BIL...I ended up leaving the house at 11:30 and driving to the bank because he couldn't wait until morning to get the $20 I accidentally deposited into my bank. It caused DH to get really mad at me for not letting him handle everything. I ended up hitting an animal of some sort on my way back but luckily not damage to the car and the animal didn't die he just ran into the side of my door. DH and I fought on the phone on my way back because he misheard something I said and smashed his phone, got home and we fought some more and we both ended up crying and getting emotional. The fight was stupid and we both realized it..we both have just been emotional wrecks lately. Me because it's the holidays and I miss my dad and my friend and this is the time of celebrating and eating junk and I can't do it. I shouldn't do it. I won't do it. DH has been fighting a lot of surpressed memories about his sexual absue as a child and is wanting to confront the people in his family who completely ignored it and denyed it when they were supposed to be his support, his shield from the bad but they weren't. That's stressed me out because I'm not looking forward to doing this but I know it's what he needs to pick up the pieces and live a normal life for once, and I want to be there to support him any way I can. We have both vowed not to hide anything from eachother anymore, not that we ever really hid anything, but we want to be truthful about everything, especially him as he is in recovery from opiate addiction. My love for him has gotten stronger than I ever though possible this year because of the hard work he is putting into helping our relationship, and keeping me sane as well as working on himself. It's been hard but I know we'll both get through anything as long as we have eachother.

Since I've been emotional wreck I haven't followed 100% on plan. I'd say I'm about 90-95% on plan, which isn't bad considering. This weekend I ate ice cream from Baskin Robbins, had sushi, ate some candy, and last night ate some ande's mints. I've been craving sugar but starting today I am pushing those feelings aside and will find other ways of curbing my sugar cravings. I'm thinking about when I get paid maybe making some apple chips with cinnamon to satisfy the want for potato chips and having a sweet little snack. What do you guys think? I did manage to lose 1.8 lbs this week so that puts me at 249 according to my scale that still needs batteries but I'm going with it. I'll replace the batteries when I get paid just to make sure it is reading right.

I had a pretty good day yesterday...One of my very close friends bought a new car and came to visit me so we can put it on her insurance policy...She is a hair stylist and cuts my mom's and grandmother's hair. She told me that she was telling my mom how proud she was of me and how far I've come this year....She told me my mom said "but she took a year to lose it."...Are you kidding me?!?!?! I was beyond words when she told me that. She didn't tell me to make me upset which at the time, I wasn't upset...I just told her that it shows how childish and ignorant my mother is....but after I got home last night...and the words sat with me....the more I felt anger towards her. My mother and I have not had the best relationship. As a child all I wanted was her to be the mom that baked cookies, checked my homework, got me up in the morning for school, etc....The type of mom that acted like she truly loved her children. My mom has been through a lot of heartache and I get that, but she has been so self absorbed my whole life that I've felt that my brother and I have just stood in the way of her wanting to be a "party girl"...yes people, my mother just turned 51 years old and still wants to be the young, blonde, party goer. I guess it has a lot to do with the things she's dealt with...losing her husband at 27, etc...There is reason, but not an excuse. She'll never understand that either. She can't even comprehend that it takes time to lose almost 100 lbs and I'm proud that I have lost 91 lbs in almost 11 months. It's not bad, it's great!! I'm glad that I can see that instead of pushing myself farther into a depression, emotional state over it. It just makes me loathe her because she still isn't grown up and everything still has to be about her. I love her because she's my mom, but I don't respect her or like her as a person, if that makes sense. I probably wouldn't have much to do with her if my grandmother weren't alive. She's the piece of the puzzle that keeps me around because they live together and I don't want to shut my grandmother out of my life...She will be lucky to live another 10 years and my mom's plans are to move to Texas after she dies, which is ok with me.

