[BarbPA]

Good Morning Ladies -
I know it's Friday, but I have to post my Thankful Thursday list:
~ Although seriously overweight, I am thankful that I have the ability to do something about it!
~ I am thankful that I can afford to buy food.
~ Thankful for the wonderful country that we live in.
~ Thankful for the house that I can live in, the car I can drive, the things I can buy, the traveling I can do.
~Thankful for the family that loves me, the husband that I couldn't live with out and the best group of cyber and real life friends I love so much.
~ Thankful that each day I can wake up, get out of bed and control some of my destiny.
~ Thankful for the medical science that will enable me to have a child, an if not - thankful for the worldwide adoption system.
~ Thankful for my job and my husbands job.
~ I could go on and on, I won't do it here, but I will do it in my head.

I fell into what I guess was a pretty good depression the past couple of days, without realizing that's what it was. Dh and I are having serious issues finding a way to juggle his very demanding job and upcoming Dr. appts. To the point that we may have to postpone them a bit because his boss has warned him that he will have no life for a while due to a merger. Yes, the fact that his job is impeding on our personal life sucks! But, he also can't risk the job that enables us to live as we do. I am trying to deal with this. Last night I was so upset and all I could do was focus on the negative - "I'm fat, your fat, we'll never have a child, blah, blah, blah" - It was a huge pity-party! It was my husband that reminded me of all the wonderful things in our lives! He also made me realize that I should seek professional help with all this. I am nervous to talk to anyone, but our work has a relationship with Carebridge which does offer emotional counseling. I need to get up the courage to call.

So, I've had a rough patch here recently, but I think I am finally seeing it and know I have to work my way out of it. I've got to live everyday of my life, not live for a day in the future that may or may not ever happen.

As always, thanks for listening and thanks for your love and support!

2Cute - I am so proud of you! What a wonderful job you have been doing of getting your mind and body on track!


Judy - WOW, you go girl!! 4 Pounds is awesome!

Terri - Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and encouragement! Do you have any plans to enjoy time on the boat or with the horses this weekend? I am sure you do - you keep so darn busy.

Kat - Your peach analysis cracked me up! However, what it did was made me realize to slow down and pay more attention to things! Thank you! But, I agree, let's not evaluate the cookies to closely!

Lucky - What a wonderful job you are doing with your walks lately!! Yay for you! Loved the cornfield story!

Susie - Happy to hear that you had a fun lil getaway! Good for you getting back to WW. I know how hard it is to find that you have gained back the weight you have lost. It sucks having to lose it a 2nd, 3rd, umpteenth time, but you can do it! Hope you find time for us in your day to help motivate you! It's great to see you stopping in more!

CD - I am not sure I have given you a proper welcome....WELCOME AGAIN....IT's great to have you join this wonderful group of gals! They are a ray of sunshine everyday of my life and I don't know what I would do without them! I hope you had fun at the Roundup Rally last night.

Barbg - The Oxycise is sounding interesting - especially the commuter tape. I spend so much darn time in the car...may have to go look for that.

Skittles - I hope you feel better soon! At least you know now why you had such a rough part of the week. Thank you for your prayers! I use to drink lots and lots of Diet Coke - now I rarely ever have it. I didn't go cold turkey on it, just slowly stopped buying it, drinking it less and less. Now it's rare that I have any soda. I drink lots of water. My biggest problem is Ice Tea --- although in the scheme of things I don't consider that a big problem -- I do want to get myself off of caffeine though. I really like Propel - it does have a small amount of calories, but is a good pick me up drink. Sending you some virtual chicken noodle soup!

Andria - Wow, books are expensive! I'm so proud of you for working so hard to get what you want!!! You are such an inspiration!

Thin - I hope your knee is feeling better. Keep those feet up and rest it. How is the torture device going? I can't wait to test it out at the Spring Fling II.

Lisa - Oh boy, your emotes said it all! When does school start?? I can just picture your lil boy as the dinosaurs. Yikes!! Hopefully you will find a lil peace and quiet soon!

Michelle - Sounds like things are really happening for the move! When are you actually leaving? Hopefully we can get together before you leave the area.

