God Bless America!

We want to invite everyone to join us in our journey.
We share laughter and tears.
We share what works for us and what doesn't.
We recently started a Topic of the Day.
Monday........Motivation Monday
Tuesday.......Tuesday Tips
Wednesday.....Wednesday Weigh ins
Thursday......Thankful Thursday
Friday........Friday Facials, Fingernails and Fun
Saturday.......Sit-up Saturdays - any physical activity
Sunday.........Soup and Salad Sunday - recipes

These are not required topics ...just ideas to share. We have found them very helpful. We also share heartaches and fears...joys and celebrations.

WELCOME!

Hi gang... Yes, I've been out of touch. Again. And I've been sort of off-program. Not terribly so... actually been in relatively good control of eating, haven't gained weight, but haven't been counting calories, exercising, or, needless to say, losing anything.

And I'm not sleeping enough either! And now I know it's not just my imagination that sleep deprivation makes me crave comfort foods. Well, getting enough sleep is something I can certainly work on, as I LOVE sleep. Thanks for that article!

Happy December everybody... we did so well over Thanksgiving, let's keep it up with this next round of holidays, yes? YES!

Andria... congrats on your 10 lbs loss. You are correct.. you could have gained 10 so it is a 20 lb difference of where you could be. And 20 lbs is awesome !!!

Angela... thanks for starting the new thread. I am glad the sleeping article helped. I am trying to improve... but I am going to have to completely give us caffine because it does keep me awake.
I am with you.... LET's keep up with the challenge during the holidays !!! YES !!!!

Thin... glad to see you are having a good time. I know you were concerned. It sounds like it is going okay. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

CD ... Last finals. How did it go ????
Looking forward to hearing from you more now.

Skittles... Glad you are feeling better.

Mary... you have done awesome on your weight loss. -65 lbs !!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!

Leanne... hope you are feeling better. It has been nearly 24 hours since you posted. I know you are in a totally different time zone so you are probably sleeping. LOL

Jen.. sorry to hear about your brother. It sure is nice of you to make Christmas goodies for everyone. Sweets from a sweetie.

I am getting to bed early tonight. At least BEFORE midnight. I have to train myself. See everyone in the morning. I sure miss those of you not posting. Hope you peek back in.

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me..... ???

I DIDI IT!
Also, besides finishing the Christmas Carol, I made a major committment today!
I went to CURVES, took the tour, tried a few machines and signed up for a year. YIKES! figured "might as well do it right if I was going to do it!" I got a discount on the initial fee because I am a retired teacher! I thought that was very cool!

This is going to be quick because I have been on my feet/on the go nonstop since 7 am this morning (its now 11:30 pm) at my twins' Year 10 graduation, graduation luncheon, getting things ready for the Formal tomorrow night (like a prom I guess) and trying to fit in a trip to the supermarket and to the library in the middle of it all. I just want to get to bed.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my last post with hugs and support - I really appreciate not feeling alone in this time. Thanks 2Cute for the suggestion about writing things out as many times as necessary to purge them ... I think that's basically what I need to do. I really feel like I am "over" my ex - I don't bear him any ill-will, basically feel nothing much towards him ... but I still have a lot of grief over those lost expectations I guess. I supposed its just a matter of time. And yeah - I have four beautiful kids from that time in my life, which is worth everything else.

Angela its great to hear that you are maintaining while not watching everything you are eating - when this happens with me I remind myself that's what I'm going to do when I get to my goal, so practice now is a good thing! I hope you get some good sleep soonish.

2Cute - you are right, mostly I'm asleep while everyone is posting ... so when I wake up in the morning there is usually a page or two to read to catch up!

Sorry I havent answered everyone personally - I am feeling particularly braindead tonight, and I desperately need some sleep before I tackle my thesis again tomorrow (in between Formal preparations/taxi and photographer duties).

Hi all,
Well last night was an interesting evening. My hubby and I had a discussion on why "The Little Drummer Boy" is a dumb song. Well, I have to say his arguments did make sense, but I never really looked at it his way before. We came to an agreement that it had it's good and bad points. I just love our communication, we talk about anything.

Food is going ok. Exercise, well, I might be up to doing some of that tonight. I'm suppose to start eating somewhat normal again today. So sad, I was thinking of making myself think that my mouth hurts bad so I could continue this wonderful mushy diet I am on.

Well let's see if I can remember everything on the previous thread.

CD, Woo Hoo! Exams are over! Don't you feel better now? I'm sure you did great, now get out there and exercise.

Thin, Will you bring me back a souvenier from Vegas, I think a Cowboy would be good. YEE HAW!! Hope you are having a great time.

Andria, do you realize you Rock My World, Way to go on the weight loss.

Susie, Welcome Back! We've missed you!

Angela, Way to go on your maintenance. That is progress as well since you are not going backwards.

