Hi everyone,

Ohiofreespirit,

It is good to hear from you. I hope that your migraines have subsided. Happy Memorial Day! Have a great start to the week.


Pudgyflamingo,

I wish you all the best with Medifast. I did Medifast for awhile and it worked. I did it upon the recommendation of an internist. There is a Medifast website where there is a chat room and bulletin boards. I found that somewhat supportive while I was on that program. I know I have some type of disordered eating too.


I had a great day today with a friend and her family at a barbecue. It was great to be out with them and I had a lot of fun. I brought a lined basket with American flag ribbon tied to it and I gave red seedless grapes, raspberries and blueberries, patriotic, right? I also did well by not eating many things that were unhealthy, although I did eat some of my foods I am not supposed to eat because of allergies, oh well, I didn't have a reaction and I had fun.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY everyone! God bless the USA!

I have to comment, I love how Seabiscuit communicates such thoughtful contributions!! you are so kind to us I'm glad you had a great-sounding Memorial Day celebration

pudgyflamingo, welcome back!! and best wishes

Hi Ohio and everyone else

I am happy..and I am healthy..but I want something sweet and cake-y so badly!!! At work today, I made dozens of from-scratch vanilla cupcakes with a buttery sweet icing and sprinkles..both mini-sized and regular...and I did not eat a single one!! but I want something so bad now. I am NOT losing weight as I want to, I've been doing a new exercise program and really, really watching what I eat and it's been almost 3 weeks but I"ve hardly lost anything (like a solid 2 pounds) and yes I took measurements, they have not gone down yet either. It is sooooo frustrating

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a good Memorial Day. I went to visit my mom for the weekend, and we had a nice visit. Traffic was good, weather was good, company was great.

Sorry I haven't been as responsive lately. I need to be honest - I've been binge eating for the past few weeks and it's finally caught up with me emotionally and physically. And after 2 weeks (or so) of trying to talk myself out of it, I finally stepped onto my elliptical tonight. Yay! I've actually been very stressed out over the last 5-6 weeks, and I guess the binge eating finally worked its way through my previously good habits. Ah well, I can't focus on the past, I just have to be glad that I'm breaking out of it, right?

Tonight I ran for 20 minutes on the elliptical. I might use my P90X dvds to guide my workouts this week. It breaks the workouts into muscle groups, and event if I do 30 minutes (they're typically an hour long) I will be on a good track for the week.

I just really hope I have the motivation to keep up the good habits. We shall see, and I'm hoping to be more attentive soon.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Holly,

I am so touched by your kind words. Thank you so much. I find this community incredibly supportive of me and helpful to me in my recovery. I am glad that I am able to be supportive to all of you too.

Your cupcakes sound yummy, now I see why your 'road name' is cupcake! I had a good cupcake that my friend and her relative made today, delicious.

Good for you for doing so well with your eating. I hope that your weight loss comes along for you, I think it will in time. As Billy Joel, who is one of my favorite musicians says, Keep The Faith!!!


Coffeeshopgirl,

It is great to hear from you. That's so nice that you had a nice visit.

It sounds like you have been under a lot of stress lately, perhaps that is why you have been bingeing. I hope you can use ways to cope positively rather than turning to overeating. I've been down that road of stress eating and I still do it, I am working on more positive ways to deal with my stress. Recovery is hard work but it is so worth it!

That's great that you were on the elliptical. That is great exercise! I find exercising boosts my mood. I wish you all the best with your motivation, perhaps journal about it?


Well, I am going to bed in about 10 minutes, I am tired. The pollen count is high here, I think and I am tired. I am glad that I had a good weekend for the most part and that I have people in my life who care about me. I'm grateful that all of you care about me too, thank you.

I have a lot to do this week, two doctors to see, one therapy appointment and 8 hours of volunteering all packed into 4 days! Whoa, just thinking about makes me a bit nervous but I know that I will get through it one moment at a time.

Hugs and support to all of you. Have a positive start to the week.

coffeeshopgirl,
I am so sorry you are struggling. Stress will do that to you. Are you under undue stress lately? I always am with this anxiety of mine. I will say some prayers for you.

VermontMom, it is so good to see you. I miss you when you are gone for a while.

seabiscuit, Yes, my migraines have subsided for now. I am very lucky. I am on Topamax too and it really helps. I couldn't get by without it.

I am going to cheer myself up by ordering some new clothes for this summer from Woman Within. They have lovely plus size clothes. I ordered 3 different pair of white jeans and a bathing suit. I love white jeans, I think they look kind of dressy with nice shirts.

Will check back in later.

