Lisa- I'm not sure if you have a pool available, but my mom has knee issues and swims a lot. I never could get into lap swimming, but maybe you should give it a try if there's a pool at a gym nearby? And congrats on the 10 lbs!! That's amazing!!

Hello, I am new to the forum. I have struggled with depression for many years but have been doing really well for a long time even though my struggles to lose weight get me down.

However I'm about to make a big move to another country, we are currently selling all of our belongings preparing to move. I am getting scared now because it's starting to feel real. I'm hoping that my life in this new place will be healthier, I will walk more and have less access to junk and fast food. But I might need a lot of support to avoid falling into depression again in these new surroundings.

I started alternate day fasting last week, tomorrow will be my fourth fasting day. It's going really well so far but I'm worried about Thanksgiving and have been thinking stupid negative thoughts, comparing myself to trimmer women I will spend time with over the holidays.

Thanks for reading.

:welcome: Abbeyrd84 :wave: please do come here often to let us know how you are doing!you are about to do a huge life change and of course it's scary. hope to get to know you better :)

hi snapple!

Hi Lisa, Kathleen, Coop, Monica, JesikaBeth, Helianthus!

I am getting ready for work, today is my Monday :p but I had 2 good days off. Renewed my driver's license for 4 years, with the motorcycle endorsement and the Federal star, it was $63!!

Have finished my first batch of meringue mushrooms, will post a pic tonight i hope :)

Have been doing a workout most days..yay!!! I'm just going for improved strength, mobility, endurance, haven't reigned in my eating so far :p

(((((snapple)))))


So wonderful to you, we have missed you so much. Please post again, soon.

I despise gyms. I'll start exercising at home, I'll do better that way. I have some momentum going. This weekend would be a great time for me to start. I'll be here alone.

Thanks for your post. :)

Hi all! That's us back from Rome - we had a really lovely time, but oh my goodness, my feet were on fire by the end of it! We started off visiting the colosseum and Roman Forum. The ruins were amazing, and I just love the history! The only problem was our lack of fitness, we walked for 8+ hours, and our legs and feet were so sore by the end of the day, we couldn't walk right for the rest of the trip! We visited all the main tourist attractions though: Vatican city & the Sisteen chapel, Trevi fountain etc. Afraid my OH kept trying to take photos of me at top spots, but I hated every single one and made him delete them all :( Italian ladies are so thin, and I felt like a whale before we went, but felt so jealous at how lovely everyone looked! The food was great though, and portions weren't as big as we get in Restaurants in the UK, so I only gained 2lbs, which isn't a lot for a holiday!

I felt so disappointed at how my feet and legs let me down out there, we've resolved to go for more long walks here to make sure our legs are up for next time. Only problem is how much it rains here! It is true what they say about Scotland - especially the West :lol:

Anyway, I'll respond to you all in a separate post - won't risk losing a massive one!

Holly - I work as a Civil Engineer, mostly dealing with water stuff - it's a fairly steady job, keeps me busy!

Sorry your tablet broke - I'm so glad you got your photos back though!

I'd have been so fuming at the cake thing too! OH has eaten my food before, and usually doesn't hear the end of it for a full month :lol:

Hope you're still getting the odd trip on your motorbike, and everything is going alright with the r@t!

Lisa - any luck with arranging your contractor?

I'm so proud you lost 10lbs! That is the right amount of weight I think - I'm very jealous! You'll lose weight faster when you add in exercise :)

I think it's ok if you're having a little bit of pop - try cutting out a little more each day though, it sounds like you're being hit with withdrawal (probably from caffeine in the pop). I went through it before, so know what you feel like! Once I cut it out, my head was a lot clearer, and I rarely drink anything but water these days.

If you find the water boring though, try making up a jug with slices of lemon or lime & mint leaves or raspberries - it gives a touch of flavour. Lemon's good for the liver, and some say it helps weight loss.

Are you drinking 5 16oz glasses by the way? I try to drink 4-5 16oz size glasses of water a day, when I do, my weight usually goes down (but I do have to pee a lot!!)

kathleen - it's good to see you post - hope you're getting on alright!

I took a break from running while away, we were taking 20,000+ steps a day just getting around! I'm letting my feet recover this weekend, so I'll start running next week again. I'm aiming to be able to run 30mins in time for Christmas though - very scary!

