Siillycat, congrats on being able to wear that dress!

FL, sorry about the stress and bankruptcy, but good that you get to keep the house. Hopefully your son will be receptive to your call.

NP, your dinner sounds good.

Ashley, hopeully our 'ladies' will be as excited as we are about the changes.

Kitteh, glad to hear from you!

Annie, thanks for the warning about the heat pads. good to know

Losing, interesting idea, thanks for sharing it.

We got the call that we can pick up April tomorrow afternoon! We are busy prepping her space and the house and yard. My back is feeling almost normal again. I get a twinge every now and again. I'm amazed and thankful. I spent most of today with my buddy the heating pad. We've seem some good movies recently, 'Just Wright' with Queen Latifah for a good, clean romance. 'Red', with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman {and others} for a clean {little language, one gesture} action adventure {okay, high body count but not gross!}. and "Tangled" for cute Disney romance/adventure.

I just weighed and I'm up 4 lbs from last week! What?! How did that happen?! I was trying so hard not to stress eat, and I thought I was making good food choices. :o sigh....

aww penguin - that is probably water weight I don't think it's possible to gain 4 pounds of fat in one week - that'd be overeating by 14000 calories - so deep breath only thing that fluxes my weight that much over such a short time is water bloat or significant constipation ha ha ha

Penguin-I agree with Sillycat, try not to worry too much. I was up 5 pounds this morning....but with being constipated (sorry if TMI) and taking the prednisone and not really sticking strictly to plan, I'm not surprised. I expect to be down again in the morning and hope I can report that!

It's interesting how I have viewed myself lately. For the last several months I have been stuck and not losing the last 10 pounds I have to go until goal. I suppose I have gotten used to my slimmer body, because I suddenly see myself as overweight and gross. Not sure why....I have been up and down by about 5 pounds for the last couple of months but all of my clothes still fit. In a panic a few weeks ago, I tried on my shorts from last summer as I was scared they wouldn't fit any more. They fit, but I still am seeing/thinking of myself as fat again. I don't like that feeling.

Anyhoo, I am just going to concentrate on sticking closer to plan and working to get this last 10 pounds gone. At least to see the 140s by the end of this month would help.

I've been allowing a few food items to creep back into my healthy eating that I do not need to be eating. I had almost completely cut out bread as an accompaniment to most of the meals I prepare for my boys or fiance. But the last week or so I made bread with at least 2 meals and indulged in that.

Just some things that have been going on in my head....thanks for letting me post them.

On a lighter note: I'm going to buy some flowers after work to plant in my flower beds this weekend. :D Hoping my neck/upper back continue to feel good so I can get it all done. I really irritated it the last time I worked in the beds when fiance helped me clean them out and mulch.

As long as my clothes were still fitting (for the most part), I slipped back into comfortable eating habits and then slowly added in a bigger pair of pants, a larger shirt, etc. and now dang it - have a lot to lose. So that's smart of you, Annie, to be mindful of what you're eating. If I don't wear something in a while, I automatically think it won't fit. I find it now crazy to think, when I was around 130, that I needed to lose more and still viewed myself as overweight. I had muscles and was strong and able and healthy. Ahhh - working on getting back to that point, but not 130...

Anyway, PP hope April's homecoming was smooth and she didn't mess anything up by being so happy to see you!

Heading home in a while and will get the dog and head straight out on the trail. Dinner tonight will be omelettes and ?? Looks like rain, though. I don't mind walking in the rain but will NOT walk when it's storming. I'm a weenie and afraid of lightning.

Anyone have fun weekend plans or will we all be enjoying the yards/gardens? Oops - Ashley - I realize you won't be outside for a while with that cold Canadian winter ... and Barb and Sillycat, you two ... still too cold there for outside stuff?

Hi all, I'm still stressed, not as bad. Can't wait to get to the lawyer and get some questions answered, it's driving me nuts. Rode the bike for 22min. then had to go shopping for my moms food. It's cloudy & chilly gain, we never see the sun anymore, I'm waiting for a nice day to walk & get yard work done. My weight is finally coming down, it was stubborn this time. I'm doing good with healthy eating even with the stress. Hubby is helping by putting all the Easter Candy & junk food in the safe, there is so much of it. Not all fits, so he takes the rest to work w/ him so it's not here. Went 100 calories over my limit cause I ate more fruit for lunch, but that's ok.

Annie- yes, bread, or anything white & starchy always stops me from losing weight. Even starchy veggies like corn! I don't eat any of it.

Good morning.

Wow! so much has gone on here while I was away from the board. I'll try to catch up on everything this weekend.

Eating well, but not exercising. I will turn that around this weekend. Lot of stress from the upcoming job change--just cleaning things up and organizing stuff for my replacement takes a lot of effort. Plus, I'm excited/nervous about my new group--haven't met them yet.

Anyway, I am back on plan for the eating, so that's half the battle. Once I move, I will have to reconfigure my exercise plan, because the new position is in a different town.

Congrats to those who've lost, commiseration with those who haven't or whose lives are extra stressful right now. Take care.

Ashley & FL- I have a 22 year old son and a 19 yo daughter who live with their dad (an hour away). Neither are in school or working. I typically have no idea what is going on in their lives. I want to help them, but they won’t let me. People talk about the terrible twos… but this has been the most stressful time as far as parenting them. My son spent about 6 mos not speaking to me and it was the most painful period of my life BY FAR. There is just a point where you have to let go and realize they are adults and are responsible for their own lives now as well as the consequences of their choices.

Losing- what a great idea!!

SC- Great Job!!

