TIFF!! WOO HOO!!!! I am so thrilled for you!!! Wow, 5lbs!! New hair!!! New House!! New Healthy Foods!! Dang, I can't keep up with you! LOL....I am so happy for your weight loss. You deserve it and much more! Also, congrates on the new do. I love going to the stylist and letting her do her thing. It is just so relaxing and wonderful to be spoiled for 30 min or an hour (highlights). Even after leaving the salon, I just feel good. Kudo's on the dumping the soda. That right there will cause you to lose weight and feel better. The chemicals added to it, not to mention sodium and sugar will majorly screw up your system and metabolism (also thryroid). Beware though, you may have some headache withdrawals and crankiness for a few days, but it will pass. Start drinking tea or even better green tea with honey. It has the caffiene to help with headaches and honey is good for you. I will send more info your way.

Kelly - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope today is relaxing, fun, and just awesome for you! Your friend better spoil you BIG TIME today! LOL..... Let us know what you did today! Ezekial Bread is wonderful. I love it. They have it at the Health Food Store here, but also at the regular grocer, Publix, in the freezer section. I am jealous because here it is $5.00. It's worth it though. I know health foods and organics can cost more, but hey, it will cost more down the road in health care if I don't do healthier things now. Thanks for the link, I never thought about them having a website. I will check it out. I would love to see the yoga videos or links if you can send them over - thanks. Oh, the berries, yes, I love them, especially blackberries. I just had some blueberries and blackberries in my yogurt - yummm.

Lindy - Woot Woot!! LOL......Funny! Congratulations, I knew you would do it! That is awesome - gosh 80's here you come!!! I am headed to the pool now, and yes some sunshine too. This coming week I may go over to the beach house, it just depends how busy I am. I wish I could just live there! LOL. OK, haircuts. My hair was to my waist and I cut it half way last year, then a little shorter, then into the same bob - short in the back and angled to the front. I too had compliments, but all I hear from my husband "Its too short" "Its too short." Well, ****, its my hair and it's alot cooler for Florida! I mean he shaves his head, so he doesn't get hot!! Anyway, I am growing it out, but it will take a while. Now it is to the bottom of my neck......and yes, it's hot once again!!

Burgund - Hey, yes you will catch me, as I am stuck! LOL....no movement for a couple of days now. Alabama! Wow, you will be close to me. I hope you have a wonderful vacation - be prepared for warmth as it was 90 today. Window suck, and because the cupboards have taken so long, I haven't gotten to the windows yet. Not that I am anxious or anything. ....LOL.... maybe next week. The cupboards have been a pain, and yes, I have thrown out quite a bit of 'junk.' I didn't know you had a garden! Wow, I am truly envious. I would love to do that.

Well today has been more cupboards. This is taking ridiculously long. I hate it, but will love it when it's over. I did get my walk in earlier and have decided I am going to have to get up even earlier. It was so hot out, I felt like I couldn't breath! In the 90's today. UGH!

Well, going to make some home made bread - honey wheat......yummmy! Have a great day everyone!

Ok girls. Here are some pics of my new hair. Its not a huge difference but I like it. John hates it, he says it looks horrible (hmmmm...why are we separating again?!) Anyway, my mom LOVES it, she said it looks better. Me, um, Im not partial any which way, so I'd like to get your HONEST opinion. What do you guys think of the new color? Oh, also, I am going to update my myspace pic and I want your opinion on which one looks best. I know this seems superficial but half these people I havent seen in years, they are all from high school so I have to post the best of the best pics. So, that being said...#1, #2,#3, #4 or #5 - which one to post?

just stopped in to read, will post tomorrow, but i have to vote! nicole, i like pic 1 and 4 the best. now out of those 2....hmmm lemme look again.. 1-is soft looking, your hair is down and the lighting is good. 4-you're a little 'redder' in cause of the lighting (or that sunburn you have...lol!), but you're smiling and your face looks thinner cause of your hair up (i think it's the hair) so I guess #4!

I just got home and ready for bed, but like Kelly, I want to "vote" too. Nicole, I like #3. Looks like we are all gonna like different ones. I will catch up with everyone tomorrow. Its almost one and I dont want to sleep half the day away, so goodnight girls.

Hey girls!

Kelly and Burgundy - thanks for "voting", lol. Please everyone else - chime in. Well, take a lookie at my ticker, yup, I stayed at 193, which means I lost another pound. Not bad considering I binged all last weekend, big time.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I had a big breakfast (today is my cheat day), french toast and bacon, with a big cup of Cranberry Juice. Ill try to take it easy the rest of the day since I only have 2 weeks from today till my vacation.

Ill check in later.

I vote #3 too! On the topic of color itself, I think you look good in both colors, but I think brown goes better with your skin tone. BUT, I do think that a different blond may look even better than brown. Like a less golden blond.

Gotta go get ready for some errands...ttyl.

Not a lot of time. But I vote for #4. They are all good pics though! I like the blonde. It's summer-y. =) I hopped on the scale today and the result is 207.4... So I didn't gain too horribly. I will weigh myself next week.. not everyday like I use to. I'm getting ready to go swimming and maybe darken my tan a little bit. Tan always looks thinner. Talk to you guys later!

