Despite a wonderful session with Mike on Tuesday, I'm not doing very well—depressed, legs hurting a lot, not exercising, eating too many carbs, generally miserable. Bob and I had a bad fight yesterday. I swear, we have fought more since summer of last year than we fought in 37 years of marriage prior to that. Too much stress, that's why.

I see Mike again today. I predict the same thing will happen: he'll cheer me up a great deal, but in half a day or so, I'll be back in the dumps.

Hi everyone.

Donna, congrats on the 14 lbs. down. That's wonderful. I love soup too. I make a lot of soup during the winter. I looked up cawl, and it sounds similar to a chicken and veggie soup I make sometimes. The recipe I used yesterday used ground beef, something I really have never used before in soup. It was really good but I think next time I make it I will just make it with the veggies.

Betsy, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and have tried a lot of new things in the last few months. Some are healthier and/or better tasting than others, but since I'm home now I have more time to experiment. Weaving, huh? That sounds interesting. One craft I have never done.

Sam, glad you're feeling better and the bloat is going away. One advantage of not working right now is being able to go grocery shopping when the stores are less crowded and not having to wait until after work. I don't miss that.

Porthardygurl, congrats for getting through lunch and staying on plan. I was thinking back to when you used to snack on salted almonds. I bought myself some almonds and I never buy the salted ones. Well, this time I did, by mistake, and they are really good. I could easily overdo it with those if I'm not careful.

Tootsie, sounds like a good plan to workout first. Most of this is a mental thing so the things we tell ourselves are important.

Fi, I'm sorry to hear that you're so down. I hope your session with Mike goes well enough that you can hold onto those good feelings for a little longer time.

I did something yesterday that's a little bit out of my comfort zone. I posted on Facebook that I was trying to lose weight and wondered if anyone would be interested in joining a Facebook group where we could share our successes, recipes, things that work for us, and things that don't. You know, kind of like what we do here, without any of the anonymity. ;) Surprisingly, I have friends that are interested, so now I'm committed to doing it. I thought of it as another way to help me stay accountable. Someone mentioned we could sync our Fitbits to encourage each other, but that's not something I want to do lol. I have never once met the goal my Firbit tells me to strive for and really, I'm not trying to. That's not where I'm at right now. We'll see how this goes.

I hope you all have a great day!

I don't post here very often but I have to ask ........ Is anyone else opposed to having ads, in my case for Jenny Craig, added directly to your posts? I hate it. J.C. is not the direction I, personally, would send a friend for help losing weight and prefer not to advertise them on my posts.

A great day!
 

First of all
Fi....I am so sorry that you are so down and you and Bob are arguing. It must be hard for him to see you in pain so much but taking it out on you just isn't going to help! Sigh....why do men feel like they have to fix everything?
Sam....we had a lovely day...in fact we have had a lovely few days of half term. I love Sam's company so much. The trip to the theatre was excellent. The play was about our local big town Swansea and 3 nights of relentless bombing it suffered in World War 2. It is 75 years ago this week. They had interspersed facts with human stories and it was wonderful with a big dollop of Welsh humour thrown in.Although nothing in comparison to the Blitz in places like London it was still awful.
Tootsie.....it is weird but when I exercise I have absolutely no interest in overeating. I think it is related to the fact that exercise makes me feel so much better and I eat when I am depressed or lonely so the boost I get takes those feelings away. Of course on a sad/lonely day the difficulty is motivating yourself to go to the gym but at least I understand myself better now!!
Port......I cannot imagine asking for a burger in lettuce leaves! I just don't have that level of confidence! I would rather go without. I find it hard enough to ask for (and check!) that they have used skimmed milk in Costa or Starbucks!

Today has been a huuuuuuuuge day. Drum roll please! I turned up at the Leisure Centre for the dance class to find that it had been cancelled because it was half term. I didn't have my gym key with me so I had a perfect excuse to slink off home and pretend to do housework. But I didn't!!!! I borrowed a key and did an hour's workout. I was so proud of myself! I didn't cough once,though because I am constipated at the moment (too many painkillers!) my biggest fear was letting rip! I fell this morning.....long story but my fault for wearing walking boots in the house!.....and landed right on my knees because my hands were full. But despite this I managed to do my usual work out without too many problems....although I suspect I will pay for it later. I had been putting off going back to the gym as I was waiting for my friend to come along too...honestly! What did I think was going to happen!
I hope everybody is having a great day.
We had 5 flakes of snow earlier and everybody got excited!
Take care
Donna

j-ann— I'm sorry to be blunt about this, but I am strongly opposed to any ads for anything on this thread. I would be so angry to have to see an ad when I'm here, I would probably have to leave the thread. And that would make me very sad, because I have found true friends here, people whose support is crucial to my continuing to lose weight. And I don't understand what you are suggesting, either. If you "hate it," as you say, why are you even considering advertising for Jenny Craig? And what did you mean by "your posts"? How could an ad be put on my postings?

J-Ann, I am opposed too. I noticed them today. When and why did they start advertising here? I hope it won't continue.

Fi, you aren't seeing them?

From Ibobi, 3FC Admin. in response to posts on the 3FC Announcements Threads:

"Hi all -- I am sorry for not announcing the new ad placements ahead of time, that was my fault. I was not expecting them to be as obtrusive as this. I am going to ask that they be modified a bit.

Stay tuned!

Paul"

No, Cindy, fortunately, I am not seeing the ads. I use an iPad browser called Atomic Web, which has an ad-block feature. It doesn't block all ads on all websites, but gets rid of most of them. I don't see any of the Jenny Craig ads.

I just now went to 3FC using Safari, the standard Apple browser for the iPad, and saw what the ads are like. They're horrible! The fact that they are in motion is annoying to the max, and the way they appear inside of postings is very intrusive.

I encourage all of you to look for a browser that blocks ads. There are quite a few of them, on all different devices.