Syn - I hope you are doing well and still enjoying your long distance friendship.

I noticed a few gals posting bios, but not stopping to chat....we don't bite (hard)...the water is fine....jump on in and chat with us!

Mary - How are you doing these days! Glad you had a nice vacation.

Tina - You've disappeared on us again. I hope you are doing well.

What about the rest? Duckie, Connie, Joanne(s), Pat, Melissa, Scooter, Ingrid, Blue, etc. You are all missed and thought of!


Ok, the time has come for me to dive into my work for the day. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

I love you all!

[qsilver]

Hey everyone

How is it that reading here always helps me to find my perspective and fine tune my focus when it shifts?

I'm with Barb as far as being a bit deep in the blues the last few days. Everything was piling up and getting more and more difficult. I even showed my first gain at Decisions. Then I took a deep breath and stopped beating myself up. I have been under a huge amount of stress. Changing schools at the last minute, not having financial aid all ready to go because of the shift, coming up with that money out of pocket, getting our mortgage refinanced, finding out that it was going to cost much more than they told us originally, and so on and so on, it all contributes. Then I went through my food journal. Yeah, of course I was up 1/2 a lb. My water consumption has hit as low as half of what it should be in this last week. My proteins, veggies and fruits all had extra boxes to fill, while my starches and fats were over almost every day. But here is where the perspective shift comes in. I was reading here and letting all of you inspire me to keep moving and to try again. I don't want to lose my progress! I've been out walking all but one day this week. I've been to Curves all but one day this week. My water is back up where it should be, and my food has been right where it should be for two days. Most important of all, I feel back in control!

Did I share with all of you that for the first time I can remember since having this serious weight gain, I can see myself getting down under 260? That might not sound like much, but it is a huge mind shift for me. I've concentrated for so long on getting under 300 and not going back over that mark again. Now I can actually see myself moving forward and beyond the other goals. When I was down into the 280's before, the focus was still on not gaining back over 300. I'm not even worried about that any longer. This feels like the real deal, ladies. I'm going to make sure it is.

I love you all. Thanks for being there and sharing so much of yourselves. You make a difference in my life every single day.

Andria

[SusieH]

Friday is here and I am so glad. Food has been so-so, but I am still not doing as bad as I could.

J-Ann: I will probably still with the points program, but modify it back to how it was prior to the 35 flexpoints. I will give my self the point range and allow myself to bank each week and earn exercise points. Was I was really on it, I did great, so...let's try again.

BarbPA: Glad to hear that you are getting out of your funk. I feel for you, and have many of the same feelings you do about weight, pregnancy, etc. The lack of a pregnancy is partially to blame for the weight gain, but if I keep getting bigger, it will just increase my chances of not getting pregnant, so I have to stop it NOW! I want to be a healthy mom and even if I don't have another child, I still have Andrew and need to be healthy for him.

Andria: Congrats on being back in control. I hope to be there soon.

Skittles: Hope you feel better soon.

Well, got to run.....

Susie

[2cute2Bfat]

I was not going to post now. I have a MILLION things to do and I have not yet done my swimming either. BUT.. I had to pop in and encourage BarbPa to call and talk with a counselor. I always took great pride (false pride) in knowing I could handle any situation on my own. Well... I had to seek someone to talk to when my husband left me years ago. I had to "humble" myself enough to say... "I need some help."
That said.... I think the counselor I got stunk. He even told me I helped myself more than he did... but the bottom line was... I got help dealing by talking.

My daughter also had to go to counseling once. She is a VERY intellegent young woman but she needed some outside support ... other than what I could provide her. She had a WONDERFUL female counselor and got TONS of great help in only 3 short visits.

Andria... I LOVED your post. It was such a prime example of why to read here daily. I might have missed that post if I only visited occasionally. Your post showed me both ends of the spectrum. Your struggle and backslips.... and your success !!!! I LOVED really LOVED the part about "seeing yourself under 260". That was such a MAJOR success. It is more than just turning a corner. It was a complete turn around. Not living in the fear of the past anymore... but living for the future. WOW !!!! I would love to be there. !!!! Thank you sooo much for posting today.