Seabiscuit - I'm so happy at how attentive you are in this thread! You're such a positive force, and I appreciate the kind words and motivation. To answer your question/suggestion of journaling- I've found that in the past, journaling about stress makes me dwell on it (not always positively). So, what works for me is allowing myself to relax, which usually leads to bad habits if I don't pull myself back into good habits. Then, once I talk about it here and there, motivating myself with a plan, I eventually pull myself back up. All in all, this past stress was from the move - talk about exhausting! I will, however, think about ways to get back on track sooner rather than later.

Good luck with your busy week! I'm so proud of you for volunteering - I know you bring a lot of positivity wherever you go.


ohiofreespirit - Thank you for the prayers! As far as my stress goes, it was from my move almost 4 weeks ago now. It was probably a total of 2 months of stress because we had to decide on moving, find a place, finances, the physical move, unpacking (for weeks and weeks!). We're finally getting onto better habits as we've unpacked and cleaned the new place, but for a while we were eating poorly and our exercise was unpacking (ugh). So, it's been a bit of constant stress, but the good thing is that I'm going back to 8 hr days for a while. So happy to be home and have energy to work out!

VTMom - I'm reading about the cupcakes/sweets you made, and I want one too now! lol Good for you for not giving into temptation! Did you take the motorcycle out for Memorial weekend? We've been going on some motorcycle rides when they weather's been nice, but we've had a lot of rain over here.

Here's my exercise plan for tonight (just taking it day by day):
Chest, Back, and Abs (30 mins)
Elliptical (30 mins)

I'll report back tomorrow. Take care!

Hey there...

Hi Ohiofreespirit,

That's great your migraines have subsided for now. My psychiatrist is reducing my Topamax because of the cognition and memory problems, I take it for my Bipolar. I hope my new neurologist can suggest something other than Topamax for my migraines. I take Cambia as needed for migraines and that helps a lot.

I think Woman Within has some nice clothes too. Once, I had trouble getting a refund from them on a debit card but I do like some of their clothes.

Take care.


Hi Coffeeshopgirl,

Thank you so much for your heartfelt and touching words. Your sincere and sweet words brings a big smile to my face!

I want to be as positive as I can and I try to do that. It isn't always easy. I try to carry that over into volunteering and I think I helped out a patient today with my positivity. Sometimes I get depressed, sad and angry but it truly helps to have people such as you who appreciate my positivity! THANK YOU!

Journaling can be upsetting for me too although I love to write. That frustrates me because I have always loved to write!

Good luck with finding ways to relax and cope with your feelings and emotions positively.


I am doing pretty well. I wanted to go swimming indoors at my Y tonight but I was tired and I let myself relax too. Perhaps I will go tomorrow. I am excited because as an early birthday gift, my birthday is July 13, a family member bought me some private 1/2 hour tennis lessons. I am going on Monday to a tennis club and going to play with a pro, I haven't played for awhile but I am excited. My new racket and tennis balls came from Amazon recently. There are courts near me and I want to find someone to rally with. I also want to get to the bike store to get a new cap for my bike so the air will stay in the tire, the cap I have doesn't fit it. I definitely want to stay more active!

Tomorrow morning, I see my hematologist for iron deficient anemia, it has improved and also to monitor my advanced stage fatty liver. The good news is that I think my iron levels are better now, and I can continue to reverse the fatty liver by weight loss! That is a definite motivator for me to keep eating healthier. I weighed myself tonight just to give myself a ballpark idea about tomorrow's weigh in and I lost about five pounds,

Well, have a nice night chicks!

Take care.

Seabiscuit - thanks for the Medifast encouragement. I'm glad to know it helped you. Good job resisting the BBQ temptation!

VermontMom - talk about crazy willpower! I absolutely can't resist cake!

Coffeeshopgirl - i know how hard getting out of the emotional rut can be. Good luck pushing through it!

Ohiofreespirit - i think new clothes are a great way of motivating! I know when I take care of how i look i always feel a bit better.


I'm having a bit of a hard time getting back on plan. I'm down because I am finding it physically very hard to work on my feet, and emotionally just feeling so burned out that it's hard to drag myself to work. I'm sad and lonely and my self-esteem is pretty low. I've done a pretty goodjob of isolating myself and it's really hard to crawl out of that. I'm also getting sick of the metal pins and cast on my broken hand. I see the doctor today and hopefully they will remove them.

Happy hump day everyone

PudgyFlamingo

I hope that your day improves and that you feel better regarding your hand and your self-esteem soon. Self-esteem has been an issue for me for a lot of my life too, I empathize with you. I also sprained my wrist awhile back which I am sure is not nearly as painful as a break but I know how frustrating it is when a limb is affected. I was in a walking boot for two months and it was not fun but I sure did get a lot of comments on it. I isolate too and it is tempting to do at the time for me but I do feel better when I get out with others.