I am appalled that 3 Fat Chicks is doing this.

j-ann— I apologize for misreading your posting and thinking that you were proposing the ads!

No problem Fiona. I knew we were both in agreement and figured we all misunderstand posts once in a while. :)

Port People can be so rude in restaurants when you ask for something custom. Instead of them looking at you like hey this person really watches what they eat they look at it as a pain. I guess I can see where they are coming from but if it's an issue then they should write no substitutions on the menu. As far as the extra calories go I wouldn't worry too much about it. Sometimes an increase in calories one day and back down the next will help me with losing. The sodium may have you go up though because of the water weight but you already know that. Hope today was a better day :)

Cindy Usually the advantage for me is I get out of work at 4 so if I only have one store to go to I'm usually fine but with 2 stores...oh forget it!!! How wonderful about you starting a group up on Facebook!! I think that's great. I belong to a couple of PCOS groups and they are really good with giving advice not only on PCOS but with weight management. The one I am in now the people are kind of rude. I got a snide comment from someone when asking about hair loss which is a big side effect of PCOS so I'm thinking about leaving that one. I did just join a new one today from someone I met on Instagram but haven't been able to check it out much yet.

Donna So glad you had a great time! It sounds like it was a really good show :)...HELLO!!!! GO GIRL!!! So proud of you for pushing forward and working out even though things weren't going your way in the beginning...That is what I call determination!!! I hope your fall didn't cause you too much pain, be sure to watch out for it and rest if you need to. (((HUGS)))

To those talking about the ads...I'm on my Mac desktop computer and the only thing I am seeing is a small sidebar ad and one on the very very bottom of the page. I'm pretty sure those have always been there but see nothing else. Maybe it's already been changed?

So had another great day today! I stocked up on some good snacks and things while at the grocery yesterday. I even got myself a 12 pack of cranberry lime seltzer. So far so good. I'm going to need things for salads again next week but figured I'm best to wait until the end of the weekend so everything stays fresh longer. I'm thinking other greek chicken salad or some sort of taco type salad. A company rep came to visit today and bought us lunch. I got the salad I usually get but because we ordered online didn't think of the extra stuff I add like cucumbers and such after I remove the bad stuff from the salad. So I ended up with south west style chicken with lettuce and tomatoes LOL...Luckily I forgot we were getting lunch for free today and took some stuff out of my salad I brought from home and added it to it so it wasn't a complete waste but personally I would have rather have had the one I made looking back on it.

I got home a little later than usual since I had to go to the store and get the few other things I needed that I didn't get last night. It really made me not want to work out but I know I absolutely had to so I did it anyway. DH has a show tomorrow so I don't know whether or not I'll have time to get a workout in before we have to leave so I wanted to make sure I did something tonight just in case. My TOM is sneaking it's way in my life slowly and it's sooo annoying. I started feeling some pain in my right ovary while I was working out. Haven't had that in awhile so I may be in for some bad symptoms soon. I really hope not.

Still feeling a lot better compared to the previous days. Slowly moving in the right direction. I'd like to set myself a goal to lose another 15 pounds by summer if I can. That would be amazing!! Going to try my hardest so wish me luck ladies!

Off to check my chicken breast in the oven...late dinner tonight.

Hey all..

Well..im struggling today..monday was my swim day..tuesday i take a break..wednesday was supposed to be my swim day but instead my husband had to go for a ct scan so i missed it..thursday is day off and so tommorow is my swim day. I feel a little on the depressed side. I think it has to do with not swimming. I feel better about myself on the days that i swim. Today i just feel bloated and awful..partly TOM..partly excssive water from eating too much salt. I feel like im going through a real hungry phase today. I jus want to eat and eat and eat. Dont know why im so hungry.

ugh!

Fi, I had no idea that there were browsers that block ads, but I found one, and no more ads. :)

Happy Friday
 

Sam...when you say your DH has a show...what does that mean?? Sounds exciting? I hope your tummy is OK? I am over " all that" now ...thank heavens! Do you mind if I ask you a question? I have been morbidly obese most of my life and certainly for the last 15 years. When I lost a lot of weight last time in 2012 I started getting a bit of attention from men. Now don't get me wrong but nobody was throwing themselves at my feet or anything but you know when you feel better about yourself you start perhaps dressing up a bit more and making a bit more of an effort? It seems silly to be worried about handing any extra attention when I get closer to goal but you know how even women start making comments and drawing attention to you? I would SO not be comfortable about this and wondered how you have coped with it? A man in the feed shop the other day was, I think, flirting with me. I had come from walking the dogs in that rain and looked like a bag lady! Goodness I squirmed!
Fi....how did it go with Mike yesterday? How is your pain and depression? Did you try the stairs again at the centre?
Port...I am sorry that you are feeling down. Isn't it extraordinary that something as simple as swimming can make or break a day? I find it really difficult if I have planned something, especially exercise, and my plans are forced to change if the pool is closed or something. Hugs to you my friend.
Cindy...."da iawn" or well done in Welsh for starting a Facebook group. It takes guts to put yourself out there in the public eye.
Betsy...are you OK? Something you said a few days ago has had me really reflecting on the change in my life and my mental state over the last year. It has taken a while but I have discovered that I really like my life. Of course when I get towards my goal life will be easier physically but I am no longer waiting for that to be happy I am embracing the journey. What I didn't tell you when I went to the theatre the other night is that the seats were really narrow and close together. In the past that would have been my only fixation....too fat for the seats.....but I thought " To heck with this...I am going to enjoy the play" I sent a text to my daughter last night saying " I love my life"! I really feel my respiratory consultant is on to something with this diagnosis and treatment plan and feel that at nearly 50 life may begin....finally!

