GOOD MORNING LADIES!

Happy Thursday Morning!
It is 2 1/2 hours to weigh in...:stress: I shouldn't be worried I suppose as I haven't cheated once, I drank all my water and I even managed to get in walking twice. But all the same I keep hearing that WW program has changed drastically since 1999, which is the year I got the program materials I'm using! Darn it, it worked for me then, why'd they change it? Now I keep worrying that when I think I'm eating 3 pts I'm actually eating 10. Stupid really, because if it worked then it'll work now....another symptom of my anal personality rearing it's ugly head. Well, we'll know in a few hours if the old program still works!

Catherine: I have been blessed with good roommates thru my life, at least until I started living with men! But I do know from that experience that it can be miserable if you are stuck in a house with someone disagreeable. Stay strong and try not to rush things. You've made it this long with her and you have a plan and an end in sight. You can do it and if you need to talk we're here!

Jilly: Glad you're feeling better. Hope TOPS goes well for you.

Julee: Looked over those bracelets. Neat! And really pretty! What a great gift.

Everybody else: :wave: Hi!

I suppose I need to get to work now. I'll pop in and out all day though...that's what the State gets for giving us internet! My tax dollars at work...to pay me to screw around! :D

Lilion

Hello everyone. I having been staying on top of my food and exercise. Except last night I had three cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster. But I had Crab Legs, Schrimp Scampi and Lobster Tail. So I did pretty good since nothing was too horrible. Except the biscuits. (but they are oh so good.)

I am trying not to let Stress determine my eating patterns which is a hard thing to do. Hope everyone has a good day!

:dance: Yippee!!! :dance:

Look at that slider! Yep, another five bite the dust!:goodscale

I'm more than pleased with WI today, in case you couldn't tell! I'm now only one pound fatter than I thought I was two weeks ago. After 314, I'm calling it old fat...since I didn't know I weighed more than that. To be perfectly honest, it was more like 4 3/4 lbs lost...but 1/4 pound doesn't look like a lot on your dinner plate and it sure isn't much on my butt. So I've officially decided anything 1/4 lb or less is rounded into the next number.

I know I'll slow down with the losses soon and probably only lose 1 or 2 lbs a week. But I keep telling myself that that will be at about 50 lbs a year, which is nothing to sneeze at. You ladies remember to remind me of that when I get tired of crawling down the scale instead of leaping, Ok?

Hope you all have a terriffic day! :sunny:

Lilion

Lilion- Way to go!!! :cp: I know that it felt great to read the scale today...I will weigh in tomorrow and I don't think I have lost as much as last week...any loss means I am on the right track, but I dread the slow loss weeks too.

Scooter-I really think that they sprinkle crack on those biscuits...they are soooo good. :)

scooter/theotherjen...SERIOUSLY! I am not much of a seafood fan, but where I used to work, I would go out to lunch at Red Lobster just for the biscuits. I think you're right...there's got to be crack. That's why they're so addictive :p

Lilion...ROCK ON! :goodscale

I am with you guys. That is what it has to be crack on the biscuits! I did good though I could of eaten like six more but three was over the top! Who knew buscuits could be so good! I will try to stay away from Red Lobster for awhile.

:bravo: Lilion!

Lilion - CONGRATS! Thanks, mine turned out pretty ok with me. :)

Julee - glad you had a good birthday. Just get back on the wagon and keep rolling, you will make up for your mistakes! Also, thanks for the info on the bracelets. I'm definitely going to be checking those out! They sound awesome.

Catherine - Again, I'm so glad you came here and you're right... you do need a place where you can spill out your heart. I feel for your situation and can understand why some of the weight came back because of feeling trapped. I think that's been one big reason why I continued to gain weight. I felt trapped b/c of my already big size, and I just kept on adding to it not realizing what I was doing. Now it's just to go back and work on those mistakes. I'm so happy that you can get out of the house now and do things that you've wanted to do. I wish you all the best and know that you can do it and you WILL be out there on your own with no crazy people soon!!! :) Keep the faith.

Jillybean - I just have to say that everytime I see your little icon roll up the screen it makes me giggle. hehe.

Scooter - ooooooo those biscuits are killer. I feel your pain. And your lust for them. LOL!

Well as I said, for me it was a good day! I was really stressed about weigh in today b/c I had that 8 lb loss last week that I know had to be mainly water. I didn't want to gain 6 lbs back this week and hear "I told you so." lol. And I didn't! I didn't gain any back and even lost another lb to make 9 lbs in 2 weeks! YAY!!! I'm in VIRGIN FAT territory! I haven't been in the 3-teens since high school (and I graduated in 95). hehe. I'm so happy!!!!

Loki's: Yea for you too! :D I'm actually considering anything under 314 "virgin fat", since that's what I thought I weighed when I started this. Then I'll feel like I've really accomplished something!