Okay.. not trying to avoid anyone else... just really have to get back to those MILLION things waiting for me.

[cdtobehealthy]

Skittles - I took a long time sadly. Its especially hard when you're trying to watch sugars/carbs/etc as well. To be honest I was in high school when I was told to stop drinking soda, and a guy I really really liked (heck, still like...oi) was really athletic and told me about how he never drinks carbonated drinks because it messes up his body for running (I can't quite remember what he said, was probably too busy staring into his eyes ) ... and that helped a lot too. I never wanted him to see me with a soda again :P . Have you ever tried Crystal Light? Most of their drinks are kinda yucky, but I actually like their tea a lot! Just take itty bitty steps.. like no soda at work or home (one or the other), then slowly step up to no soda at either. Hope this advice helps a bit!

To those of you who've been upset: I hope you get out of the sadness I've been upset up and down (fighting with your loved one doesn't make it any easier, eh) .. but don't forget that putting on fun music always helps. Sometimes working out to some angry music can help. If any of you need to vent or talk at all, don't hesitate to e-mail or pm me at any time.

Hugs to everyone

The Roundup Rally was a bummer. Crowded, small, and not fun at all.

Today I've been browsing a lot to find a cheap collection of exercise/Simmons videos on ebay. I think I found some I'm gonna buy Plus I bribed my mom into letting me borrow her Bellydancing Videos. I was considering Tae-Bo but I don't know how hard they are (the others I've used before) so I think I'll save tae-bo for when I'm more in shape.

the hardest part of this all and changing my academic life is less time with my boyfriend. We've spent so much time together always.. for nearly 6-7 years. How can I make this easier? We don't live together because of college, so most of it is actually time on the phone or computer.. so its not like we could workout together Oi vai. Any suggestions?

[katrinabgood]

Quick "Hi!" and I'm heading for the shower...we're picking my girl up from the airport tonight...plane arrinves at Newark at 11:30! I sounds like they had a fantastic journey,..but she's ready to come home. awwww...

I rode my bike today...to the pool club to meet my dh , son and nephew there. I did some swimming...and rode home to make a simple, safe dinner of salad and chicken. I highly recommend Tyson's Frozen Chicken Breasts. We get a big bag at CostCo. No defrosting, season how you like them, cook 20 minutes on the stove and they're done right every single time. Great for a quick meal.

Okay, commercial over.

I have to jam...see you all later!

.

[LuckyLadyBug]

Hi,

I didn't go up north to a cabin this weekend. One of my uncles is coming home. He is a hotsy totsy important professor in the academic world so we are all getting togther tomorrow to visit with him. He hasn't been here for two years.

I am glad I didn't go away because I REALLY need to get some serious walking in Sat & Sun. (especially since the corn is still in the fields )

I didn't get much walking done this week between being busy and rain.

Tuesday is coming up fast -

I feel so tired. More tomorrow.

[dgrizzle]

Hi All!
It's late, Friday night and bedtime for me. Been up since 6 so I'm ready to crash.

Barbpa...I get down a lot too, and have thought about seeing someone just to get a fesh perspective. DH has his opinions, but he is too close to the source of the issues, and I can't take advice from him. I'm still eating when I'm blue, even though I'm aware of it now. I say, talk to someone professional, it can only help.

To the rest...have a great weekend!
Debra

[thinthinker]

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} to everyone. Sounds like everyone needs one.

Sorry to not be able to post much but Honey and I just got in from a bar shop. Lots of detail needed for the report and my digital recorder didn't work. Honey thinks it was "operator error", bless his rotten heart!!! It was a terrible day. Mother Nature decided to FINALLY grace me with her presence. Man, it's a B!^@H getting old.

I did have to come in and tell you all about my latest eBay auction win! I got the first 2 DVDs of the Cardio StripTease! Yup, you heard right. Oxycise, shmoxycise! This girl is going to learn how to strip. Can't you see Honey's face now???? Wish me luck. I figure I can't use the "evil machine" with my knee hurting (and I was getting so good at it) that this is the least I can do. Maybe I'll give you all lessons when you're here next Spring for the Fling!