So as you can tell I feel really positive and happy at the moment. I know that there will be tough days.....when I am ill or tired or just plain fed up. I may not get PMT any more but I certainly get some menopausal grumps! But the strains of last year have finally receded and onwards and downwards (weight wise I mean!) I got up early today to take the dogs out and BOY were my knees stiff from the gym and my fall yesterday. I am going to have some cracking bruises! But I still went...which pleases me immensely. I need to do some housework this morning and then I am off to see a friend with her small baby later. She sees me as a surrogate Mum I think which is lovely and I get lots of cwtches( a PROPER Welsh cuddle!) with the baby. Tonight I am off out again...honestly get me! I am off to a classical music concert. Sam is with his Dad or he would have come too....he really enjoys it. The house is strange without him, but I am learning to cherish my space and not eat to pass the time until he comes back.
God Bless you all,
Have a great day,
Donna

Hi everyone,

I feel like I am slowly coming out of some dark days. Yesterday seen me hauled into the office regarding my job; I had done nothing wrong, yet my position is temporary, and the boss wanted to discuss what happens when a job is advertised, etc. To say I was gutted was a massive understatement. I cried allllllll day. It was the worst. To top it off, I also had a couple of non serious yet really annoying side effects of my new cholesterol medication, so I was feeling super rubbish. Tonight, I had a farewell for a lady I work with. She has been a patient mentor and a really good friend, and I am devastated that she is leaving. She has always had my back and has protected me against some of the nastier people we work with, when required. She is just an incredible woman. I feel a bit lost without her. I made it through today without crying, which I feel is an achievement. I just feel so unstable at the moment. Tonight at the farewell, I decided to try a dress I haven't worn in a while with heels that I haven't worn in about 4 years. Without trying to brag, for the first time, I noticed my slight weight loss and thought I didn't look half bad; still plenty of room for improvement though! Just thought I would share. The last couple of weeks have seen me feeling more down than I have felt in a really long time, and I have hated it. I have pretty much kept to my diet, including tonight at the farewell; not one piece of cake or deep fried finger food passed my lips; so I am taking that as a win! I have to weigh in and be measured on Monday as it will be 1 month since I started the challenge. I am super nervous, yet I know I am doing my best, so I will just have to wait and see! I hope everyone has had a positive week!

I'm pleased to report that I'm doing much better today. It doesn't feel like a temporary swing, but a solid improvement in my mood, diet, leg pain, and relationship with Bob. My meeting with Mike was very focused on what I need to do to beat back the arthritis in my right knee and move forward into walking longer distances, not just the 5-6 steps I take in the bathroom. Mike was pretty serious, even rather stern, which might have been very disheartening to me a couple of months ago, but yesterday.... it felt like exactly what I needed.

And then, when we got home, I did something that really perked up my spirits. Bob always backs the car into the carport, so the passenger side will be lined up with the door of the house. Usually, like for many months now, I climb from the car right into my wheelchair, and then he pulls me backward and up over a small step into the house. Yesterday I said, "Let me see how far I can get." And then I walked all the way to the inside of the house! I was especially pleased because I was walking in my shoes, when so far all my practice walking has been barefoot or sockfoot. And there were a couple of spurts during that walk that felt like real walking—picking up my feet, swinging my legs—not the lame painful sort of walking I do in the bathroom.

I took that feat of walking as a good omen for the big increase in Qi Gong exercise and walking practice Mike wants me to do—like maybe 2 hours a day, including a meditation in the middle. I'm nervous about it, because my mind is always going a mile a minute, so I get easily distracted from concentrating on what I'm doing. Mike knows that, and as he senses I'm emotionally strong enough to handle it, he's slowly starting to give me more and more grief about talking & thinking too much and not being sufficiently focused.

I would like to write some personals, but I've been busy-busy-busy with collage-related stuff this morning, so I desperately need some down time before I do that big block of Qi Gong and meditation and practice walking. I hope to get back here to write individually to y'all, later today.

Good morning from a very windy and rainy Northwest. But everything is budding, my kitty willows are out, and some of the daffodils are even blooming already. Come on Spring!

Fi -- Sorry that you're on what sounds like a roller coaster, but if it's any help there have definitely been more good days than bad as of late. Or at least your posts reflect that. Your time with Mike seems to be helping immensely, and our personal victories mean so much to our state of mind. Keep at it. You're going to beat this and hopefully in the not too distant future this will be just a very bad memory.

Cindy -- I think setting up a group of friends on Facebook is a great idea -- especially if they're supportive. That's a huge step and I have to admit that I wouldn't want to share my weight with anyone that I would possibly see. Of course, that's nuts because I would dearly love to meet so many of the people I've met on here.

j-ann -- I'm with you on these ads showing up in posts. I was gone yesterday, but noticed one show up today in someone's post. Definitely not ok with making it look as though that person is endorsing a particular weight loss approach. Hope they get this fixed!

Sam -- I loved your sharing that you'd be a puddle in some circumstances but can stand up for yourself as well. Reminded me of myself when I was your age (many, many moons ago!). Glad you're getting back on track with being on plan. I'm just now realizing after my 40 pound regain last year (only took me a year to grasp this) that I really, truly, totally have to commit to eating healthy for the rest of my life. And it's a lot easier to put it back on (say 20 seconds is all that is required) as opposed to getting it off again. So, chuckle with DH and drink those flavored seltzers!

Porthardygurl -- Yes, restaurant eating whenever you change the menu offerings can be a complete challenge. If they have a burger that I want and won't leave off the bread, I just have them serve it with a bun and take it off myself. Unfortunately, most restaurants aren't interested in serving up foods that are healthy. They're interested in selling more meals and that usually means as much fat, sugar, other stuff as possible.

Donna -- I definitely need to take a page from your book and get myself out and about. The change in your life is tremendous and yet again I wish there weren't an ocean separating us. Please keep posting about what you're doing and pamper those knees. And, yes, I'm ok. I'm thinking about changes in my life that will happen in between 5-10 years and it's made me reflective. Did I mention that I like to plan ahead. :D

Calda -- I don't know if it helps, but the message I would take away is that they value you and want to make sure you understand the process of applying for others jobs as they come open. However, having gone through 2 company buyouts while I was still working, I know that anything relating to job security is stressful and can be traumatic. Top it with losing your mentor, and I imagine it's been a tough couple of days. On a positive note, dressing up and feeling good about it! Definitely something to focus on.