Hi to our newbies!

helianthus welcome to the thread! I know it can be difficult moving back home after so long away - my sister did it for a while while she was establishing herself.

Graduate jobs are so frustrating to get into. Do you know anyone who currently works as an ecologist? It could be worth asking them for tips! You might benefit from volunteering with a conservation charity for a while? It also doesn't harm to submit speculative CVs - I once interviewed with a company who said they didn't even bother advertising graduate jobs because they received so many speculative CVs, they'd save themselves the expense!

I don't know if e-cigarettes are big in the states, but I know a lot of people who have quit by using them! I'd highly recommend :)

Welcome abbeyroad! Beatles fan by any chance?

Well done for fasting - I am in awe of anyone that manages it! I hope it goes well for you. My aunt had a lot of success doing 5:2, it does work!

Where are you moving to?

Coop27 I'm moving to Germany in four weeks!

Today is a fasting day and it's going pretty well but I never have much trouble until evening. I overdid it yesterday and felt too full all day & the scale reflected that. I need to adjust to the fact that my appetite has shrunk and eating a lot on feasting days makes me feel really uncomfortable.

You'll get there! It does take time to learn new habits.

German's have quite a healthy diet, so I'm sure you'll lose a lot while you're out there too! My German housemate always told me their bread was better, and they never eat sad sandwiches at their desk for lunch. I hope you like quark though!

Hope everyone is well today! Sorry for the mammoth post-athon yesterday.

Just about on top of our hoisework today but one of our rabbit's is sick. He has a gut blockage, which is quite serious for rabbits. Hoping so much that he pulls through, we really can't take more loss...

We're house bound while we watch him, I'm feeling a bit bored - we did so much a few days ago, now we're on the couch watching Netflix! If anyone is around, please entertain me!

I was feeling good about the few pounds I dropped but today my self esteem took a hit. Four weeks ago my brother got married and I was a bridesmaid. Today we got the professional photos back. They are beautiful and full of people I love but all I can think is how fat I look in them :(

Today my husband's coworkers threw a going away party and I overdid it of course, Thanksgiving will probably be worse! Oy vey. I wish you all a lot of will power.

Hi everyone! Working this weekend. Which is good and bad. Good because that means I get Thanksgiving off and I get more steps in because we are busy. Bad because...well...we are busy. I work Night Audit at a hotel and busy nights can be super stressful. Plus we had some snow and that always seems to bring the worst out in drivers here. :)

Lisa: I'm with you on the gym hate. I joined the Y and went maybe 10 times but paid for 2 years. sigh. I just couldn't force myself to be in there with all those motivated people. It was depressing.

Coop: Im glad you have fun on your trip! I did Paris to Rome for my senior trip and Rome was for sure my favorite place. I ruines made me cry (silly i know) because I had done so much reading about it and to actually see it was incredible. We were actually at the Vatican when everyone thought the Pope died, lots of crying people. My only wish was that we could have taken a trip down to Pompeii.

Abbeyrd84: Pictures are my enemy. I refused to be in pictures for years because of course I'm the largest of my friends/family. Then I realized that I wasn't in any the pictures (aka memories) ... which upset me even more. When I had my daughter I decided screw it. I want everyone to remember I was there. I want my daughter to know i was there. Plus it reminds me what I'm fighting for.

Best of luck to everyone celebrating Thanksgiving. I'm already on MFP trying to figure out how much I can actually eat and what i have to give up to get the really good stuff (mmm deviled eggs).

Abbeyrd - I hate photos of myself right now too. I just keep telling myself it will make a great 'before' photo, but now I need the motivation to get to 'after'. All the harder with so much chocolate, cheese and pringles on offer in the supermarket right now! We'll do it though!

Ruby - I really did like Rome, I think I slightly preferred it to Paris too, but only because I loved the history of the Roman Empire - we studied it in School. I do really want to visit Pompeii too, but we just didn't have time. What a shame, we'll have to go back another time...


Rabbit is a little better today, he's eating again.

Hi all. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Lisaloveshearts... did I see that you despise gyms? Me too! I have a little mini stepper I got at Target for 60 bucks and it is a life saver. Gets my heart rate up and when it's too ugly outside to walk around, the old mini stepper saves the day.