Scooter: LOVE those biscuts. Even my little boy loves them! Did you know you can actually buy just the biscuts? Sorry, probably shouldn't have told you ladies that. :devil: made me do that. I have actually made a low-fat version at home with a recipe from "Top Secret Recipes - Lite", but they weren't the same.

theotherjen: Good luck on your WI too!

Well, must really work this time! Took WAY too much time journaling and surfing.

Lilion, :queen: Queen of the 2-hour lunch hour!

Even though the sun is out, I don't believe that it will get above freezing today - but I still spent my lunch hour looking at plant catalogues online. I think I'm going to plan my front beds, and order those plants from a high-quality catalogue (like, uh, the one I'm looking at, which has "complete garden" packages that are too big for my yard, but are nonetheless gorgeous and inspiring) so that I get absolutely exactly what I want. Right now, I think I'm going to put a pink and a blue hydrangea out front, along with delphinium, canterbury bells or hollyhocks, and maybe some coneflowers (which I love) and/or shasta daisies and possibly clustered bellflower or campanula (most of which were in the "planned" garden they sell as a package). All of this is based on the illustrations, which show a pretty, cottage-garden effect that would look attractive, I think, with my little cottage-y house.

I'm going to measure the front of the house tonight and draw up some sort of plan. This is my first spring in my own house, so I'm really looking forward to gardening. Of course, I am with plants as I have been - in the past - with food: aspirational. I want most things that I see, and have difficulty sticking to a single choice and making that choice. I tell myself that I can't possibly be satisfied with just that one thing, which isn't ever true. Now, not only do I want the hydrangeas for the front, I also want a mock orange and a flowering almond for the backyard, and maybe one of these dwarf crepe myrtle cultivars, or... (etc.).

Hey, if I can get my eating habits under control and enjoy planning and creating reasonable meals in healthy portions - I'm sure I can get my out-of-control garden-eye under control, too. In fact, the out-of-control garden-eye should be easier to control, since I do have to manage all that splitting of sod and amending of soil and whatnot before I can ever get around to the planting-of-plants.

mesdames et demoiselles,

Congrats on your excellent losses this week. I confess, I don't weigh myself in at all. I haven't weighed myself since I made my "life change" at the beginning of the year. Partially, that is fear of the number, but another part is because I don't want to have the emotional ups and downs of a weekly weigh-in number. The highs are great, but the lows are awful, and well, I am easily derailed in some things. As long as I know that the choices I'm making are healthy ones (and they are), I'm happy. So - not only do I congratulate you for your losses, I admire the emotional courage required for that weekly weigh-in.

Thinthinker...OOOPs....sorry :(

Hippy: I have never had a roommate with children or had someone live in my house that was that dependent upon me, but I do know what it is like to have people living with me that made my life more difficult. I am planning to write a book one day about the people I had as roommates. It will be in the comedy section. We had as our featured guests...
C (no names here)...with the bunny and the boyfriend...not sure who was the bigger slob..her or the bunny.
J... who had issues with the air conditioning and had awful timing
K... who was a mooch and then started dating an ex of mine and flaunting it
T..my former best friend who let her cats use the house as a scratching post and a litter box and shafted me on the bills
J...with the boyfriend who gave no money for rent or utilities even though he shacked up there 5 nights a week
and finally B...the boy...the mistake...the idiot.

Wow do I enjoy living by myself. I keep thinking I want BF and I to get a place together...then again...maybe not.

Scooter...BF keeps saying he wants to go to Red Lobster one night for dinner for fish or whatnot...but BECAUSE OF THE BISCUITS I keep telling him no. We have stopped going to our most favorite restaurant because of their bread. Darn bread. Bad bread. Boo bread. Mmmmmm....bread.

So I am curious...what exactly do you all at Spring Fling? I know I can't make it this year but I am intrigued nonetheless....drunken orgies? sacrificing twinkies on an altar made of crisco? Oprah look-alike contests? Pin the afro on Richard Simmons? Do tell!

Well...I'm having a brief lull at work...trying to put out a fire with a squirt gun...or so it seems. Wake me when it's March 14.

On the other hand, the last time I wore the shirt I am wearing today it was snug across the tummy.

Ok..it can be a good day.

I have a dinner meeting at a vegetarian mexican restaurant...this should be interesting.

AI Commentary...Janae should have been sent home, not Aloha. Anthony needs to go home. I am not impressed. Did Bo cut his hair between monday's show and last night? He is still faboo. Scott needs to get over the fact that he is a heavier boy...he thinks he will get voted off for being fat. He sings rather well but has no confidence. Mikaela is very scary to look at...too much mascara and black eyeliner...she has a pretty face and a great voice...but she is 17 and seems to forget that.