Well Ubee looks like I poured my heart out today lol...Wasn't really my intention, and sorry this post is so long...I just needed to vent and let you guys in on why I haven't been around as much as I have. I'm still trying, I'm still pushing and won't give up even if it takes me 5 years to lose all this weight. I'm going to do it, for me, no one else, and for the future of hoping to have a child. I don't care about anything else to an extent.

Today is a new day and I need to learn to roll with the punches, but until then, thanks everyone for dealing with my emotional state and for being here for me when I sometimes feel I can't talk to anyone about the things going on in my head.

I hope everyone enjoys their day...stays on plan...has someone tell you that they love you, and have a happy day. We ALL deserve that and only WE can make it happen...One day at a time, we'll be the person we all so desperately want to be. Love you all very much, thanks for everything! I will do my best to post on a daily basis again...just give me some time. (((HUGS)))

Good Morning!
Having a nice cup of coffee and hanging out with you makes my day!

Tami for seeing the 420's again!!! I have heard of the 200's being called twoterville but beyond that no cute names so feel free to be creative and think of some.

Sam your post has me in happy tears. It makes me realize yet again what a great community we have here. Please don't feel like you have to post everyday but I think you know how helpful it can be. Ah the stupid no reason fights. What would a relationship be without them. As for your mom, I feel God puts so many people in our lives because some of us can not handle all we get tossed on your plate. Your mom thinks it took you a long time but I know that I am so impressed with your progress and I'm pretty darn sure everyone else here is too! Sam 91 pounds in 11 months! Are you letting that sink in??? Hello!!!
Now for your butt kicking. Sugar/carbs are greatly contributing to your emotions. I am going through the same thing. It is not fair to us or our family/friends... Sugar stops today for both of us! Got it? I don't give a rats behind about it being the holidays you are going to have a baby in the future. Your body is loudly telling you that you are on the right track! NO MORE SUGAR!

Donna this is the place to be when we are struggling! I was hoping you would be back on this morning as I have a question for you. Do you find it harder to stay on plan when you are having money problems? I do. Why do you think that is?

Terra how is your foot now that you are on it less?

Fi will you be adding a tiny bit of your kitties fur to the collage? That book is in my Amazon cart and has been for months. Guess it is time to push the buy button.

Betsy I love it when your mountain is out. It gives me such a fuzzy feeling. I think your declaring it a good time to lose 10 pounds may just prevent me from slacking until the new year. See your crazy ideas are good sometimes! Thanks for the link to genaw I need all the support I can get. What have you been cooking lately?

Bllondy good job on the 2 pounds down! I've copied your two Pinterest quotes and added them to my weight loss cards. Have any more to share? Hope the packing is going well.

I am feeling more like myself again. I've decided to reread Beck's Diet Solution again since it is about attitude and not foods. I know the sugars and carbs are what causes me to feel hungry. I have to work on the attitude part that helps me to think it is OK for me to do that to myself. Hopefully by the time I get done with that Santa will deliver the book Fi recommends to me.
Sorry for such a quick post but I've got a pig sty to clean!
Have a peaceful day and remember that you are loved!

It's a rainy, blustery morning out there. Ubee, not only is the mountain not visible, bit may have blown away in this storm! The silver lining......Toby only smelled about 5% of the blades of grass before deciding to come inside and start his morning nap a little early.

Fi -- I remember that you don't know how to cook, but thought that maybe Bob could find some salad recipes for you. If mindless eating works with getting your salad eaten, then go for it. Mindless eating for me is how I got to this point.......although I do have to admit there was no mindless eating of salads!

Tami -- Yahoo! Congratulations. It is a wonderful feeling to see numbers that were in the rear view mirror again. Good for you. Ubee answered the question on cute names for the various hundreds. I chuckled over being given permission to walk the treadmill at a speed where you can still converse -- mainly because with my arthritic knees and hips that's about as fast as I can go anyway! The Yoga does provide a lot of help with range of movement.