I spent yesterday up scouting areas nearer to my older nephew to try to determine where I would like to eventually move (that's the 5-10 years from now). I'm slowly narrowing down the options and I would have to sell my house first. That's been part of the reason why I've been doing so much work on the house this last year. I plan on staying here maybe another 2-3 years and then will probably get serious about moving.

I don't know what happened yesterday, but I'm 2.5 pounds lighter this morning. I didn't eat particularly well since I was on the road all day, but maybe it had something to do with the 5 bathroom breaks. Honestly, I can't travel 20 feet without a stop!

Off to the gym. Hope everyone has a great day.

After my post appeared, I noticed that there's a Jenny Craig ad popping up. NOT HAPPY!

That's interesting. It went away from the first one and appeared in the short one I just posted.

Sorry for the multiple posts. Evidently these Jenny Craig ads move to the latest post and disappear from earlier ones.

Hi everyone.

Sam, I'm glad you're feeling better. You definitely sound better. I think I would probably quit a group too where people are rude to me, especially people who are going through the same thing.

Donna, you sound wonderful. Your happiness shows. I hope your knees start to feel better soon. Enjoy the concert.

Porthardygurl, sorry to hear you're struggling. I really hope today is a better day for you.

Caldawg, I know you've been going through a lot lately, but it's good to hear that you are slowly starting to feel better.

Fi, it's so heartening to hear that your mood is improving, and that you are starting to walk more. You have come a long way already from last year and I'm sure Mike is pushing you because he feels you're capable of doing this now,

Betsy, congrats on losing another 2.5 pounds. Isn't it crazy how when we don't expect to lose, we sometimes do, and when we've been so good the scale doesn't budge. I am not sharing my weight in my Facebook group, just what I lose. That number is reserved for you lucky people and DH. ;)

Yesterday I went ahead and set up the Facebook group I mentioned the other day. Honestly, I don't know where I'm going with it yet, and I'm hoping there will be more input from the few friends who have joined and posted so far. I made it a public group, so in case any of you want to check it out it's called Losing Weight Together. I don't think we have to be Facebook friends for anyone to access it, but I wouldn't mind that either.

Today all I want to do is eat and sleep. My cat woke me up before 6 this morning, and then proceeded to walk across my face to get to DH, scratching me in the process. I don't know where she gets her manners. I thought I taught her better than that. ;) I took a little nap earlier and although I'm eating a lot it's all stuff I can eat and it's already tracked for the day, so hopefully I won't gain back the pound I just lost.

I hope you all have a great day!

Good morning..will get to personals later..im just going to be heading to the pool for my workout here in a bit.
Wanted to pop by and say that im doing better. I was happy today to step on my scale and see it go down to 226.4 According to my tracker i am only 1.4 lbs away from my goal of 225. Somehow..inless i lose water weight from my TOM still, i am not sure that its possible to make my goal for tommorow :( I wish i could but i guess not..Dumb period!

Anyway.. going to swim and feel better and then make a gluten free sugar free feaux apple crisp out of chayotee squash. Should be interesting.

Take care all.

Good evening...

Well its been a day of one crisis after the other. My day started well and then it got worse and worse. Not my day per say...but dealing with other peoples stuff. I spent 3 hours listening to a friend vent his anger and bitterness and confessing "sins" that are rather private. Then the Pastor of a church here in town showed up at my door because a mutual friend was in crisis. Found out as the night progressed that the friend's husband was arrested for assault. This was not the first time. I knew about the first time and should have reported it and this time the pastor was confided in and he chose to report it. So now my friend and her husband can not see or talk to each other for a month. This of course makes circumstances challenging since this friend is on disability and husband doesnt work. Friend has severe form of cerebral palsy and is in wheelchair and husband is sole caregiver for their 3 kids. 2 of their kids have autism. Friend does not drive either. Youngest is 2 years old. So yah...what do you do? Furthermore what do you do when your nearest family is a 9 hour drive plus a 2 hour ferry boat ride away? So i have spent the night trying to help her get her kids to bed..clean up the house and now i am sleeping over because of safety concerns. Husband now has a criminal record and has been released on bail but is in town with no food, no money, no clothes and no where to live for the month. So yah....one crisis after another..The question as to what will become of there marriage..it beats me..i have no idea.

I just find it amazing that the moment i put my application in to medic school, i got called personally by people every time there was a medical issue. Since ive put my application in for the college of professional counselling, it seems like everyone is coming to talk to me about there probems. Really i dont mind listening but now i see why there is a conflict of interest in counselling friends and family..you cant be as objective or cant see things a certain way..your biased because of what you already know of that person. But also it hits closer to home. I actually felt more emotionally drained from listening to them but its cause i have a deeper concern..its not a shallow relationship..they are deep lasting friendships.

Anyway its officially my birthday..im now 30 as of 4 minutes ago..so lets try and have a good day shall we?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTHARDYGURL! I hope you have a fantastic day with much less drama!

Oh....don't you just hate it when you have typed for ages and you lose your post!
Port...what a burden for you! Don't lose yourself in trying to help this lady. Abusive marriages are incredibly complex. I am involved in an organisation that works with abuse victims and the only thing that really works is a multi-agency and long term input. You are a lovely friend to this lady.
Fi...your mobility sounds like it is improving. I know you are having bad days as well as good days...I hope the latter outnumber the former!
Hi to everyone else....board is quiet today!