Adios Amigas!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl:
Thanks to you everyone in the office is looking at me funny LMAO. Sacrificing Twinkies LMAO :rofl: I tried to do the low carb thing I lasted about a day and half. The bread just kept calling my name. I could live on bread alone.

Hello Ladies…

Shhh… I’m in class right now… gotta love having wireless access *grins*

Thinthinker – yeah pretty busy… I’m going nuts too! If I understood your post correctly… you have not lost anything, but does that mean you have not gained either? In my book that’s still a great thing!! It’s hard I know! I gained back 1lb from what I lost a little while back. Im just glad I am off my roller coaster ride! It was the hardest thing to get off of. I would constantly loose but then gain back whatever I lost, and maybe at times… gained some back… WHEW!

Well Ladies… I must get back to my lecture… no matter how boring it is… ICK! I will reply more when I get home tonight.

Be back later…
Sue…

Spring fling
 

It looks like JULEE would be a greaet entertainment chairman!!
:rofl:

Hi all! :wave: OMG! All these fresh vigins! We're going to have to beat them off with sticks! :lol: Congrats to all of you that are now working on Virgin Fat!!! You Go Girls!!!!

I had my Dr.'s appointment this morning. This is the first time in a long time that I've been to a Dr. that I can actually talk to. She's a skinny minny, but that's ok. I actually thanked her today. She kinda looked surprised and then I told her "because you are the first Dr. that has not dwelled on 'losing the weight will cure all your ailments'". She told me that it wasn't that she wants me to blow off the idea of losing weight and I assured her that that was not going to happen. But I also told her there was a BIG difference between a Dr. being understanding and being condescending. It's a very good feeling to be able to talk to a Dr. just as it's a good feeling to have friends like all of you that we can share with.

I told her that my blood work will not come back looking very good as I really messed up the meds for the past 6 weeks. I'm getting that back together now but my blood pressure was elevated this morning. She changed the medication and we'll see what happens. I also told her I would like to take her up on her offer for a referral to a Dietician. She said she thought that would be a VERY good idea. I told her my intention had been to do diabetic research here on the web, but that I never seem to find the time so an actual appointment with someone would probably be a better idea.

Hopefully that and a renewed effort here in weightloss will put me on the road to healthier. :crossed:

Angela: Did you get all the letters off? Doesn't sound like fun at all.

Joyce: So you're going to be playing mom again, eh? Of a teenager, no less. I'm guessing your daughter must live pretty close because your granddaughter will need to go to school. WOW, big changes at YOUR house. Is that going to mess up your plans to go to California? Sure hope not!

Lilion: I agree, it makes no sense that when they leave ingredients OUT the dang stuff costs more. Why??? It's one of those unanswerable questions, I suppose. * Funny you should mention about the old WW program. That's how alot of us felt when the "flex" points first came out. We had all had some pretty good success with the points ranges and then they threw the "flex" at us and there were some of us that just didn't do well on that so we stuck to the regular points program. I'm sure your "old" program will do you just fine!!! *Congrats on the 5 pounds! Good job! See, that "old" program worked just fine!!! :D

2cute: Hope you have a nice trip???? Did you decide to tag along with your sister? You know the drill, inquiring minds and all that!!! :lol:

Julee: "then deciding to not track anything after that were both mistakes...mistakes I won't be making again this week." You did great! You figured out what you did, you owned it, and you know what you're going to do to fix it. That's what this whole thing is all about. Learning from the mistakes and making better choices the next time. Good for you!!!

Catherine: Oh honey, BIG [[[HUGS]]]. What a wonderful person you are to take in someone who needed you, including their kids, raising them and putting yourself on the back burner for all these years! That is truly the sign of someone with a BIG heart!!!! I'm glad you feel like you can come and vent here. Hopefully that will be some relief for you. I'm also glad that you are now able to get out of the house and do something for yourself again. I'm sure that some of your motivation for losing all this weight (and I still can't get over what an awsome job you've done so far!) is to be able to get out of the situation entirely. That should be some real inspiration. Keep talking. We're good listeners. AND we're pretty vocal about advice too if you get to asking. ;)

Barbg: I hope that you found your new Dr. to be one that you are comfortable with like I am with this one that I've found. It makes such a HUGE difference when you can actually talk to a Dr. without getting all their condescending attitudes. I'm really sorry that the reason you had to change was the almighty insurance company, however. I do believe they rule the world!

Jill: Just my 2 cents: Do you think that maybe a quick call to the GYN telling him/her about these symptoms might be worth it? There's just so much out there about this drug, that drug and all the side effects that go with them all. I guess I'm just suggesting better safe than sorry. * Hope the TOPS meeting suits you and you decide to join up. Every little bit helps.

Scooter: Those Cheddar Bay Biscuits are the BEST. I have a lightened recipe for them around here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it and post it over on recipes. *BTW, the pic is GREAT! Thanks for posting it.

theotherjen: Glad to see you checking back in today.