Donna -- Please don't ever feel too ashamed to come post on here. Remember that I managed to gain 30 pounds since July and am now fighting to get it off. It was really dumb of me to let that happen to myself, but battling the demons is going to involve a few failures along the way. The difference -- and I do chalk it up to posting with this group -- is that I now stop the regain before it gets totally out of hand and get back on track. In the meantime, hope you start feeling better physically. It's been a rough fall season for you healthwise with just not feeling very good a good deal of the time. And we're here to support you because we've all been down that road.

Terra -- So glad to learn that the background drums are not a favorite of yours either. 40 minutes of them would drive me bonkers (bonkier?).

Sam -- Sometimes one hug just isn't enough. I have to admit that I don't miss the fighting-for-no-good-reason fights, but then I also miss out on the companionship, sharing and love that you two share. First, thanks for being brave enough to share. And second, it sounds like you know your mom pretty well and understand her. It also sounds like of the two of you, you are the more mature. If you want to really shock her, tell her I've managed to get 50 pounds off and I've only been dieting for 2 years.

Ubee -- Yes, occasionally my brain manages to find the right answer. And sometimes I manage to stay on topic long enough to realize that it is the right answer. Glad you're feeling more like yourself. I've had steak the last three nights, but am having some fish tonight. I'm going to sit down today and go through the genaw site and make up a 14 day induction menu plan for myself. I seem to do better when I have a meal plan written out. And I've got to stop eating pecans! And no more "one tootsie roll pop won't hurt" in the evening. I am my own worst enemy.

Off to the gym and then stop by the framer's place to drop off a couple more prints that are really an odd size. I should come home and work on the hanging of the pictures, but will work on the menu plan instead and probably shopping list. Most of the Christmas gifts have arrived, the cards are sent, and with no baking this year, that frees up a few days. Of course, I do have all the home improvement projects that I've started to finish.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Hi all!
So, I was a little naughty this morning.. I had a sausage McMuffin and hash brown from McDs.. I did what the pin I posted yesterday said NOT to do.. I rewarded myself with food. Oh well... I am having a salad for lunch so hopefully that will offset some of this morning's naughtiness. Not much news today.. pretty much the same from yesterday. Hubby gone = Me sad. But so glad he works 4/10s so gets to come home Thursday night instead of Friday night. I also won't lie and say I don't enjoy having the whole king sized bed to myself. I sprawl all over the bed.. hahaha.. I also use his pillow. Ok. Enough with the cheesy.

As far as the house situation.. Didn't get any packing done last night due to trying to get yet some more paperwork scanned and emailed over to the mortgage people. I swear, they know more about me than I do! There shouldn't be anything out of order in our lives once they're thru with us. Ugh.. :P Just trying to hang on and not lose it like I did last week. Thankfully my very level-headed husband is the one on the phone with these people..

Ubee, glad you enjoyed the quotes! I find them very fun and motivational.. when I actually remember them. I went onto my Pinterest account and found a couple other ones that are good.. "Exercising would be so much more rewarding if calories screamed while you burned them." and "'I regret that workout' -- said no one ever!. Packing is on hold for a bit.. I need to get back to it. I always find excuses. I'm really excellent at procrastinating. How's wonderful Wisconsin? I know I've said it before, but I would so totally be in a cheese coma if I lived there.. String cheese.. cheese curds.. *sigh* Deliciousness! Hope your day is wonderful.

Terra, how's your foot? And how goes the chair workouts? My posture is terrible.. I don't know if I would be able to do those very well. How's Clyde doing? Hope your day is wonderful today and that you accomplish everything you want to.

Sam, sorry to hear about the fight.. but I agree with Ubee that it's bound to happen when in a relationship. As far as your weight loss during this year.. That number is amazing and you've done an excellent job. Nobody but you knows exactly what it took to do that so don't let anybody tell you that it's not something to be proud of. Be proud! And keep up the good work and motivate us all!

Donna, sure have missed you!! Not sure what a Costa Coffee Shop is but you had me at coffee.. Hahaha... I'm not an addict.. I don't think so anyway.. But I sure do enjoy the atmosphere and smells of a coffee shop.. and flavors.. Glad you're not all the way back to square one.. keep up the fight. We're here for you and cheering you on and crying with you when things get hard. Praying all is well with you!