Oh I had a bad night last night! You know I told you I had a fall and landed smack on both knee caps?? Well I think the incident has come home to roost. I was awake for a good deal of last night with really quite awful pain in both knees....my left one in particular. Not the usual ache but a real sharp pain that wouldn't ease despite painkillers. I avoid anti-inflammatories because they can aggravate asthma symptoms, but today I resorted to them and the pain has eased. I have rested today as I haven't wanted to push the knees. I am still a very heavy frame to be moving around on arthritic knees! Food has been good though.
Really enjoyed the concert last night.......having a social life is a new experience for me!
Hope everyone is doing OK
Donna

Good morning everyone. It's a gorgeous day here and the skiers are thrilled as there was 18" of new snow on the mountains yesterday. Glad we didn't get any of it down here in the valleys.

Cindy -- Tried to find your FB group, but there are several groups with that name. What's the profile pic look like? I love it that you think you can train a cat! Sorry you got scratched in the process -- especially upon wakening. I realized when I read that all you wanted to do was eat and sleep that every day seems to be filled with thoughts of "what can I eat now." Even when I'm super busy. I definitely need to work on training my brain!!!!

Porthardygurl -- Happy Birthday :bday2you: Hope you were able to have some of the day to celebrate you. It sounds as though you've got your hands full with helping others. I understand your going over to your friend's house and staying the night. But I'm be at that clergyman's door telling him to get the church members organized to help out for the next month. Are there any facilities or agencies that can provide assistance long term because it sounds as though her husband will continue to abuse her?

Donna -- I'm so sorry about the knee pain. Hope they continue to get better, but falling on arthritic knees hurts for a long time. If they're still in such pain in a day or so, maybe a doctor's trip is warranted to make sure that nothing got too badly damaged. And you're right that we're putting our knees (and hips, ankles, and back) through a lot carrying this weight around. Glad the concert was good for you. You're inspiring me to get out and about more.

I'm going to groom Toby today so that means that this afternoon will be spent vacuuming and chasing little stray wisps of hair all over the house. He's pretty good about letting me do this other than he refuses to stand so I have to work around him. He's just got a lot of hair!

I gained back .8 of a pound yesterday and that was with staying on track on day. Not too surprised since a 2.5 pound loss in one day meant that I was probably pretty dehydrated. I'm having a higher protein/lower carb day today. Lower carb for me is to keep it under 75 g for the day.

Guess I'd better get it in gear. Hope everyone has a good day.

Just wanted to sneak back in and say hello! I haven't been on the computer in MONTHS (probably because I spend so much time on the computer at work!) I passed my 5% weight loss goal at my WW meeting this morning, and I'm feeling great! I hope everyone is doing well!

What a day! Taking care of 2 kids with autism plus a third smaller child and there mother who is used todoing nothing and making the father do everything..its a stretch for her. She has what is termed as "learned helplessness". She has had people baby her and do everything for her including her husband and now she doesnt know how to take care of herself or her kids. This situation is a mess and sadly the burden falls on me cause she doesnt know how to reach out and ask for help from anyone else. I am thankful for social workers and victim services and police but she doesnt know how to advocate for herself or her family and what she needs. Its extremely frustrating watching rhs all take place. Im not sure yet what kind of boundary to set..still thinking it through.

Definitely on a roller coaster: I crashed into pretty bad depression early yesterday afternoon, and ended up taking a Seroquel, which helps ease the dysphoria but is very sedating. I can't take Geodon anymore, because of how it makes my leg muscles have bad dystonias—like small cramps that are wicked painful. I tend to fall into a very deep sleep when I take Seroquel, which is a problem because my legs don't do well at all if they are immobilized for a long time. Gotta keep them moving, or they get very balky. Pain in my legs is a constant problem—not just my knees but my thighs and lower legs as well.

Today has been better, but I had a few hours of being very angry—at nothing—just more of the anger that goes with this fits-and-starts recovery from depression. I was able to meditate, though, and that helped a great deal. Bob had a helpful suggestion: find something absorbing to read. I enjoy crime novels, and it didn't take me long at all to find a terrific one. It sure is handy to be able to download books and read them on my iPad!

porthardygurl— The situation with your friend with CP sounds awful. I wish I had something useful to say. Can you get the pastor to recruit more people to help out?

Donna— Sorry to hear about your knees! Is there any chance you fractured one or both of your patellae? Maybe you should get an X-ray...

Hi everyone just checking in quickly. Didn't want you guys to worry since I've had a pretty steady track with posting daily as of late.

DH has been very sick vomiting and all since yesterday. His show got cancelled since he was so ill. He's been doing better today..no vomiting but still queasy and a lot of bathroom runs.

I got home very late from work last night and I had aleady planned not to workout because of DH's show so I called it an early night. I was so busy at work there was no time to do anything...I didn't even get to eat lunch and I always make sure I eat. By the time I got home it was so late that DH and I were both starving so we ended up getting chinese. I ordered something half way decent and considering I didn't eat lunch I still did good nutrition wise...just had a little more carbs than usual.

My TOM finally came late Thursday night so I've been not in the greatest of moods. Didn't get much sleep last night because someone decided to shoot off fireworks at 2 AM and then I was having a hard time staying comfortable since I always feel like I can't move much in bed when it's TOM.

Went and visited my grandma today. She wanted to go out for lunch so I took her to her favorite place...Olive Garden. We had soup and salad for lunch. I ordered the minestrone but didn't eat the pasta in it and didn't even eat ANY breadsticks!! Can't believe it lol!

Anyway DH and I are about to watch a movir after he finishes cleaning out the turtle's tank. No personals but wanted to say hi! I doubt I'm going to weigh in tomorrow with this lady issue hanging around so maybe next week.

Talk with you beauts tomorrow!

Hi everyone! Just checking in to say hi. I have my Week 4 weigh in tomorrow, including weight and measurements recorded; I am feeling nervous! I know I have been good on my diet, but I just worry how I would go mentally if I had done plenty of exercise, ate really well and managed to gain weight?! I hope everyone is having the best weekend, I will post my results tomorrow. Eeek!

Hi everyone.