I often get on it even if it's only for 10 minutes after a meal. While I watch Netflix :)

:welcome: abbeyrd and ruby! it is always good to have new friends here.

Coop, so glad you had a wonderful time in Rome but sorry about the sore feet!! oh and I hope the rabbit is better?? Hey I loved reading your long post and totally get the separate ones to everyone, that is so much better than losing a long post! :)

Hi Lisa, I hope you heard back from the contractor? and had a nice hot bath.

Hi snapple, Helianthus, Kathleen, Monica!

We got our first snowfall yesterday, about 4" of fluffy crap :devil: it is easy to shovel though. And I got my snow tires on a month ago so am feeling virtuous, lol.

I am keeping up with doing a workout about 5X a week, I think I'm feeling the benefits already as it's been a month. Just feeling a bit more fit. And when I get up in the morning, I'm just groggy, not sore anywhere.

I took a sample of my meringue mushrooms to a store yesterday but haven't heard back yet. I have to take the plunge and order a case of cute wooden pint boxes, they are a good price, $100 for 500 of the suckers :eek: but I expect to use about 200 of them, and any extras I can sell to local people next year for produce.

Yes I am feeling better :) have a good day, today is my Friday!!

Lisa - we love to hear about ANYTHING that is going on in your life!! please don't hold back :devil:

I am so glad the problem teeth are taken care of, oh what agony dental pain is! the warm salt water is yuck but it is sooo healing. I hope so much your pain is lessening by the hour :) Boooo to the contractor who hasn't called you back! or maybe it's because he is so talented everyone wants his work. Hopefully he will contact you today.

Yay for remembering to take the turkey out to defrost! :carrot:

and thank you, yes I am gonna enjoy my two days off!

We are going to the in-law's for dinner tomorrow. The grandmother is a sweet kind considerate lady; but our daughter-in-law's mother is a first class weirdo :devil: I am not an alcoholic but I will need to pound down a beer or two in the car before we go into their house :devil: they don't offer drinks, it's not that they don't drink alcohol at all, there will be little celebration glasses of wine at the table, but I guess they don't need it the way I do to get through an afternoon with them :rofl:

I realize i was trying to do with out my medication, Wellbutrin, for months now :?: it is a reasonable price, $90 for 3 months, $1 a day is worth it!! I don't know why I was rationing out my pills, I was only taking one whenever I thought of it, which was hardly ever. I ordered my 3 month's worth from Canada Drugs the other night and hopefully they will arrive sooner than later.

We have snow on the ground and it's probably here to stay. Maybe now I can accept that this is the way its gonna be for the next almost 5 months :eek: Living is so much easier when it's warm, you can just go outside with flipflops and no coat, don't have to worry about slipping or falling. Oh well.

hope to hear from everyone else!

WOW I almost lost the long post above!! All the time now, I log in, I write a post and hit submit, then it says I have to log in again, and my post disappears. I was lucky to be able to hit the Back button enough times to retrieve, copy and paste it.

Just saying Hi again :D I hope everyone had a good day yesterday. Back to work today and it was fairly active, people are in town for Thanksgiving and it helps that there is snow on the ground down here and up at the ski slopes.
I have to be at work by 7 a.m. tomorrow :coffee:

Hi all

Hope you had a lovely thanksgiving!

We're having a very cold few days - a really thick white frost arrived Tuesday and hasn't melted yet - it looks like it's been snowing, but it's all frost. I haven't exercised much this week because of it, I'm in full hibernation mode at the moment! I need to buy a new winter jacket, as mine is still too small, maybe I can get out for a walk after that.

Holly, well done for your workouts! It's good that they have become pretty normal for you now. Hope work went alright for you!

Hey ladies,

This will be a small post. I'm still under the weather.


Went to the ER Friday. I'm on antibiotics to heal my infected gums. I'm also on Vicodin but honestly, it doesn't help all that much. I am better today, not in agony anymore. I can smash up my food and eat today.


Much love to all.

Hi ladies,

Another small post.


I feel sick to my stomach tonight. I haven't eaten much today, it hurts to eat but I feel sick and weak. I've put a small baked potato in the microwave, I guess I have to eat. I feel like crap.

I am so sorry I have nothing positive to post lately. I just need to vent.


Jennifer told me tonight, in not a very nice way, that she's struggling financially with me here. I do not think she knows how much that hurts me. If I tell her, we'll just end up fighting.