Tami Yay for your weight loss!! Keep it up! Stay excited and be proud of your journey thus far. And yay for random.. I love random. I'm more weird than random.. but sometimes they have common ground..

Everyone else.. I gotta get a move on otherwise I'd write something personal.. sorry!! Have a blessed day!!

Good morning everyone (Wednesday here). Hope everyone is having a good week. I'm still chugging along with week 4 of my extended induction. Showing loss right now on the scale for this week already but I'm not counting anything until official weigh in next Monday because right now is TOM. I was so proud of myself yesterday. Someone in my office had their birthday and everyone chipped in for a cake. I wasn't even the slightest bit tempted to want any. I was really frustrated though because everyone in my office knows that I've made lifestyle changes and yet people continued to offer me the cake again and again even after I turned them down. And some people even made comments like "You don't know what your missing", "Come on it's just a little piece". I was really irritated that I felt like they were goading me for no reason. But, regardless, I stuck to my guns and didn't even give it another thought. I ate my tuna salad for lunch and stayed on plan like I have been for over 24 days now. Moving on....I added a picture of the cruise ship that we will be sailing on in February as the desktop background picture on my work computer. I am obsessing a little about reading all the forums and learning all kinds of information. I am SO excited. T minus 66 days til the cruise, and 52 days til I'm home in the good ole USA.

Jeez, my muse is so bossy! I've worked on this big collage until my eyes were so tired, they were craving darkness and letting me know about it in no uncertain terms. But today, right on schedule, I finished it. =whew= I can't show it to y'all until Bob finishes a big file transfer from his old, dying computer to his new one, because I need his fancy scanner for this one—not my ancient, barely functional Canon. So it will be a few hours before I can upload it. But it's 100% done. I can actually not do art tonight. =laugh=

I think this newly bossy muse business has something to do with my Qigong. Not only is it warding off depression and changing my body, it's giving me a HUGE amount of energy. Now I just gotta figure out how to use that energy for something other than art (and tackling runaway kittens), like getting my weight loss project back in gear. My weight chart on the fridge looks weird with a long horizontal line going across it. I want that line to turn downward again!

I'm unsure about what happens next, now that I've proven to myself that I can sustain focus and concentration long enough to venture making bigger pieces. I'm also unsure about how I will nudge myself into exercising more and eating less. But I feel good, really good, tonight. I'm so grateful for the positive changes in my life over the past 14 months or so: finding 3 Fat Chicks, giving up sugar, giving up aspartame, getting into the 200s, accomplishing the BERP, hanging out with you wonderful people, being a happy mentor to my great niece Grace, getting two dynamite kittens with lots of personality, getting new tools for fighting depression & mania, being more present in my body, having more energy & better balance...the list goes on & on. =big smile=

I hope some of my tidings of comfort and joy are spilling out some blessings to you—the fabulous person who is reading these words. If I could bottle it, I'd share it with you immediately. Thank you for being out there! May the Goddess support you, sustain you, and bring you many shining moments this month!

TOgden3 ~ Your welcome for the link, What's your first name by the way? I thought I had seen you post on it in your sig before but now I dont see it so I'm just wondering what it is.

Sam ~ Yeah I've been busy lately. LOL on needing my motivation to get your house clean before your Christmas trip, I'm glad your getting it done slowly but surely.

Ubee ~ My foot is FINALLY better now, I FINALLY get to go back to my walking dvd but I like the chair exercises so much that I'm gonna go back and fourth between the two for now on.

Betsy ~ Yeah the background music to that youtube video is definitely annoying.

Bllondy ~ Like I told Ubee my foot is FINALLY better. The chair exercises are going good, Thanks for asking. Clyde is doing good, Yeah my day was wonderful yesterday. I hope your day is wonderful today too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up at 2 a.m. this morning and I went to sleep at 6 p.m. last night so at 2 a.m. I had slept for 8 hours so I went ahead and got up. Its now 6:19 right now. I have to start watching for my bus at 10:40 so in 4 hours + 40 mins. I'm going to a Christmas party today at school, Its from noon until 4 pm today. Before I go to school today though I'm gonna make sure I do my morning chair exercises and then I'll my evening chair exercises tonight. I think I'm gonna do morning chair exercises and then at noon I'll do my walking dvd and then at night I'll go back to my chair exercises. I hope everyone has a great day. Take Care Everyone.

Hey Terra ... I have grown up and go by Tami which is short for Tamaira.

Hi all, still kickin, just life gets in the way of posting. I'm not much for the "internet" these days. If 3FC had an iPhone app i might be here a little more. I barely check my e-mail these days because I don't like the app designed for it, and if I do spend screen time outside of work its usually just on my phone.

Have not been into weight loss or any of that stuff so feel a little wierd here. And don't have an awesome social life to share at this point and time. My life is getting somewhat back to normal just a little toned down from "summer" version of myself so sorry Betsy and Ubee, no vicariously living through me.

Sunday, I dropped by to meet a friends new baby, (she just adopted) went to christmas-choir practice and then just vegged for afew hours. Monday, I made it to aerobics from work, and the hilight "excitement" in my day was that I tried some new teas that I had ordered. Yesterday I had pizza and helped a friend pack... and then was lazy the rest of the evening. Tonight is the "busy" night... I have aerobics, and immediately following that christmas -choir practice I think I will be too tired to go out after that but I do have a dinner invite. I said i couldn't make it to dinner and my friend suggested I still drop by for desert... which is sweet I am just not sure I will have the energy to do so.

Ubee I definitely have let it sink in that I've lose 91 lbs in 11 months ...I don't know why I continue to let my mother work me up like that. She has always had to be the center of attention and if it isn't about her, she tries to do anything and everything to sabotage people. I talked to my cousin last night about it and she said well look how long it's taken her to no lose ANY weight? She did have a good point. My mom isn't really over weight but she could stand to lose a few pounds. She also said that my mom was probably just jealous, which again, she was right...My cousin always knows the right things to say to make me better. She's coming to visit this Sunday from Texas and will be here through Wednesday so I'm excited to see her. Now the bad part...I ate 1 piece of dark choclate yesterday....I know it isn't the worst thing ever but I made a promise to you that I didn't keep. I'm trying again today. Right now I'm eating some hummus and carrots as a snack. I also started thinking that maybe this craving of sugar all of the sudden may be from what I've been drinking? I started using that Mio Fit water enhance stuff so I can have something other than plain water. It has sucralose in it but I can't remember if that is just as bad as aspertame or what. Do you know? I should research it tonight at home and may have to just stick to plain old water again.

Betsy Thank you for all the hugs...I did need more than one You are right about the stupid fights, I'm just glad that the majority of our fights are just the stupid ones and nothing major. Thank you for saying I am more mature than my mom...I've always known this...I've always had to be the adult one since I was very young and had to grow up quick because of this. I don't regret it to an extent because I have become a strong person for this reason. And losing 50 lbs is still good! I'm not worried about what someone who is more than likely jealous of my attention thinks. She'll always have something to try and bring me down, and I don't need that negativity in my life.

Bllondy Thanks for the kind words. Yes things are bound to happen. We've been together going on 12 years, I've had my share of fights LOL

Shan Great job on avoiding the cake!!! My co-worker went to pick her kids up yesterday and brought donuts back with her...she said she got me a special pumpkin donut and I was like, uhhh no are you kidding me? I didn't eat it but the donuts are still on the table and I see them every time I walk to the bathroom...I don't want to sabotage myself so I'm staying away too.

Fi I can't wait to see the big collage!!!