Porthardygurl, happy belated birthday! I just realized I never posted yesterday. The situation with your friend sounds just awful. You are such a good friend to help her through this, but I do think she needs more help than you can give her. If she won't advocate for herself perhaps you could make some calls for her. I know that's one more thing for you to do when you're already doing so much, but if she is able to get some other help that would relieve some of the burden on you.

Donna, I hope your knees are doing better today.

Betsy, I had no idea my FB group name was so unoriginal, so I had to go check that out for myself. There isn't a profile picture (it just shows the combined pics of the members) but it is the group that only has 6 members. The others have more.

Fi, I hope you have a better day today.

Sam, I love Chinese. I have found several dishes at my local take-out place that I can have without gaining anything as long as I don't have the rice. They are still probably too high in calories, fat, salt and sugar, but it isn't something I have often. I hope DH is feeling better and TOM isn't making you too uncomfortable (or making you want to eat everything in sight.) ;)

Caldawg, good luck with your weigh-in. I hope your hard work shows on the scale.

Well, I managed to lose another pound and I even had potatoes last night. Go figure. I know, potatoes are not the enemy, although in my life they can be lol. I figure as long as I track everything I eat and still have enough room left for something I really like (as in something with a lot of carbs) then I will let myself have it, just not every day, and as long as I can keep losing. If I stop losing I will have to rethink that strategy but for now it's working. My food is already tracked for today (yes I am obsessed) and I'm just waiting for DH to wake up so I can make us omelets for breakfast. No toast for me. :)

I hope you all have a great day!

Calda— Good luck with your weigh-in and measurements today! Are you doing WW? What I'm asking is, does this event happen privately, or with other people around? I think it's great that you've chosen to go with periodic weigh-ins, instead of obsessing abut the scale on a daily basis. If you are doing it in a public setting, I think you're very brave! A couple of times I've done weight loss programs (I'm almost 61, so that's a lot of yo-yo-ing) where you weigh yourself in front of someone else, and I've had a hard time with that aspect of it. It doesn't matter whether I'm losing or not, I get so stressed out by other people, even just one person, commenting on my progress or lack thereof. So now I weigh myself privately, once a month.
Sam— My sympathies with your TOM... do you get bad cramps? When I was in my 20s I had terrible cramps. When I went to med school and worked in labor & delivery for three months, I learned that the pain of labor itself, even w/o any anesthesia, is actually more bearable than bad monthly cramps. Why? Because labor has a predictable pattern, a smooth increase and decrease, and then a break before the next round. Cramps, on the other hand, are usually highly irregular, without predictable breaks. Just something to think about if you reach that happy day... =smile= And when you get to my age, you're mercifully free of all that fuss. Because your baseline is no longer wandering all over the map each month, it's a lot easier to make sense of any emotional fluctuations from being bipolar. And, if you take care of your bod, you've got thirty more years to live!
Porthardygurl— Please know that I'm thinking about you, in your difficult situation with your friend who's in crisis. Let us know, when you get a chance, whether any other people are pitching in to help out. Please don't wear yourself out with someone else's stressful life!
Betsy— Way to go with stickin' to the lower carb diet! Recently you said to Cindy, "I love it that you think you can train a cat." I know you don't have a cat, but I can't help saying that yes indeed, cats can be trained. For those of you who may want info on how to do so, I highly recommend Starting from Scratch: How to Correct Behavior Problems in Your Adult Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett, a "certified behavioral consultant." As for your relationship with Toby, Betsy, I definitely get the sense that you're doing a great job. Training and tending to a large dog is not easy, but what a sweet, playful companion you have! Bob and I chose long ago to have our family be the two of us primates plus (usually) two felines—a nice species balance in which we're always learning from each other. Animals can be so stress-relieving! (And they've done studies proving that.)
Donna— I sure hope your knees are getting better! I want you to know that you're a big inspiration to me in using the pool to help out arthritic knees. I need to get to the point where I can park my wheelchair against a wall or something and then walk to the pool. What would be even better is if I could drive myself there, climb the outside staircase, and walk the whole way through the women's locker room to the pool... but I don't know when that will be. =sigh= Our local pool does have regular aqua-aerobic classes and a nice big hot jacuzzi, so I'm dreaming....
Cindy— Thanks so much for your supportive comments! (That goes for all of you. =smile=) Let us know how your Facebook page comes along, whether you attract a group of helpful allies in your weight loss journey.
Ubee— I miss you!!! =pout=

My goal for today is to walk! It's time for me to park my wheelchair at one end of the downstairs hallway, and see if I can walk the whole length of it and back. That would be about 4-5 times as far as I walk in the bathroom. Even if it hurts a lot, I need to be sending the message to my legs that they are designed for walking, so no more slacking off and pretending to be useless appendages. =grin=

And guess what: tomorrow is my 61st birhday, and it falls on a full moon! Lots of energy at that time of the month... My great-niece Grace and I get a kick out of the fact that she turned 16 in February 2016, and I will turn 61 that same month: side by side, we form a palindromic number! =big smile=

Happy Sunday!
 

Hi everybody!
Fi...thankyou for saying that I inspire you! There is not a day that goes by that my knees don't hurt but it usually a deep and mild ache with stiffness rather than the sharp pain I would associate with significant injury. They have eased considerably since the awful night on Friday but I have been taking Ibuprofen which I will have to wean myself off before they start having chest side effects...they increase wheeze in asthmatics so I have to be careful! Happy Birthday for tomorrow....Penblwydd Hapus....!
Cindy......hey..take the pound weight loss! Oooh I do love an omelette! In fact I love eggs full stop!
Sam...I didn't have my Chinese the other night...the evening was cancelled. I know that we need to learn to "cope" with the threat of eating out or takeaway without panicking but I was glad it was cancelled so as not to challenge my equilibrium!
Caldawg....good luck with your weigh in. Tomorrow is my weigh in day too
Port....I am thinking of you and the responsibility that has landed on your doorstep. I hope you have been able to share the responsibility with others from your church or in the community? Take care of yourself.
Well...a quiet one for us today. Church this morning....it was my turn to sing in the band which I love. I have so much more confidence now than even a few months ago. The same dog escaped the park this afternoon. I had risked letting her off the lead in a bit of the park that I thought was safe but she managed to find a hole in the fence. Luckily she was wearing her name tag with my mobile number on it for the first time (she is microchipped) and a lovely man rang me from the carpark of the supermarket that backs on to the park and brought her back to me in his car. He was so nice! And a fellow dog owner. Well she stays on the lead from now on !!
Have a great day chickens.
Big Hugs,
Donna

My internet bandwidth is throttling right now so going to keep it short so I don't lose my post...ahh the joys of living in an apartment complex with everyone having internet lol...

Filed my tax return today. I need a new A/C and breaks for my car and a few other cosmetic things that need repair so hopefully it comes soon enough. I also want to get my wedding ring resized finally and hopefully have enough left over to have the baby cat spayed.

Having a few bad cramps today. I think it's a mix of gas and TOM. UGH! Not bothering with weighing in or measuring this week. I'll wait until this passes.

Have a great day all! Hoping for a better week next week :)

Good morning all. Winter decided to reappear here -- cold, wet, and windy with temps in the 30s. That's freezing cold for us as we normally don't get below the 40s.

Maecrochet -- So glad to see you back here and congratulations on meeting your 5% goal. Great news!

Porthardygurl -- You are a saint to be helping your friend and for you own sake hopefully some solutions are found soon to ease you out of being such a central part of this. I know a few people who have learned helplessness who don't have CP and it can be "unlearned." Hope that you get through helping this friend without any emotional or physical trauma to yourself.

Fi -- Glad that the depression pain was doing better and I am impressed that you're working on walking down the hall. Hope it went well for you. I did chuckle over the book reference on training an adult cat. I have seen them trained to respond to the shaking of the treat box (Pavlov had nothing on our pets!), and have even seen them trained to walk on leashes. But I love the independence that cats show. I've just always gone with dogs since I live alone I like the thought of having a barking dog if a stranger comes to the house. They don't know that all of my dogs would have then licked them to death.

Sam -- I hope DH is doing a lot better and even more I hope you didn't end up catching whatever he has. That type of illness seems to be so easy to pass on to someone else. Hope you enjoyed your visit with your grandma.

Cindy -- Well FB and I are not cooperating on connecting with your group. Probably something I'm doing wrong! Good for you on the weight loss. And I totally agree with you that as long as you account for something in your daily tracking then allowing in foods on an occasional basis is a good thing. Actually, I've found that when I do that I am able to stay on plan for longer stretches of time.

Donna -- An escaped dog does add that element of excitement to our walks. Toby is just beginning to understand that he needs to walk beside me and not pull on the leash. He's so big and strong that he can pull me over! And that's a lot to pull over. Glad you got your doggie back. I know what you mean about not being that upset when some social events are cancelled. I miss the event, but don't miss the trying to figure out what the heck to eat. And there's always someone who will push you to just try a little. How is the work on the house coming along?

My younger nephew is coming out today so I can get his taxes done and then we'll go over to Bill's house and I can do his as well. Yippee! (That was sarcasm.) I've ordered a bunch of stuff for Easter for the kids (young and not-so-young) and have decided that instead of having a lot of candy, I'm going with the usual quarters in their plastic eggs, some toys, glow sticks, etc. I'm making some homemade chocolates and cookies to put in glassine bags, but that's going to be it.

On the diet front I am totally confused as to what happened yesterday, but I'm up over 3 pounds this morning. Now obviously I must be walking around sloshing with that much weight gain, and I can't for the life of me figure out what I ate to make me retain that much water. Discouraging but I'm not giving up.

I'd better go get dressed and get a cup of coffee in me before my nephew arrives. Hope everyone has a great day.

I'm doing it! I'm walking all around the downstairs! Bob was taking a shower when I wanted to go downstairs, so instead of waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him to bring my wheelchair, I just walked to the futon and dumped the stuff I'd carried down. Then I went to the bathroom. Then I went all the way down the hallway and into the kitchen, and got myself something to eat. Then I returned to the futon. All of that walking, not holding onto anything, for a total of a longer distance than I had originally planned.

Damn—I think I can now walk to anywhere I want, in the whole house! And if I can do that, I can walk out to the car and go for a drive! Whoopee! Freedom at long last! And it didn't even hurt very much. Just a little bit in my shins—no big deal.

I think this is the best birthday present I've ever gotten, in my whole life... and it's arrived a day early!

Good Afternoon Everyone.

Well the drama and crisis continues. It would be easier if my friend could admit that she CAN NOT single parent her kids. She isnt living in reality. 2 nights ago i spent the night sleeping over at her house and then spent all of yesterday taking care of her kids on top of making meal plans, grocery shopping, bathing children and cooking dinner plus entertaining them, breaking up screaming matches and dealing with meltdowns before finally getting them settled into bed last night. She told me that parenting by hersf would be easy and that she just needs someone to pick and drop off her kids to and from school, someone to do their laundry, someone to do the ecycling and grocery shopping and her mom would do meal prep for the week and it was simply a matter of her taking care of the kids till they go to bed. Like a hop skip and a jump. Yah....no! It took me 30 minutes to get her youngest down cause she screams athe thought of going to bed. I had to physically pick her up and take her to her room and guess what? My friend cant pick her child up or drag them anywhere. Because her other 2 boys have autism..they have issues listening and it takes a lot of work to get them into bed. Earlier that day she said "im going to go call my mentor" and im like "ok". So she leas the room and goes to herbedoom and closes the door leaving me with the kids. When she came back, i said "reality check..as a single parent you cant do that..you cant leave your children alone while you talk on the phone for an hour" Her children have been caught running around the house with sharp knives before. They have endangered themselves and each other and even her when left alone and somehow she is going to just do this on her own?? Oh and lets not forget that earlier she was "exhausted" and wanted a nap and i said "reality check: your kids dont nap so you cant either". Then there was an incident when her kids were playing in the backyard and they were hitting each other and she says to me "im too exhausted to deal with them. I dont care anymore". So i went out there and dealt with both of them. I came back and was like "this is your job as a single parent now..you really think you can do this alone". For the past 9 years i have watched her husband do EVERYTHING for her and the kids. She hasnt had to lift a finger. She has lived on her couch watching movies, playing on the computer or sleeping.. and i mean sleeping like going to bed at 1 am and waking up at 1pm and then having a nap around 5 pm. She hasnt even had to change a diaper. She loses her temper at everything. She wonders what made her husband snap? Aside from the fact that he has what looks like OCD and Bipolar...he hasnt had a break in 9 years. Not one oppotunity to go away without the kids, by himself to have a break. Yet she goes away every year for a week. Like..can you say "BURNT OUT".