The last few days have been interesting. I lost a pound and wanted to be down one more by today. But instead of losing another over the next few days. I gained one back. It didn’t freak me out, because the same day- I put a pair of pants on, sure they wouldn’t fit (I couldn’t even pull them past my hips the last time I tried- I’ve been down to three pair of pants that fit :() And they fit!! Comfortably! So I had just hoped to lose the one I had gained back. And I wasn’t even confident about that because I feel IDK bloated or something. But I got on the scale and Woot! I was down two pounds :) So I am right on track.

And I had a day and a half where I was starving! It was the first I have struggled with that since I started.

Sunday will be four full weeks staying on track with my plan- around 1200 calories and 60 mins exercise 6-7 days a week. I am so proud of myself. I am going to reward myself with a punching bag.

Can't get to gym today and it is raining. So I guess I will be walking in the rain :)

We are very happy to have April back at home where she belongs. She's doing very well, putting weight on her leg, and walking a lot better than we thought she would, based on the previous surgery. We have 4 types of pills to give her for the next week or so, {AccK! } and sometimes she has to wear a 'cone' on her head so she doesn't chew her stitches/staples. Poor baby. But she seems content to sleep a lot. Hubby is back to work.

we did some vacuum cleaner shopping last night so my parents could get one for me for my Bday. http://www.amazon.com/Bissell-Lift-O.../dp/B002IB0WVQ This is the one I like, The Bissell Pet. The center part comes out for smaller messes.

sorry to join and get welcomed and then be MIA!! Been a busy week...last Thursday a week from yesterday helped my sons family move from a thrid floor apt...killed me...watched the grandboys as usual...and this week Penelope Grace was born a week early and ended up being Michael Cash...three biys for me now...but no baby boy clothes!!
Shopping and washing clothes for me!!

Hi gang! I am almost afraid to say it....but my ear seems a bit better today. Praying that it is and will continue to be better.

Penguin-Before I forget, I wanted to mention what we used for Tootsie when she had her surgery last year. It was so much better than the "cone".

http://reviews.petco.com/3554/100555...ws/reviews.htm

It worked really well and she seemed to tolerate it alot better.

Well, the scale said 155 this morning. I WILL NOT panic. I am going to give myself another week to get back to plan and get the prednisone out of my system. I'll change my ticker next week if things aren't looking better. Again, I tried on some summer things last night to be sure they still fit....and they do......whew!:o Don't know why I am panicking or looking at myself differently. Just weird.

Well, I am putting off planting flowers for another week or two. They didn't have exactly what I wanted and when I asked about it, the guy there told me it was still a bit too early for what I want to plant. So I am (rather impatiently) going to wait until AT LEAST next weekend to get them and plant them.:mad:

FL-Glad to hear you are losing!:carrot:

NP-I wouldn't walk outside in storms, either.:hug:

Kitteh-When does the new job start?? Good luck!!:cool:

Phoenix-Congrats on 2 pounds gone!!:carrot:

Jules-Sounds like a very busy time around your place. Don't forget to take some time for yourself.:)

Going to work on getting the yard cleaned up and work with younger son on his bedroom (getting organized, etc.). Also going to try to cook healthier foods this weekend for everyone. Trying hard to keep my mind off of wanting to bake something.....I've just loved doing that lately. Trying to decide if even a "light" recipe would be safe. I'm not so sure I should even go there right now....I love the sweets. Also going to pay bills tonight and see how much is left over for possible furniture....fingers crossed.:)

It was almost 90 degrees here last night. I turned on my A/C.....way too early for it be that hot. Supposed to be warm like that and windy all weekend. With the drought we have, that means lots of grass fires. We REALLY need some rain. I am going to have to start watering my lawn already.

Have a great Friday everyone!!

Annie- thanks, you can have some of our rain! That's all it does here!

rise- Terrible 2's are nothing compared to older kids. My son is so difficult, I couldn't deal with him anymore. We were fighting all the time, he was so stubborn & disrespectful. I should be the one not wanting to talk to him, not him not wanting to talk to me! It's his life, if he wants to ignore his mom, dad & younger sister forever, so be it.

Another rainy, chilly day, it rains everyday. I guess Tuesday it's supposed to stop. I don't know if I will be able to work in the yard this weekend, even if it's not raining, everything will be muddy. My weight went up .9oz. almost a pound. Lately it goes up & down by a pound or two everyday. I don't know what to do anymore, I think that's alot to fluctuate everyday like that. My calories have been higher daily this week, wouldn't I just keep gaining, not losing & gaining? I'm addicted to eating this huge healthy breakfast every morning that takes up most of my calories, then have hardly any left for the rest of the day. I keep saying that I have to stop, but once i start eating, it just tastes so good to me, it's my favorite meal of the day. This is so stupid, why can't I just figure this all out and be done with it! I'm getting so sick of dealing with it.

Annie, thanks for the link to the collar. We'll go take a look.

Jules, Congrats on Michael. I bet that was a surprise!

FL, I hear you on 'why can't I just figure this out and be done with it" I feel the same way. I know what I'm doing wrong, why can't I just STOP!"

Today, I was able to get up and around and do the chores I've been putting off because of my back. Laundry and cleaning the kitchen mostly. My back is sore and a little stiff so I think I need to stretch more.

We talked to the vet who assured us that April is a healthy dog and she should be around for years to come. Thyroid test came back negative, too.

Huh. Picked up a pair of denim shorts at Wal Mart....same brand and close to the same style of the capri jeans I bought a while back AND in a size 10 like the capris. They're tight. Wearable, but tight. Not sure if I'll keep them as incentive or not. I had the size 10 capris on when I bought them.:?::dizzy: