I decided to use some of the jeans I own as a form of measurement rather than worrying about the scale so much. So far, 2 of the 'too tight pairs' fit again. I think they are a size 12.
I have a variety of sizes, going all the way to size 6. ;)
Anyway, I decided to reward myself by buying some tea at Teavana. It was a little expensive but I got some yummy fruit teas to last me for a while.

For bethanym and alex1space.

From the other thread regarding the weight loss jars.

Scroll down on the first page to first post and you will see a link in the post for the jars.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...ay-1-29-a.html

Hope this work.

Attachment 41601

I attached our collective weight loss vase. I have a few more. In this one we use one large glass stone for each pound we lost.

I have a few more that I can send you.

Okay, the first post onepage 10 has some. All of these are so cute. I was inspired by these two ladies and there was another one. I can't find it.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...7-12-a-10.html

Good advice wuv...plus most people are more than happy to help you sabotage your efforts, especially if they have issues of their own.
We all need to do this for ourselves.

Purple sky- thanks so much!!!

And these are ours. They can be very hard to see in pictures once you fill them up. But, I have a lot of stuff on them for bling and motivation. I swear our weight loss increased since we started using them which is entirely untrue but it feels like it. There is something about the clinking in the morning. That and the trying on smaller clothes. like shiipa referred to. Those two things have been highly motivating for me and fun. Lots of fun.

[ATTACH]Attachment 41603[/ATTACH]

Okay, these are DH's. I used masculine colored stones and he likes to add two for each pound lost. So his glass is much larger than mine. Then, I put all kinds of motivational bling on it. For the first glass I chose See Ya which I also put on mine.

Anyway, I hope you have fun with whatever creation you come up with. Inspired by the two ladies who created these and the other one I can't find I ended up using these pink and white "diamonds" that I found at Michaels. I don't have a picture of them on my computer. Very pretty.

Thank you for looking those up....I loved them all! I am definitely making one of some sort. I actually considered having 2 buckets of cat litter reflecting the actual pounds lost and left to lose, but that isn't nearly as attractive!

I know everyone makes their milk shakes a little different. I use vanilla pudding, 5 oz of water, some cinnamon, and add 8 ice cubes and put it in my blender. I like my shakes thick and the ice cubes tend to do that.

And why do we self sabotage. This is huge. So many of us do it in some form. I am going to take a chance here and say some of us don't value ourselves enough. And so we create patterns, behaviors if you will that will yield the least desirable effect. I can date this guy with the good job but he is not as cute or as fun as the other guy. 2 weeks or 2 years later he has decided he is too cute and too fun for you. And it happens over and over.

It takes a long time to retrain the mind to alter patterns and change our ways and to think we are worth it and valuable enough to take the best care of ourselves as possible. But too often, we put others and other situations first.

So, our health fails, our emotions drop or go out of whack and other things happen that lead us to believe, "hey, I deserve this piece of cake." And then another and another and another to the point where we just don't have to deal anymore. I just stuffed my belly. All seems better. Moving on.

You guys have hit on some really big major points here. I believe the kinds that will actually prevent weight from coming back on. There is something that happens to all of us from that moment we say, okay I lost the weight I can have a little of this and a little of that and a little more of that and then, the cycle starts over and we get angry at ourselves.

The thing I love seeing and reading about on these boards is how phenomenally and overjoyed people are with themselves and others. Wish every day and every life experience could be like this.

You know, I can totally see where these would help...they are a visual depiction of a change that we can't always see when we look in the mirror (especially when you have more than a little to lose like most of us here).

I found that I was in a pretty depressed state of mind since gaining weight, and just really let my appearance go because I just stopped caring.

So here are the non-food things I am doing to get out of that rut and stay motivated this week:
- Changing the beat-up polish on my toes
- Getting my hair professionally cut and colored (I have a yin-yang head with all gray in the front, and have really struggled to color it well myself, plus my sister has been cutting it)
- Making some motivational vases like Purplesky's!
- And staying on plan foodwise, of course!

Eeeek!! I just realized that I am not going to be home for dinner tomorrow night, nor am I going to have access to a restaurant to order my own dinner. I'm volunteering, and people bring dinner, and I'm sure that nothing will be OP. I am good on lunch (bar) and my raw veggies but what to do about my protein? Any suggestions on things that travel well? Thanks in advance!!

I would take a protein pack and a shaker bottle. That is what I plan on doing when I have something on Tuesday night. Or if they have a fridge you can take some pre-cooked chicken. Or what about a can of tuna?

That's a great idea! Thanks, I wouldn't have thought of boiling the eggs (I usually scramble mine).

chicken broth?
 

[QUOTE=wuv2bloved;4220991]I would worry more about getting better than being thrown out of ketosis. It takes a lot to get kicked out. Take care of yourself, you need to be well most importantly. Take the Therflu, its fine. Stick to plan as close as you can, drink some hot tea for your throat, veggie soup sounds good or good old chicken broth low sodium works well also. Hope you feel better soon :hug:[/QUOTEWuvWuv , can i use 2 cups of organic chicken broth to make a bokchoy soup ,on phase one