What a day! When her mother(who is only here for today and part of tommrow) arrived, I sent the two of them out for dinner so they could hash out some stuff and talk. I told her since her mom is here till tommorow afternoon that I would take today and spend it with my husband cause i hadnt been home in 2 days.

Sorry for venting.. it just frustrates me to no end how stupid she is being. She needs to accept help from family services..have her kids go to respite while she sorts this all out or somthing.

Speaking of which..im being asked for.

Later chicks.

Hi guys! Just thought I would update you all on my Week 4 weigh in. In a month, I have lost 5.35kg, 18cm all over and I have gone down 1.92 points for my BMI. I am feeling pretty chuffed!

Porthardygurl, it sounds like you are getting a very raw deal! Is there outside agencies that may be able to provide extra support? It sounds like no one is coping in this situation. I truly hope it gets better for you!

Fiona W, CONGRATULATIONS on your progress! That is amazing, I am very happy for you! Fingers crossed that you continue to improve :D

Porthardygurl— OMG, girl, that is an UTTERLY impossible situation! You are an absolute saint not to have blown up and stormed out on that woman! I certainly would have. "Reality check" is just the beginning of what she needs: she needs a small army of helpers. Please, for your own sake, turn that situation over to someone or some service that can organize more people to help out, or even place the children somewhere else on a temporary basis. I'm worried about you....

Tootsie— Whazzup?

Calda— Way to go! Excellantay! Congrats!

Meanwhile, I'm finding this new walking thing to be both intoxicating and very challenging and even hilarious. After yesterday's feats of extraordinary athleticism =laugh= my thighs were so sore it wasn't even funny. But I was so happy, I just lay on the futon going "Oh boy! I'm so excited! OUCH! This is terrific! OOoooo OUCH!" (expletives deleted) and so on, for at least a couple of hours. Bob was really thrilled for me, but he couldn't help laughing at the stream of joyful exclamations and curse words over the pain pouring out of my mouth. Thank god for the cats: they were all over me, purring up a storm. And then when it came time to walk to the stairway, climb the stairs, and then walk into our bedroom to the bed, oh man, was that painful... !!!

But I'm undeterred by the pain: this morning I woke up at 5 AM with a great idea for a collage, so I got up (owww!!) and walked down the long upstairs hallway (owwww! oh-eeee!) to my studio and got some stuff I needed to carry downstairs to where the scanner-printer is. I didn't make it very far on the way back, though: at the door of my studio my knees began to shriek at me and I had to plop ungracefully down on the floor and holler for help. Poor Bob was already awake by then because of all the noise I'd been making, and he came and got the books & papers I'd retrieved and took them down for me, while I clambered on hands & knees back into the bedroom, and climbed back into bed—hurtin' to beat the band, but punchy from endorphins. I was laughing and moaning all at once, and Bob came back and sang me his family's traditional birthday song, the lyrics of which are:

It's not the pickles or the pears
It's not the beavers or the bears
It's not next week or yesterday
Today today is your birthday!
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you (repeat ad lib)

Oscar and Nénu have been bouncing all over the bed, tussling with us... well, you get the picture: this walking thing is a trip, but I gotta pace myself or my legs are gonna totally QUIT on me! =laugh=

Ooooo yummy, Bob just brought me a big Texas-style omelet stuffed with Monterey Jack, nopalitos (little pieces of cactus) and jalapeño peppers.

I can't wait to be off into more walking adventures.... and maybe (cross my fingers) going for a DRIVE today! Woo-hoo! I have been craving getting behind the steering wheel for so many months now.... it's ridiculous!!

But first I gotta eat this omelet.... =grin=

Hi everyone.

Fi, Happy Birthday! I just read your post with the biggest smile on my face because I am so HAPPY for you. What a wonderful birthday gift to be able to walk around the house. After everything you have been through it's wonderful to see the progress you're making. You are rockin' your 60s. You go girl!

Betsy, some days I just want to throw my scale out the window. I assume your weight gain is water weight and temporary and will be gone soon. Thanks for trying to view my group again. It's probably something to do with my FB settings.

Donna, I also shave a hard time with social events - mostly because of the challenge of the food. I'm glad your little doggie was returned safe again.

Caldawg, congratulations on your loss. You're doing fantastic. Keep it up!

Porthardygurl, you have my sympathy and admiration for all you are doing for your friend. Just remember that this is HER situation that SHE created, not yours. It's wonderful to be able to help someone through a rough time, but don't neglect yourself in the process. You need to take care of yourself and your family too.

MaeCrochet, congratulations on losing your 5%. That's awesome. (Sorry this is belated. Somehow I must have missed your post before.)

Sam, I hope you're feeling better today.

Tootsie, are you out there somewhere? Miss you.

My scale is up 2 lbs today. I'm not too concerned about it though. It will go soon. (hopefully)

Not much planned for today. Possibly a nap later as I didn't sleep well last night. For now I'm off to get some breakfast and check job listings.

I hope you all have a great day!