Ok, this girl is going to bed. Love you guys!!!

[cdtobehealthy]

Cardio striptease eh?! I should take a look on ebay to see if they have some of that for me :P Funny enough when I was looking for exercise vids on there I came across Chippendales movies! I might be buying a few just for a good laugh.

I just spent a good portion of the night putting together a "Workout Music Mix" and I'm actually super excited about working out now because of hearing these songs. A lot of them I don't usually like but they do have an awesome way of getting you in the mood! My Jane Fonda tape has realllllyy slow singing so I have to mute it and put my own on

yes, big hugs to everyone!

[2cute2Bfat]

Thin... CARDIO STRIP TEASE !!!!!!!!
I want pictures !!!!!

I can't wait for Spring now !!!!

I was going to post... but my side is killing me from laughing.
Sorry newcomers... you just have to know our Thin to know how funny this is.
(can I borrow them )

[Terri in MO]

Good morning ladies!

Its Saturday! Still time to make the 2 pounds by 8/31 possible! Its hard to tell if I'm making progress with the extreme humidity we've been having. It should break this weekend and I need to drink lots of water. Plus keep my salt consumption down.

I haven't gotten totally focused to where I want to be. But I have made some progress. Our schedules have been so busy this summer. My biggest culprit is eating late and therefore eating too much at dinner.

I have gotten in more exercise this week so I feel okay about that.

We have had so much rain this week. Feels more like June than August. No boating this week.

I think I've been down about the horses. I had cleaned the stalls good on Saturday and then on Monday we get out there (after torrential rains) and there stalls were soaked. All the bedding ruined. I had to totally remove all the stuff and put them in the indoor arena for the night. That was after a hard day at work and I felt totally defeated. Then the barn is under new management again. Grizzle is still around but he's hired another guy to run things. We have been discussing turning them back outside on the lot because its cheaper, we won't have to clean stalls, and they prefer outside. However, Ginger needed the stall because of her foot. And it was nice to be able to walk in the barn to get our horses without being swarmed by other horses. Or having to see them with bite and kick wounds from other horses. The farrier has a metal plate on the bottom of Ginger's shoe which helps keep it clean but we're still having to soak her foot for abscess. It is all such a dilemma...which way do we go, stall or lot? Last night we put them out with one of Grizzle's horse so we don't have to go over daily this weekend. I hope it gets to where we can enjoy this again.

I did go for a ride last night. Tanyah hadn't been ridden in almost 2 weeks because of the crappy weather. It was very warm and humid so we were both soaked. I rode in the hay field and we rode at a hard trot. That uses the upper thighs tremendously. I even got up the nerve again to canter. It has been so long since I've done that that I have to relearn how it feels and how to keep myself from flying off. Especially learn how she feels when she canters versus "bunching up" to run. It felt good and my legs feel it a bit today.

I actually have no plan for the day. Bear doggie would appreciate it if we'd not leave him behind and spend time with him. He'd also like it if I'd walk him again. Tonight I will. Its been either too wet or too hot for him to walk.

Maybe laundry and some cleaning downstairs around my desk area. There's always bill work to be done. Or maybe just be lazy for a change! If the sun shines, I need to weedeat the backyard.

I have to admit, I'm ready for the Olympics to end. Its been fun but...

Oh wow, I just saw a picture of "fruited chicken salad" on the local morning news. I'll have to go check out their website for the recipe.

BarbPa - I agree with everyone else. This is such a difficult time you're going through and it can be so very hard on a couple's relationship. I've gone to our Employee Assistance Program a couple of times in the past and was glad that I did.

Thin - Bummer about the knee and having to stop doing the pilates. Don't throw out a hip though doing the strip! There is some chick that used to be on L.A. Law that now teaches pole dancing because she did it for some movie and now think its what every marriage needs. Is it her on the DVD? I think I saw her on Oprah last year.

CD - Good job on making the music. It really does help. I work so much harder when I have upbeat music.