Hey Lindy, I vote #4 - love it, very summer looking! Congrates on the other pound loss - thats awesome. Your metabolism must be zooooming along!

I will chime in later too. Need to keep working for now.

Ok, a lot going on around here, but I want to try to keep up here. I know I wont be able to check in everyday while I am on vacation. My mom called today to tell me my sister is in the hospital for gall bladder surgery. She has gall stones lodged in there, an infection in her gall bladder and a UTI. SO she is antibiotcs for the infection so hopefully they dont have to do the surgery the old fashion way. I am trying to get ready to leave on Tuesday morning. Still have to plant some more in my garden. I think Mygrits asked what all I had so here goes-I have corn, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, green, red and yellow peppers, cabbage, red cabbage, green beans, banana peppers, onions, and when we get back from vacation we are gonna plant pumpkins and watermelon.

Lindy-the cut and color are cute, great for summer. WOOHOO for getting to and staying at 193.

Kelly-I know I missed it so HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY. Hope you had a great day. I will have to try that bread, sounds yummy. Could you send the links to the yoga videos to me please. Sounds like everyone is getting hair cuts, may just have to get my mom to cut mine.

Tiff-WOOHOO for you too. Great job getting to 295. You sound just like me with the pictures. I take tons and put them on the computer only to delete half or more of them. Glad we dont have weather like Florida here so I can do all the yard work, I did more today, just mowed a little. Gonna be in the garden tomorrow.

Mygrits-Did you finish the cupboards? I have to get my house straightened up tomorrow. Dont want to come home to a dirty house, god I sound like my mother.

Neesy-you will lose the lbs you gained quickly. I hope I get to work on my tan in Alabama, but I will be taking care of my sister and keeping her daughter, but we can play outside.

I'll check in tomorrow. Night

CONGRATULATIONS TIFF on your weight loss!!! WOW, 5 lbs.! Seriously, I am so jealous. Since you are set on a date finally with your house, we will have to do a countdown. 14 days, right?

Burgundy -were gonna miss not hearing from you for a week but I know you will have a good time visiting your family. Although its a bummer to hear about your sister. I had issues with my gallbladder several years ago and ended up getting it removed. The thing that stunk is that I had complete control over it, all I had to do was stay away from spicy or greasy foods, WELL - that was like telling a fat kid to stay out of the candy story, lol. Not happening. So when I finally got myself doubled over in so much pain after a double visit into the ER and my gallbladder rupturing, they just said...nope, its coming out. The good thing is, I never even got a scar from it, its was 2 small holes that are now completely healed. My stretch marks from being pregnant are 10x worst.

Mygrits, is your daughter still here? For some reason I thought she was here for like 10 days, or as it 4? Am I getting my posts mixed up. So confused. Lol.

Oh - as for the picture. After looking at them again, I have pretty bad sunburn and realized that I look like a tomato with a mop on top, lol, so I think Im going to hold off on posting a pic until it changes to a tan. Thank for voting anyway. Also, my washing machine broke yesterday. GREAT!!! The hubby moves out in less than a month and I start having things go wrong. I dont think I told you guys, but my car crapped out on me last week and I had cough up much dinero for that too. Ugh. It is what it is.

Ill check in later. Today is a crazy busy Monday.

Hey Eveyone!

Lindy - Yes, my daughter is still here, well should I say 'in passing.' She stops by but really busy with friends, partying, the beach, movies - you know, making up for the last 5 months! Its wonderful having her. She reports to base on the 8th, so I assume she may leave on the 7th. Sorry to hear about your car and now washing machine. The good thing is if he is there, maybe he will contribute to fixing them??? One would hope, right?

Burgund - Oh, wow how jealous I am of your garden. I would absolutely love to have vegetables like that in my backyard. Mail me some? LOL.......Sorry to hear about your sister, that does suck. I had my gallbladder out years ago after my son was born. They attributed it to weight gain/weight loss and the fat......Go figure, I was dealing with weight even that long ago! Anyway, I felt 100% better with it out and have done great ever since. I hope she is feeling better soon. We will miss your posts while you are gone!!

Well. I am not sure what today brings. I haven't finished the kitchen yet, but have gotten past the halfway mark. I am actually thinking about a part-time job for something else to do. The extra money would be nice, but also having something else to do will be a nice change too. The problem in my town is, its small and there aren't alot of jobs especially in this economy. I have worked in offices and management forever until I gave up working 6 years ago to just run our home business. So, to find something like that part-time is tough. Plus I'm not into the office attire anymore. I don't know, I'll poke around today and see what happens.

Check in later!

Hi Girls: Sorry I have not been here! I have been so busy with work (both jobs) I need to make more time, and I will do my best! I should be done with my late job by the end of the month, I am getting really burnt out and missing my family and not getting enough sleep I weighed it out and it really is not work the little extra money to me anymore. I miss out on alot of my kids activities and school events. That is more important. I am extremly stressed and have not been preparing any meals, eating out rather than cooking (frozen meat always since I don't prepare!) and I am reallly down and not feeling myself, I hate my night job and can't wait to be done. And I am trying to find outside things to do once I am not working night, like bike rides, roller blading, things we can do together with the kids and still get exercise in. I am actually looking forward to getting my evenings back,m and I think it will help with weight loss, since I barely get any sleep my schedule is 9am - 4pm then again at 8pm til 2:30ish am I usually get to sleep around 4am since I can't fall asleep asap from work. It's hectic!!

