BEWARE of bagged Spinach!

There has been an E. coli outbreak and they are saying to avoid bagged spinach. This would probably include spinach that you would get when out, salad bars, etc. because I'm sure they probably use the convenience of the bagged stuff. Here is a link to the news article. It was updated 16 minutes ago, as you can see, so it's pretty up-to-date. They recommend that you throw out any bagged spinach you have in the house. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14841731/

Good Morning Chickies,

Katt: Congrats on getting to two town!

Val: Big hugs honey for your eye problems.

Misti: Big hugs to you too for feeling so cruddy. Maybe it is the big switch from so hot to suddenly almost chilly here in the Northwest? I know my hubby is fighting a cold too.

Tammy: Yea on your -1. Also great NSV on your shirt.

Kimberly: Big hugs. Hope you feel back to normal soon.

Sharon: Poor thing. I think you need a vacation without kids and hubby! I hope you can. You need at the very least a nice hot bath.

Ammi, Jilly, Patti, Luann, Brenda, Zelma, Crock, anyone of my other sweetie chicks I missed, big hugs and hello. I'm good today. I have a new bible study class starting this a.m. that I may join. I have so much house stuff to do but I have decided to take the day off. Or at least the morning. lol
Blessings to you all,
Dogpal/Annie

Good morning!

I lost 2 pounds. I know it's "water" or whatever, but do I care? It's two pounds!

Of course I know that I won't/shouldn't 2 lbs a day, but I want to enjoy the fabulous loss that happens when we start out.

Someone asked what diet I'm on. I am looking at this the way I did when I quit smoking 4 years ago: This is what I say to myself and others:

"I eat healthy food. I do not eat fatty, artery-clogging fast food. I deserve to be healthy. I am a normal, healthy person."

Might sound weird, but when I quit smoking, I told myself "I am a non-smoker. I don't smoke." It helped me so much to think of just the present. Not "I just quit" or "I used to smoke".

Now, I am going to try this with the weight loss. Not focus so much on a "diet" or losing weight. I will just state the facts as they are. "I have a healthy lifestyle. I do not swallow poison. Food is not sprinkled with magical fairy dust that makes everything better. It's just nutrition."

This is 150% mental for me. I KNOW what to eat. I KNOW how to exercise. What I NEED is to stop abusing food.

The Lord of the Manor/aka husband picked up some healthy stuff, so I'm good to go.

I need to eat breakfast. I swear it was 9:00 a few seconds ago, and now it's 11:00!

Thank you all for the welcome yesterday. I'm enjoying reading through the past posts.

I have so many questions, but will seach the board before I ask something that's been answered a million times.

Have a great day,
Christine

Christine - I have personal mantras that I tell myself. I know they may sound silly to others but things like "I'm a fat burning machine" and "I eat healthy foods to nourish my body". I believe it is a part of if you tell yourself something then you believe it yourself. I also try to make them things that aren't negative like "I don't eat fatty foods" but rather "I eat foods that contain minimal fat". Losing weight is much a mental journey as it is a physical one.

As for me, I've posted a few different places and I'm still kind of in shock. I have officially lost 100 lbs total. I posted a detailed post in mini-goals if anyone is interested. It is time to push on. My next mini goal is 259, then 249 and pretty much 10 lbs at a time until I reach 199.

Nelie!

CHRISTINE & NELIE - this is such an excellent point - Saying it DOES make it so! The power of positive thought is amazing. My personal day starter is "I will not hurt myself today." "Today I'm gong to strenghthen my body and feed it for strength." I'm not saying that I still don't hear the negative voices in my head, but when I notice them I make a conscious effort to replace them with empowering, positive messages.

No more on-line time left - gotta get some stuff done. I'm cheering for all of you and look forward to coming back next time.

NELIE!! FANTASTIC JOB on SMASHING THE 100 MARK!!!

I can't find a smilie that quite covers your accomplishment, but I tried.

What are you doing to celebrate???

Congrats again,
Christine

Nelie, Congratulations!



Christine - Great start, I agree soooo much of it is mental and in your attitude. For so many years, I thought I couldn't do it, then I realized I had to do it no matter what, and I've been "doing it" ever since. It sounds like you are in a great positive place.

Good afternoon!

Nelie- Congratulations on the 100lb loss! That is awesome! I'm so excited for you.