Andria - Sorry about the gain but you have been going through a really difficult time too. Looks like you've gotten yourself into a good perspective though. Positive visualization and beliefs about your body help inspire you to continue to make it better. You're doing great!!! Such an inspiration to us all that even in times of stress and hectic schedules, it can be done. Thank you!

Kat - Enjoy your welcoming that baby girl home! Good job on the biking. Hopefully the weather will dry out and the horses less work so I can enjoy my bike again before it time to store it for the winter. Keep posting about your riding to remind me!

Lucky - Have you finished Dr. Phil? I have finished Chapter 12 but want to go back and reread some of that chapter. I'm really glad that I spent the time to go through his book. Like he said, I'm not "cured" but I have a better outlook on myself, my body and my future self. Good job with all your walking!

Susie - Good to see you checking in again and that you're getting refocused at WW. You can do this!

2Cute - Did you go out to see Mars? I wanted to last but we've had rain all week and no starry nights.

Sorry if I've missed someone but I better post this before I lose it.

Make today a fabulous day! P.S. Make it a healthy weekend!

[Terri in MO]

Roll call for the 2 lb challenge

Terri
Kat
2Cute
BarbPA
Barb.G
Lucky
Judy
Thin
Andria
Skittles
Debra
Pat
Susie

Potentially a total of 26 pounds gone for the group!

Just a reminder! No giving up even if you think you won't lose the 2 pounds. Its about making changes in our lives that will help us lose the 2 pounds. Do SOMETHING this weekend towards that goal!

[Skittles]

Well it looks like Thin has made everyone's weekend. But I say to heck with the pictures, and put up a link with streaming video Yep I'm a perv.

Yesterday was just a great day at work in the morning, then it went all downhill from there. I swear, by the time people actually learned to communicate I think I will have forgotten to.

Well this weekend looks good I am all set for my meeting today. I have a nice big veggie tray, and I am going to try to take very small portions of all the other goodies. Tomorrow will be fun day as we are going to Renfair with friends and we will be having breakfast first at a buffet, then stuff at the fair. I hope it is as cool tomorrow as it is today. It's just lovely outside.

I am feeling much better thank you all for the thoughts and prayers and stuff.

BarbPa, I loved the virtual Chicken Noodle Soup, very low sodium

Andria, I am glad that you have made that hurdle, that you can actually see yourself getting under that weight. I know I am not at that point yet since I am just starting. My goal is to get to 275 and not go back up for now.

Lucky, ummm... what are ya gonna do when the corn fields are gone?

Cd, Jane Fonda? Is that any good? I have Richard Simmons, It would be ok, if I could stop laughing, it is just too fun. I also have the Mari Windsor Pilates, Ouch,

Well I am off to check out ebay for a few minutes to see what I can find, striptease, chippendales, I have obliviously been shopping in the wrong areas of ebay.

skit

[ageoldie]

I've got an interesting day on my agenda. I told DH I wasn't working this Saturday (today) and he said "YOU DIDN"T WORK LAST SATURDAY" So I had to remind him I hadn't worked a Saturday this whole month, so why ruin a good month But back to the story: I got a flyer in the mail that "they" are starting a Dallas Chapter of the Sjorgren Foundation Support Group. They are having an informational meeting and luncheon at the area hospital. They will have a Rheumatologist, a Dentist, and reps from the National Sjorgrens Foundation. Since this disease is so new to me, I thought this would be a good chance to learn more about it, and maybe answer a few of the many questions I forget to ask my doc. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Since yesterday was FUN FRIDAY, I had my Bunco Night. I did have fun.

Kat and anyone else who is interesting. I'm not sure if it's worse to be fat or be sick. I started the Oxycise this week with GUSTO, then Wendesday night I felt too bad to even put the tape in, so Thursday night I was determined to do it, so I got started, but some of the first moves were hard, so I wasn't able to do it. I've either got to get a new level 1 or start on the Easy Does It tapes even though I don't like them.

My coffee cup is now empty so I guess I'll quit rambling.

Oh I forgot: Thin Please expalin a BAR SHOP. Do you mean you have to actually go to a bar and have someone else pay for you to drink Margarita's? WoW what a nasty job, but I'm sure someone has to do it, Right?