Sigh, as for me, I feel a bit depressed and frustrated. I am glad that I am seeing my therapist today. I saw my doctor for my iron deficient anemia and my advanced fatty liver today, he is very nice but I waited an hour and a half to see him. It is typical for people to wait to see him, I like him but it frustrating. I was a little upset that my weight was higher on their scale than on mine. I like this doctor but I am upset, he showed me a video of his newborn that he is understandably excited about, but I didn't go to his office to see a video. Then he didn't even listen to my lungs or do any physical exam, ok, whatever. I'll let it slide because I like him but that is bizarre and I left irritated. Then, I got home and I read in two printouts from his office that my IUD interacts with two of my meds! One is the Topamax, which is being decreased, the other is my Fibromyalgia med., for sleep, oh wow I am so annoyed right now.

I am thinking of moving so I am meeting with a realtor in town in less than an hour. Then, I see my therapist. Tomorrow I have volunteering and I go to my group. I get a physical exam on Friday, happy happy joy joy, right. I am in the mood for sarcasm, pardon me.

Well, I am still a bit depressed. Maybe I will go for a swim tonight.

Take care everyone.

Seabiscuit - Sorry to hear about the doctor's long visit. That's crazy how long you waited! We've all been there unfortunately. Also glad to know that you did your homework and found those med interactions! It's irritating how patients wait around, pay a doctor visit, and get unattentive results. I hope you still went for your swim tonight. You deserve it!

PudgyFlamingo - Sounds like you're having a rough time getting back on track. I can imagine it's tough too with the pins and cast on your hand. I wonder if walking - just plain walking - would help you feel better? Maybe find a playlist or a podcast and simply walk around the block, the track, somewhere, until your playlist is done. If you're feeling lonely, use us at your motivators and accountability partners - come back after your work out and tell us how you felt! Be it good, tired, crabby - doesn't matter. We're here to help you get back on track!

Ohiofreespirit - How's it going? Did you end up ordering your new outfits?

*Workout Update*
Yesterday, I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes of chest and back exercises.

Tonight, I managed (so far) half of a leg and ab work out and 10 mins on the elliptical.

I'm wondering if I should do the rest of my workout, or save some energy for tomorrow. The husband is in class tonight, so I make dinner for now (chicken, broccoli, and rice - maybe turn it into a stir fry?). I'll decide when he comes home whether or not I'll do the rest of the workout. I'm proud of myself for focusing on my form, which leg workouts always seems to require from me. There's no way I can cheat my way through it (by cheat, I mean do a sloppy job at the exercise) because if I do it wrong, I know I'll get hurt - pull a muscle, pinch a nerve or something.

Well, so far so good for Day 2 of my workouts. Check back in with everyone tomorrow!

Hey everyone...... I got some kind of bad news yesterday I saw my doctor on Monday and everything was really good with the exception of my back which has been hurting more and poping and cracking like crazy for the last 6 months. She asked for x-rays to be done so I went that morning... yesterday I heard back that there was disc narrowing in my lower back. It's a degenerative thing that can be managed but won't actually get better. Surgery is an option if and probably when it gets bad. I have to go back next monday for another exam, more x-rays and to find a physio place. She told me to avoid high impact exercise.... but I'm a runner. She said I can keep doing it for now as long as it doesn't make my back hurt more.

I was pretty bummed out yesterday and thinking about it now is making me feel that way again.. blah. Hubby took me out to dinner last night and I had a lovely melbac with my grilled chicken.

I guess on a positive note I found daylight bulbs (to grow plants) for my aquariums for $2 each at a discount store. These easily cost $10-20 anywhere else... we're going to go back and get more today now that we're sure about the lenghts.

Hi coffeeshopgirl-

Thank you, yes it was very frustrating to wait that long! I like that doctor a lot but it is irritating to wait that long. I didn't go for a swim last night, yesterday I was hitting some tennis balls on my local court and I found a tennis partner. Tonight though, I am going for a swim with my new prescription goggles!!

It sounds like you are eating very healthily and doing a great job at the exercise, way to go! Keep it up!!


Hi Aunty Jam-

I am sorry that you got upsetting news. Do you like this doctor? I'm glad that you can run unless it bothers you. I hope that your body can tolerate it. A lot of people in my family are runners and they love it.

That's great about the nice dinner with your husband, how nice. I used to have fish aquariums, I loved them but they were a lot of maintenance. It sounds like you are doing a great job thinking positively and that is so important.


As for me, I think things are going okay but I feel like things are a bit bittersweet. I wanted to move into a 2 BR town home but my family and I found out that they are not affordable which is frustrating. I did contact some realtors and I will continue to look around this area.

I purchased some prescription swim goggles tonight from my eye doctor's office for $49. I am glad that I treated myself to some thing that is a positive motivator for me to improve my health. I can hardly wait to try them out tonight.