Gmalil, Glad you joined the club. Now it is a commitment of going. I am a member of BAllys and I don't go like I should. But now I am going to get my lazy butt up and go in the mornings. Cause it is too crowded in the evenings. Thanks for sharing your commitment.

Well the song is over what do we sing next. How about the Christmas Song.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

ok whose next?

Joyce... CONGRATULATIONS on taking that step to join Curves.
You are right.. if we are going to do this... why not give it our all.
Thanks for completeing our 12 Days of Christmas.

Leanne.... Formals... how fun !!! I have several formals hanging in my closets still from when my daughters were in high school. I just can't seem to just give them away... they cost soooo much.
I totally understand being over the ex, yet still have the grief of the whole experience.
I still have days of grieving today... but they are few and far between. Time and writing will help in that grieving process. Hang in there.

Skittles ... I am definitely going to have to go find me a book of Christmas Songs. LOL
I "think" the next words are "Jack Frost nipping (or knocking) at the door" but not sure so can't post it.

Well chicksters.... I wrote before I went to bed and now as soon as I woke up.. so not much to add about me. LOL Have a wonderful day. Don't forget... you only have 3 days left to earn your BONUS for the challenge.

Thankful Thursday....
I am thankful for new beginnings
Thankful for blessings of the past.
Thankful for the opportunity to improve my future.

hay all,
i have been doing a lot of christmas shopping and the weather here has not been good Tuesday we had a 2 hour delay for the school that i drive bus for and that just messes up the whole day because i missed my ww meeting and i have not been right all week seams like i am forgetting to do something all week ! hate when the routine is changed the worst part is that with missing the meeting i have not been able to stay on program .
Today is not going to be much better of course i know this a head of time so i can make plans i start my day with taking my father for fasting blood work , then i have to get him some breakfast , so i can take him christmas shopping for my mother with out her with me , i then have early late bus for the school so i wont get home till 5:00 to 5:45 and i then have to leave so my daughter can weight in at her ww meeting and we have to leave right away so that she can be back at her school for her christmas concert she is in High school girls ensemble
Hopefully the concert doesnt last to long i am not a night person we get up tooo early in the morning to stay out and up to late .
But it is the choir,girls ensemble, and band i think it will be a late night .
i will have to plan something QUICK for dinner hopefully on Program .

Hello,

Today has been a great day at work. I don't have the budget to think about and I finally got to start cleaning up my piles of paperwork in my office. Mind you, I have about 10 two foot piles, but I made it through about 2 of them so far today. I have so much filing to do it is not funny, but this is about the only time during the year that I have time to do it.

Food still isn't that good, but I am hoping to change that soon. Tomorrow is going to be a hard one, since food is going to be the basis for a lot of things. We have a breakfast buffet for the building that I work in and then I am taking my staff to a christmas lunch at a place called Southern Fires. I guess I will just have to do the best that I can.

Andria: Congrats on losing the brace. I know that when I broke my toes, I hated having to wear the shoe all the time. I don't like to be hindered. Also, congrats on your weight loss.

Thin: You sound like you are having fun. Glad to hear it.

Joyce: Congrats on joining Curves.

Hello to everyone else. Got to run and finish reading my emails before lunch is over.

Susie

Howdy ya'll, from Cowboy City!!!! I told Honey he was going to have to wear his cowboy hat more often (and I don't care what else he wears with it ) Ummm Ummm GOOD!!!

Actually, I'm just checking in. Honey's sitting on the chair patiently waiting for me. Whatta guy!!! Anyway, we're off to investigate OUR hotel this morning since we haven't done that yet. Meeting our friends at NYNY for lunch. Then off to the Hilton for the Star Trek experience.

Honey wants to stop at Caesar's to bet on a pony.

Tonight we have reservations for the show at the Excalibur.

Food has been decent. Had a lunch buffet the first day and some Chex Mix for dinner. Had a burger and fries yesterday for lunch and about 3 bites of my dinner last night cuz the food was terrible.

See you all later. Honey is only soooo patient and I'm still not dressed. Maybe he's patient because I have on some new lingerie!!! Sorry, TMI!

Love ya bunches!

Hey everyone

Skittles, good choose for the Sing Along!

The Christmas Song

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir...

Next! (**Hint** if you don't know the words, Google comes in handy)

Thin, you wild woman, you! Sounds like you are having a blast and way too much fun to be bothered with overeating.

Susie, filing is bad enough, but when it gets behind, it is the absolute worst! I wouldn't worry too much about the breakfast buffet and the lunch out with your staff. There are bound to be some good choices there, and if you don't feel like those, just keep the portions a tad smaller on the others. Or, enjoy it all and do a little more exercise later on. You have had so much on your plate, I'm impressed you can even think about being OP.

MaryB, you sound like one busy chick! Have fun at your daughter's concert. I'll be at my daughter's tonight. Too bad her group doesn't start playing until 9:15. That is almost her bedtime!