I contacted a general contractor today, he's meeting me on Friday morning. I got some good info from him. I'm going to get him in there asap so I can get out of here.

Oh Lisa!! first the infection in your mouth and now your heart is hurting :( many hugs for you :hug: :hug: :hug:

Hello ladies :) freezing rain here, when I took Eddie the dog out, I went over to my car and saw it was encased in ice :eek: I was walking on grass so I hadn't noticed that any hard surface was coated in ice. Now I *think* I hear just regular rain out there, I hope to goodness the roads are OK when I leave at 10:30. I have heard the State trucks go by, I sure don't like what the salt and brine do to the underside of my car but I do want salt and sand on the road this morning! come on Spring :D

On more positive thinking, I have been working out *almost* 5 times a week, I had made that my goal over at the Chicks up for a Challenge, November Exercise Challenge thread. Maybe, MAYBE one day soon I'll want to curb my overeating, as I know I will not lose weight by just exercising.

much love to all!!

Helloooo everyone :hug:

Just wanted to check in. Sorry I've been MIA. Work and the holidays have got me strapped. Plus my computer bit the dust, so I now (finally) have a new laptop :carrot:

I hope everyone is doing well, and your holiday season is going alright.

All is actually pretty good here. No complaints, other than gaining a few pounds thus far this Holiday season. Boooo :(

Thank you for your wonderful well wishes, Holly. You are always so sweet to every single one of girls.


I can't believe your car was iced up. We've had some frost but nothing like that.

I tend to over eat, too. I don't eat a ton but I definitely need to work on my portion control. It's hard to see food left in the pot or pan. I want to go back for seconds, if I don't I get hungry later in the evening. I need to get myself some healthy snacks when that happens. I love yogurt, I love bananas, I love cauliflower and carrots. I love cheese. i just need to stock up for the whole month, when I get paid on the 3rd.

Also, my next goal, besides potion control and healthy snacks, I need to start exercising. I looked up some great ones on sparkpeople. I would like to do beginner Yoga, beginning Pilates and stretching exercises.

Much love to you, Holly.
'

Hi JesikaBeth,

Thanks for stopping in to see us. I am so glad things are going well there. Keep us updated.

Much love to you.

Hello all. I was hoping to be in "ONEderland" by the end of the year, but I've plateaud with my weight loss and am still at 230 lbs. SO... my new goal is getting to ONEderland by my birthday -- April 26th. Think I can do it?

I am also re-joining weight watchers come the New Year.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! :)

Hi ladies :)

JesikaBeth, I also think you can do your One-derland goal by your birthday in April! and congrats on your new laptop :carrot:

Lisa, Yay to looking at some exercise options, they sound very good and moderate yet effective, even though I don't work hard enough to feel endorphins I am always glad that I attempted and finished a 30 minute session of something. And it is sure to help with flexibility and strength :) Hope things are less tense in your current living situation...glad you have your furry babies to comfort you at least.

HI to everyone else !

I just posted my last entry for the November Exercise Challenge, I didn't quite make my goal of 30 minutes of exercise 5X a week, but I did do 30 min. of exercise for 21 days out of 30 which I'm glad of.

It's a gloomy day here, we haven't seen the sun in a long time, like days and days. At least it isn't snowing :devil: I know I'm supposed to wish for snow for the local economy here but I secretly don't, haha.

The building project 30 feet away (super huge sh*t ugly monoliths) is still ongoing, they can't move earth around because now the ground is too cold, but the indoor work is hammering from 7 a.m. to quitting time, around 3:30 pm. I keep wishing for something horrible to happen, like a meteor falling directly on them :devil: yeah I have very unhealthy angry feelings every time I look over there, which is a million times a day.

Coop, I am so sorry, I am so sorry I missed posting to you. Missed you around here, lately. :)

I would like to get myself a coat too. i have my mom's long red one but I'd like to have one that fit me better or had a belt with it.

Post to us again soon.

oops I also forgot to specifically say hi to Coop :wave: How are you?? and is OH doing okay? (still have to remember that means "Other Half" and not "Old Husband" :rofl: )

and this is a special shout out to Kathleen, I went back through pages of our support group here and YOU founded the Ups and Downs thread back in November of 2013!! :carrot:

Arrrrrgh!!!