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day. I did eat one piece of dark chocolate...I promised to stop with the sugar so for real this time, NO SUGAR, PROMISE!!! Went to the gym last night and worked on Abs. One of my friends was trying to get her personal training diploma and told me to do rounds of cardio then a little weight lifting to keep my heart rate up. I tried to do it last night and it was ok. I was hoping to do 3 rounds of 20 minutes on the treadmil and 3 rounds of weight lifting but I only did 2 rounds of cardio and 1 round of weight lifting. I started to feel a little sick so I didn't want to push myself too hard. I also got REALLY embarrassed at the gym. I was on one of the machines where you do a crunch and there were two guys in the room and I accidentally tooted! OMG I was horrified!! Then it happened again on another machine!!! I had my headphones in so I don't know if it was really loud but I played it off like nothing happened LOL...I was so embarrassed so I didn't finish my second round of weights. Tonight I'm going to try and do HIIT on just cardio. I have 9 lbs left to lose by Jan 14 so the pressure is on!!! Got paid today so I'll need to do some grocery shopping and also want to maybe go look for new pants this weekend at goodwill.

Not much else going on...My best friend is supposed to come down next weekend. Her birthday is next week so I need to figure out something cool to get her. Any ideas?

I gotta get back to work so I don't get caught posting on here LOL...Hope everyone has a great day!

Good morning all. The wind is still blowing like a banshee out there, and I keep thinking that I wouldn't mind a Pineapple Express rolling through if it rained pineapples........which aren't on my diet plan, of course!

Bllondy -- Oops! No more Mickey D for you! Your comment about rewarding yourself with food made me think because I've been rewarding, comforting, celebrating, etc. for my entire life with food. Maybe we need to think of it as punishing ourselves with food? It tastes good going down, but then come the guilts, hunger an hour later, and with me immediate transfer to my hips. You have my sympathy on the mortgage process. Just tell yourself that you will actually be approved for a house you can afford and will be able to pay off as opposed to all those people who lost their houses in the 2008 crash because their mortgages were way beyond what the house was worth and what they could afford. I know.....not much comfort. It will end. You'll get moved in. And eventually life will consist of something other than providing more paperwork.

Shan -- Isn't it irritating when people intentionally try to sabotage you! Good for you for resisting -- you're doing a great job of staying on plan. I asked a "friend" once why she always pressured me to eat something that I shouldn't and she said she was afraid that I'd get thinner than her and she'd have to find a different fat friend. Thus the quotes for friend. Something to think about -- motives for pushing forbidden food at you. Planning and dreaming for a vacation is half the fun -- enjoy doing it.

Fi -- Congrats on getting the BIG collage done. And for looking back on the year and giving yourself a pat on the back -- you've earned it. It's been a big year for you, and you deserve to bask in it some. And tell yourself that a horizontal line is much better than an upward sloping line!

Terra -- I missed the part about your foot being better. Good for you. Doing both the walking and chair exercises sounds like a good idea. Have fun at the Christmas party.

Silent Arctic -- So glad to see you, and fortunately the Christmas season will probably keep Ubee and me busy enough to not need to live vicariously through you. Sounds like you're keeping busy -- are you to the time of year where it's pretty much dark or dusky all day?

Sam -- You can always provide laughter for me -- glad I'm not the only one who has tooted at the gym. Actually, I've heard lots of toots at the gym so I doubt if anyone thought anything of it. And going to the gym and tooting is a lot better than sitting at home. One piece of dark chocolate is probably not going to hurt, but the sugar cravings will eventually. It could be the water flavoring. Try just putting some lemon or lime juice in there. I'm trying to use some of the low carb recipes I've found that use sugar free jello. Still has the artificial sweetener, but seems to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Off to the gym, am expecting several packages to be delivered today, and then home to continue the great hanging work. Ubee, missed you so hope you're all right.

Have a great day.

Thanks for the video link Terra!

I also recently found videos of the "No Body Shame" campaign. They're pretty inspiring too.

p.s. Hi everyone! I'm Emily and this is my first time posting in the monthly chat thread!