I am maintaing at 177 - 180 I probably should up my ticker but I am just leaving it for motivation. I am leaving for wisconsin dells on the 18th for our family vacation we take the kids every year, I am so upset that I have not reallly lost any weight for this, but I am sick and tired of feeling down and doing nothing to change it. If that's the case I should do nothing then. I have to do this for myself! My son asked if I had a small baby in my tummy last week, that hurt, but was so true, he is 6.5 and didn't mean it but It meant something to me. Most of my weight is in my tummy. I am going to start journaling, I keep saying I will, but I have a huge purse and can fit it with me always, I have to do this. I Can do this!!
I'll check in as soon as I can.
Sorry for all the babbeling, I am feeling down and needed to get it all out!
Thanks for listening (reading)!!

Awwww...Kity....reading your post made me so sad. I mean, I can read in between the lines that you want this, you really do - no excuses, but you have some obstacles working against you. Hopefully once that 2nd job is gone, that will play a big part in being sucessful at your weight loss. Lord knows that deprivation in sleep is definately contributing to it. You will get there. You have to have all your pieces together to get there and right now, it seems like they are scattered everywhere. In due time. We are here for you. Writing in a journal is great idea, maybe even a blog (once your not doing the second job). You can add pics and graphics and really get your mind right by just putting it all out there.

Mygrits - part time job? You know what you shold look into. Working at like a Curves or something (do they have those there)? My mom and aunt opened one here and their staff gets to wear sweats all day, socializing and motivate other over weight, super nice woman and they only work like 18 hours a week (if that). It will give you the socializing that you need without having to join corporate america. I so bad would love to own my own business and work from home. Although, I think even if I had the opporunity, I couldnt do anything for the next 5 years. I am a government employee and after 6 years, you are fully vested in the pension plan and there is no way I am giving that up. Besides, I like my job. Sure, it can be slow at times but I like my boss, the people I work with (despite an extremely moody woman in the next office over) and my location and hours. I waited a long time to get here though, I must have applied 100 times before I got called for an interview.

Anyway, Ill check in later. I didnt do so hot for food today but I am still doing ok in calories, lets see where this leaves me. I had a bowl of raisin bran with skim milk, snack size bag of cheez its, 2 cups of pineapple, 3 buffalo chicken tenders, a tuna fish sandwich, and I have a cup of strawberries and 2 more chicken tenders for my afternoon snack. I forgot to mention that my body refused to wake up this morning and I slept in, which means I HAVE to do the gym this afternoon. Grrr...I hate going on Monday evenings, the freakin place is packed.

Hey everyone, got all my packing done and ready to head out in the morning. I cant wait to get down there. We'll be gone 2 weeks and I will try to check in here as much as possible. My husband has internet service through his cell. They are gonna do my sisters surgery tomorrow, so she may still be in the hospital when i get down there.

Lindy-it sucks when things start breaking. I have had a cadillac for a little over a year and maybe driven it a month, so much went wrong with it after I bought it. Now the transmission is messed up so its just sitting in the yard. I think we are gonna try to sell it as is or for parts.

Mygrits-too bad you werent closer, I would definietely share my veggies with you. I will have to take some pics of my garden. Maybe I can do that in the morning before we leave.

Kity-sounds like you are having a hard time with sleep deprivation and missing your kids. I hope everything gets better once your night job is over. The family activities sounds like fun. Journaling always helps me when I am down, it lets you get the frustrations out, but can also keep it to yourself if you dont want others to hear/read it.

SO if we stop at a motel tomorrow, I will check in.

Good morning girls, no...wait...GREAT MORNING girls. And why is it a great morning you ask? Because I am wearing a size 12 Old Navy pants!!! Oh yeah! Boo-yah! lol. I find that Old Navy runs true to size, so I am very excited about this. They are Khaki pants and they look awesome and I feel awesome. I have not hopped on the scale since Sunday but I have been doing some hard core cardio at the gym the past 3 days and doing quite well with my calories so I am super pumped up about getting on the scale this weekend. I can just feel it. Man, I wish everyday felt this great.

Stacie - how are you doing these days? Just checking on you.

Ill touch base later. I had a HUGE breakfast this morning, but feel very full:

Egg white omellette with spinach, scallions and mushrooms and half a cup of fat free cheese.

1 bowl of real oatmeal with flax seed and honey.

1 cup of apple juice (I could have done without this but I was just craving it)

2 cups of coffee. Im estimating Im at about 600 calories already, just guessing, but I have my meals planned out for the rest of the day and if I stay on track, I should fall at 1400 calories for the day. Not to mention I burned 200 with 20 minutes of cardio this morning and lifted weights for 20 minutes.

Ill check in later. I hope everyone is having an awesome day.