Christine- Hey! I love the mental prep you are doing! That is one thing that I try to do for my self. I know part of my struggles are in my head and how I think. So I'm trying to change the way I think.

Melissa- I hope you feel better soon!


I'm doing ok with eating today. Last night, I felt the urge to emotional eat. (But I didn't.) I went and got a hair cut. It went WRONG. Big time. So this morning I went back the a stylist to get it fixed. Basically, I started off with hair halfway down my back. By the time they fixed the messed up cut, my hair is just now hanging right below my shoulders. I'm feeling better about it- some. But, I'm still not thrilled.

This will be a long weekend. I'm going to be busy just about all day Saturday. Sunday, I really need to get a lot of stuff done around the house.

Trix

Man, a bad haircut really is a huge disappointment. Congrats on not EE-ing (emotional eating).

If you really don't like your hairstyle, have you thought about doing something really funky to it?

Like trying a new color (or 2), getting it razor-cut, trying a whole new style, etc.?

I had really long hair forever and decided to get it cut when I was in New Orleans a bunch of years back. I went to an extremely funky salon and told them to do whatever (with the exception of shaving or any kool-aid colors).

What they did was so completely different than anything I ever had. I loved it. When I came home and went back to work, people I barely knew came up to me and asked about my hair.

Sometimes it's good to just throw caution to the wind and do something like that to shake things up in our lives.

Sharon – I LOVED your pics. I didn’t know you had a nose ring. I always wanted one of those, but I spent the first 25 years of my life with horrible allergies and therefore blowing my nose all the time so I never got one. The riding and the ren fest looked like so much fun. I am hoping to get to one this season (but there isn’t much time left).

Valerie – I swear your dh and my bf must be related somehow. OMG – Christmas gifts? That is some super organization and advance planning.

Nelie – Congratulations on hitting such an amazing milestone! That must feel incredible.

Jill – How did the doctor’s appt go? Did s/he say anything about the troubles you have been having?

Annie – It is SO good to see you again!! I am so glad that you have gotten your new house and that your life is settling back down.

Patti – It is so good to finally see your face! Congrats on getting back to where you were and then some!

Ammi – I really hope your mom can get your brother out without getting evicted herself. That would be just awful! It is times like that that you really wish travel were much cheaper and faster. It would be so great if you could be there to help her. Also, I love that you have changed your pic to one of the ones from your trip. I am hoping to have some pics from last weekend from my BF’s dad, but haven’t seen them yet.

Chrissy – That is scary that the fire is so near your house! I hope all is well. I certainly know that feeling of just wanting to curl up under the covers.

Katt – Congratulations on getting into two-town. That is fantastic! Eating out at restaurants is hard. There is an Indian restaurant that I really want to try this weekend. Of course my BF wants to order all the things I am trying to avoid. It can be so frustrating!

Welcome to Trix and 4MeNow

I know I missed a lot of other people - it is so great that this forum has become so active lately!

Thanks for everyone’s input on the BF money issue – here is an update. He was on the phone with me at work yesterday explaining to me how he had mentally justified the purchase to himself (was going to sell things on eBay to make up for it, etc.) and while he was talking someone else bought the item. I am both relieved and still upset. He didn’t end up getting it (a relief), but he would have if he had been given the chance (still upsetting). I do not want to take over his finances, but I need to work more closely with him and give him a better understanding of what I consider acceptable money behavior. If he is not going to be able to live within those boundaries then I need to seriously consider whether or not I can continue in the relationship.

I have been having a lot of stress at work lately. I am not happy with my job and it is really affecting a lot of areas in my life. A big part of the stress is that I had planned on moving directly from this job to public accounting once I had gotten close to my goal weight. Now I don’t think I am going to be able to wait that long. I actually had a great chat last night with Maria Lucia (we have kept in touch, and she is doing pretty well btw) and realized that I need to work on exploring my other options. One thing I need to do is to find another gym that I would feel comfortable in so that if I decide to leave my job then I already know where I want to go. That is one of the things that will be hardest about leaving. My gym is so cool and I feel so comfortable there. But, things don’t always work out exactly as we originally plan and you have to be able to be flexible and open to the right opportunity when it comes along. I am also going to do as much to get my position to the point I could hand it over to someone else. It will not be easy and it should keep me busy until the end of the year.

I am also really happy that it is Friday! I am really looking forward to the weekend.

thanks nancy! i am happy its friday too.. time for a rest!