Leanne, you sound just like my sister this week. She is getting everything ready for a Winter Ball at her daughter's school, and is going nuts with all the details. Silly her for wanting to be in charge of it. Still, they have sent pictures of the dresses and I've been hearing all about the decorations and food, and it should be a lovely affair. Have fun with the graduation as well! Is there a moment for you anywhere in all of this?

Joyce, thanks for finishing our song. And congratulations on joining Curves! I hope you love it. I know I do, and I can hardly wait to get back.

2cute, you made me laugh! I hadn't thought about that loss quite like you put it. Yes, it could have easily been a gain, and that kind of makes it a 20 lb. loss. And I'm keeping up pretty well with my challenge. Not perfect, but not bad at all. Definitely better than I would be doing without it.

Angela, were you a cheerleader earlier on in life? If not, maybe you should have been, cause you got me off my backside and logging my food this morning. Thanks! Grats on maintaining this time of year. That is an accomplishment, and you know it!

Things aren't going quite as planned today, and I'm a bit frustrated. I thought I had a way to crochet class this afternoon, but it didn't work out. Next Thursday I'll be in Vegas, and the Thursday after that is the 23rd. Would be cutting it a bit too close to Christmas for my taste. I'm going to do some searching onine and see if I can't find a pattern for a shell stitch and how to put a granny square afghan together. Can't be that hard, right? Other than that, everything is going pretty well. It was really nice to get up and start some cleaning this morning. I didn't last very long and have been resting up ever since, but it still felt good. Since I can't finish my little one's pressie, I think I'll go work on Tony's. I've been so nervous about starting his that I keep putting it aside. Definitely time to get moving on it!

Have a great day all!

Andria

Okay... where is everybody ??

Barbg... I am missing your cute little pics. I am missing even MORE is you sharing about your exercise routine and passing on those desserts. I am most successful when I can follow you in your victories.

BarbPA ... Missing you too. You are always committed to your recovery process .. even if you slip now and then. You never give up. Your commitment helps my commitment.

Michelle... Where are you ?? We have been here a longggg time together. I just plain miss you.

Thin... I know where you are. You are off modeling fancy new lingerie. LOL

MaryB... I am proud of you for posting. You definitely have a busy schedule.
How was the concert ?? Have you tried using a crock pot for those busy days?

Susie... You posting two days in a row.....you could knock me over with a feather.

Andria... you were at your daughters concert too tonight. How did it go ??

I already replied to Skittles, Leanne, Joyce, and Angela ... so that leaves the MIAs.
Lucky, Kat, Sandy, Jennifer, DGrizzle, CD, Lisa, Gail, Kerri and anyone else I missed.
Come out .. come out ... wherever you are.

Andria... thanks...that google really helped.


Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos ....


Where are SANTA's helpers ??

hey everyone! My finals were done last night, but I am still working full days (today) and tomorrow ill be my last day until January 10th or so! So after tomorrow I should be able to catch up :P but then again, I'll be attacked by tons of appointments hahah.. Doesn't feel like I'm going to have a break at all;p

Well today I drank all my water, and I just worked out - food was kinda 50/50.

But i worked out! And .. it makes me want to get right back on track. Its been too long.

heh.. I'm very proud of myself .. I just broke up with my boyfriend of 4 years (best friend of nearly 7) today. I had been keeping my weight gain from him and we were having issues... it is really hard, so I'm really glad I still had the courage to work out despite my emotions. We're really distant now but he is still encouraging me with my working out, so i'm thankful for that too.

I hope everyone else is doing well, I'll hopefully be around more soon. Not staying on plan also makes it hard to post because theres nothing for me to really say But Ill be around more soon - i promise

good morning all ,
the christmas concert was really good (but i was late ) the kids really work hard. we missed the weight in last night when doing my early late bus i was a witness to a fatal car crash if i had been 2 second sooner i would have been the one in the accident . a man came around a sharp curve to fast and hit a gardrail and went right in front of a lumber truck the man driving the truck wasnt hurt but the man in the car was lifeflighted out and was in cardiacte arrest so the amblunce crew said that he did not make it . My prays for his family . the worst part of this accident on my part anyway is that last year the day of my daughters christmas concert my girlfriends 19 year old daughter was in a car accident and was killed i am getting so i do not enjoy christmas concerts .
the one thing i can say is i was the first one at the accident i was able to call 911 and i also called my cousin who is one of the local emts. and she was there in about 2 min (she lives right where the accident was )

Needless to say i did not use all of my allowed points yesterday . and i am hoping for a better day today .

2Cute I am here...Mon, tues and thur are my long days at work. I leave at 6:15 in the morning and don't get home till 6:30 or just after if I don't stop and run errands on the way home. MY food sucks these days...too many food gifts at the doctor's office and I have no will power! I am trying..not giving up!! Today I get out at 12 and will run a couple of errands afterwards before I pick Andrew up. I love the wed at 1 at fri at 12, I wish all of them were half days!

Well I better run...gotta get us all going for the morning shortly!! I'll be back!

TTFN Michelle