Tomorrow I have a physical with a doctor I have not met yet, but I have been at his practice a few times. I hear he is very knowledgable and nice. Then on Monday, I am taking a 1/2 hour tennis lesson, which I think will be a good workout and fun. I found someone to rally with on the tennis courts which is great! I am also looking forward to continuing to lose this weight and getting healthier.

Well, I am about to head to the pool with my prescription goggles, yeah!

Have a great night everyone!

Perscription goggles... Neat. I could use a pair of those but I bet they'd be way more than $49 up here. Too bad those places are so expensive, I hope you find a nice one soon.

And yes, I like my doctor. I have 4 aquariums right now, the biggest being a 55g and the smallest being a 2.5g so it's not bad to look after, just feedings and around 2 hours a week for water changes, sometimes more if I have to clean filters too.

Hi everyone and I do thank Seabiscuit for keeping this thread so active

Seabiscuit, I also would have been very unhappy at being kept waiting for an hour and a half for an appt., then the doctor does something bizarre like take up the precious time with showing you a personal video (albeit innocent of a newborn) but still not right! i'm sorry that you were also disappointed that their scale did not show the happy weight loss your scale at home showed. But keep on preservering! How was the physical today? OH and my husband's birthday is also July 13th!

Coffeeshopgirl - wow 30 min. of elliptical and then 30 minutes of strength is great!! Oh and we did not ride at all on Memorial weekend, it was COLD and rainy and Mt. Mansfield (about 15 miles from us and 4000 ft up) got 16 inches of snow!! But I've ridden to work a couple times since then and it was awesome

pudgyflamingo, your words of how you are lonely and sad really made me feel badly for you Im so sorry that it is hard physically to get through your work day, I work on my feet too and it is really a hard thing to do, isn't it. I'm also very sorry that you said you have isolated yourself (as a coping mechanism?) because that can feel terrible can't it. What did the doctor say about removing the pins soon??

Ohiofreespirit, Hi and I love the sound of those white jeans! are they a lighter type of fabric, or regular cotton/denim but white? I think I want some now Is your daughter home wtih you the whole summer?

Aunty Jam - oh, I am SO sorry to hear of that disc diagnosis!! I hope like heck that you can continue running without it hurting. Your dinner out sounded nice, but i am clueless and I had to google "melbac" - it's a wine, right? (VtMom goes duh) and Yay to the cheaper bulbs!

I was gonna whine that today, I received my new motorcycle boots after waiting a week, and one snap broke THE FIRST TRY of getting them off. My husband insists he can fix it. The company does have a no-problem policy of replacing, but I would have to wait another week. So I am lucky that my biggest problem is just a broken boot snap

Hi Aunty Jam,

How are you doing? I love my prescription goggles. I purchased them the other day, I tried them out and they are great. It is frustrating when things are expensive. I know of a few companies that made prescription goggles, mine are made by a company called Leader, and I met another swimmer who has goggles by Barracuda. Good luck with that! That is awesome to have fish, I had goldfish and algae eaters in a 29 gallon long aquarium for a few years and I enjoyed it.

I hope you have a good weekend!


Hey Vermont Mom,

You are so kind to thank me for keeping this thread active, aww that's so sweet. I am very touched!! I love this thread and all of you are very special individuals who I am blessed to communicate with via this thread.

That is way about your hubby's birthday being July 13 too!! A friend of mine has a July 13 birthday too! A relative of mine is also in July, and quite a few of my friends have birthdays in July. When is your birthday?

Yes, I was irritated and annoyed when I waited so long to see my doctor. This issue of waiting so long has gone on for so long yet I like the doctor a lot so it is a frustrating issue which I guess I am just coming to accept. He is a good doctor but it did bother me that he didn't do any type of physical exam like he normally does, instead showing me a video of his kid. I am still a bit upset about it so perhaps I will kindly say something as politely as I can when I see him in August.

That must be upsetting about your boots. I hope you get that resolved soon. How is your job going? Have an awesome weekend.


I had an interesting day today. I was irritated with some maintenance issues in my apartment so I gave the property manager a mouthful and I got irritated which I later apologized for. I said to myself before I went into his office that I wouldn't get upset but then I did get really irritated once I started speaking to him. I apologized and he said it wasn't a big deal, phew. They are resolving my maintenance issues now, thank goodness.

I also had a physical today with a new doctor at my family practice. The doctor who I saw is so kind, nice and thorough. I am very impressed with him because he really seemed to care about me. We had a good talk and he gave me some good insights.

In a few minutes I will play one of my guitars, I haven't played this one for awhile. They all have names, this one, the first one which I bought is Hope, an Epiphone black Dreadnought, then I have Rapture (not after the religious belief), but the emotion - an Epiphone black Hummingbird, and Bliss, a mahogany reddish color Gretsch Electromatic. I love playing, so I will play now before I go to bed, I have my guitar lesson next week.

Tomorrow I am going to chill with my friend and her dog. I hope everyone has a great weekend!