Loki: Good job on another pound gone! 9 in 2 weeks is really GREAT!!!

mnemosyne: I love to hear you talk about your garden plans. I've been building my front garden for the past two Summers. I had Honey and #1 Son tear out all the old shrubs and I decided to go with perennials in the bed. The only thing I left was a small Red Maple tree which works as a sorta "bookend" at the left side where the house ends. The bed is "L" shaped with on leg of the "L" along my front porch and the other leg along the front of the house. I put in an Astilbe bush, a butterfly bush (which I tore out last Fall and gave to a friend) and one other "bush" whose name escapes me. The rest are hostas, cone flowers, coreopsis (several varieties, I'm hoping the purple one comes back this year. I understand they're not that hardy). I've got a Shasta Daisy patch, but they disappoint me because they only bloom once. :( I have a carnation and a couple of other "oldie" varieties that I found last year like Lamb's Ear. Oops, you got me started! :o

SueMarie: ok, I'll be rrrreeeeaaaalllll quiet. :D I've been up, down, up, down, up, down......I'll tell ya, I've been up and down more than a whore between the sheets! :rolleyes: Seriously though, I'm just not as low as I was once after the new year so I can't count any NEW pounds off yet! :(

Julee: No apologies necessary! * "pin the afro on Richard Simmons" yeah, that's what we do!!! :rofl: Last year 2cute hosted Fling I in Tulsa, OK. We went out to dinner on Friday night, and then back to the hotel for get to know you games. Then on Saturday after breakfast we went on a sight-seeing trip, to a casino and to 2cute's house for munchies and games. Then out to dinner and then we stopped for Cement for dessert. Back to the hotel for yackin' it up. Sunday we got up, had breakfast and got on the road. Basically it wasn't "what" we did, it was the good time meeting folks face to face and talking, :gossip: talking, :gossip: and more talking. :gossip:

It dawned on me last night that I should say PLEASE don't think of Fling as a clique-y thing. There were plenty last year that couldn't come and that's understandable with everyone spread across the country and beyond as well as the different schedules and family obligations. The announcements have been posted here periodically and regularly so that everyone has had an opportunity to join in if they wanted to. At this point I have done some mailing. The mailings were NOT based on trying to specifically invite anyone in particular, I mailed to who I had addresses for and 2cute had a couple of addresses that I didn't have so I sent stuff to her to address to those individuals so that no confidentiality has been broken.

I plan to continue to send out some stuff occasionally, but from now on it will only be to those that have expressed at least SOME interest in the POSSIBILITY of coming. I don't want anyone to feel bad that they aren't coming (or aren't able) and I don't want anyone to feel badgered by my constant mailing either.

I hope that kinda clears things up. Please, please, please, I just don't want anyone to have hurt feelings or feel left out. Just know that whether you come or not, this thread and area will go on and we're ALL in this together.

Ok, it's SURVIVOR NIGHT!!!! Is there romance brewing? After Rob and Amber and Jenna and Ethan we'll have to rename it the Dating Game!

Did we all go through withdrawal without Desparate Housewives on Sunday? Just when Terri got me straightened out about who's who, they don't have an episode. A girl just can't win!!!

How 'bout Apprentice? Anyone still watching that? Or am I the only one? It looks like there will be some drama there tonight too.

Did anyone catch Fear Factor this week with the reality show contestants? I only watched it to see Omarosa go up against Jenna and Ethan. Gadds, what a B1^@H!!!!! YIKES! She thinks she's all that and then some, doesn't she. It did my heart good to see her face in the worms!!! :rofl:

Is anyone looking forward to the new Law & Order? Sounds like it will be more courtroom drama than crime scene. That kinda stuff interests me, so I'll be watching. Besides I really like Jerry Orbach and he will be in the first couple of episodes.

Ok, kiddies, I'm off and running. Honey just IM'd that he's on his way home. I've got 45 minutes to hang up the curtins I washed last week. :o See you all later. Love :love: ya bunches!

Bah. Doesn't take much to send the mood south does it?

I'm having a problem maybe some of you can help me with. We have this big event coming up for TOPS in April.... it turns out that I may be voted the chapter angel (which I'm kind of hoping I don't win it b/c you have to go on stage). I don't have any 'dressy' clothes at all and we're supposed to be somewhat 'dressy' for the banquet on Saturday. I have looked at Lane Bryant and the few places I know of but can't find a casual/dressy top that I like or think will look right on me. Where do you guys shop??? Usually I order like a size 34 or 36 top from Lane Bryant, but I'm not sure what size equivalent that is in measurements. *sigh*

I let things like this discourage me too much. I have a tiny voice in my mind telling me to just not go and don't deal with it. But I really DO want to go, I just don't want to be the only one who looks like an idiot in a button-down everyday shirt. HELP please if you know of any online stores!!!
Thanks - Julie