Maintainers Chat - Week of June 4 - 10
 

Good morning! :coffee:

And a very special welcome to our newest Maintainers, John and Marti - though they're old pros at this maintenance business!

This week I'm getting ready for our family reunion cruise AND nailing down the final details on DD's wedding date and place. :crazy: It's all very exciting but I'm forcing myself to stick to my AM gym routine. The funny thing is, that's my thinking time and it helps me sort out all the thousands of things whirling around in my head.

I'm still nervous about handling the mega food on the cruise. I know there will be good choices to be made, I'm just not all that confident that I'll make them, if you know what I mean. Sometimes all my good sense just flies out the window when I'm faced with a buffet. :devil: I may have to enlist the food police to help me out.

So -- what's going on in your world? How are you feeling, Mama Anne? And Joy, how long for you? :hug:

Meg,

I'll bet those buffets are going to be loaded with all kinds of enticing, scrumptious and, best of all, clean foods, all with your name on them. Wonderful fruits and veggies, maybe good things like shrimp and tuna. I'll cross my fingers and hope for a carvery. And maybe there will be baskets of multigrain rolls or something. Maybe good cheese. I tend of think of cruise buffets as being comparable to big hotel-conference buffets, and those sorts of things are always on them. So, pick up a salad plate (smaller than a dinner plate) and load it with all the good things you like. You're going to do wonderfully.

Someone last week suggested sticking with your plan for breakfast and lunch and maybe having a treat at dinner. I think that's a good plan. I don't know if you ever have a glass of wine, but I find that a great technique is to have just a half glass -- that's about 4 ounces. I don't feel deprived and I can manage the calorie count just fine.

Most important of all? Exercise of course. I'm assuming that your ship, like so many these days, has great fitness facilities. If you can stick with your routine, you'll feel like you're in control.

I'm finally over the jet lag and backlog from our trip. Had a little trouble getting back into my routine last week, but this morning I was on the treadmill for 45 minutes, and I've packed a wonderful lunch with the makings for a salad of tuna, salmon, white beans, greens and grape tomatoes. Our trip to Italy reawakened my love of Mediterranean foods, and last night we tossed pasta with a "sauce" made of fresh peas, fresh artichoke hearts, lots and lots of garlic, a couple ounces of pancetta and a little white wine. I'm telling you -- those Italians know how to eat.

The Y starts offering its summer schedule today. My favorite deep-water aerobics class is not offered early in the morning (total bummer), but I'm going to try a Power Pump class if I can get there after work. And I have two sessions left with a Y personal trainer; I'm going to ask her to help me devise a program of push-pull splits.

Good grief chickies ... it's 7:20 and I haven't even taken a shower yet.

Gotta jet. Hugs and love.

Meg, a cruise sounds wonderful. I'm sure they'll have lots of healthy foods to choose from too. I know you'll make great choices.

I'm sitting here terribly sore after overdoing it Big Time with the 5 hrs. working outside yesterday. It hurts to even lift my coffee cup. I still have more trees to trim in back yard, but they are gonna have to wait.

My fresh garden veggies were delicious with dinner last night. Something about growing it myself that makes me appreciate it so much more.

Today will be spent paying bills. Oh, joy, joy.

So far today is nice and calm. Everyone is else is still asleep. LOL

Silly me! I just posted in LAST week's thread! I'll paste it here as it needs to be said (for my benefit only!).

Good morning maintainers! Today I'm not feeling like a maintainer any longer. I think I've let myself go just a tad. Since January, I've been maintaining at between 139-142 but in the past couple of weeks I haven't seen anything less than 142, so it's time to buckle down and get those last 10 pounds off for good! Let's see, 10 pounds at 1 pound per week, I should be at goal by mid August.

Saturday I moved my office which meant a lot of time on the floor and carrying things from one office to the other. All that did for me was to make my thighs sore! It just goes to show you how out of shape I am! I think I'll talk to DD to see if she'll be willing to take me to the gym a couple of times (she can take a guest for $7 a visit). That way I can decide if this gym is going to work for me. If it works, I'll join for myself.

Take care everyone and have a great day!

hi maintainers, hi meg, robin, lily & alinell,

Robin - Yep, the italians know how to eat big time. So do the french, and the belgians for that matter. Glad to hear you liked rome, I've been there some years ago and I was all agog with the feeling like where I walked, ceasar walked !

Meg - the cruise sounds like big fun. Whereabouts are you all heading ? & I second the ideas vented before: stick to the healthy stuff at the buffets, and have a treat araound dinnertime. And keep walking those decks of course.

Lily- glad to hear your vegs are doing so well. DD made a small garde as well, but we were late in planting. so far she is snacking of the sweetpeas in her garden, she eats them straight from the plant. I guess we're lucky they only come a couple at the time or she would get a tummy ache.

Hi allison , how's the new office going ?

last week lacked in exercise for me. I have to keep it up, so i'm planning for power class this evening, and biking to work tomorrow.

Have a great day all,
rabbit

Hi everyone!

Meg - hopefully your cruise ship is one of the ones with a gym and lots of exercise classes and equipment!

Lily - we are just getting our veggies planted, I'm looking forward to eating them like you are!

Allison - good luck with those last 10 lbs!

This weekend was good and bad in terms of eating. We had my fiance's entire family over for dinner (9 people in all, we had to borrow chairs and silverware!!). I cooked one of my regular Cooking Light recipes and some veggies for the main meal, and we had fruit for appetizers, but I splurged and made a recipe from Martha Stewart for dessert. Six sticks of butter went into that recipe and every last bite is gone now. :o Plus I had a few glasses of wine. This morning I was up 4lbs! It doesn't help that I haven't been to the gym in over a week, thanks to all of our moving-in adventures and my acupuncture appointments. At least Sunday morning I was feeling motivated and went for a jog around our neighborhood.

I am feeling like I really need a vacation. I haven't taken any vacation time at work since I am saving it up for our honeymoon in October, but I'm really feeling it right now. I'm considering taking a couple days to turn the 4th of July into a 5-day weekend but I need to book my plane tickets for our honeymoon and while I'm pretty sure my boss will let me take those two days as unpaid time off for the honeymoon I'm a little nervous about it.

Allison, I know how you feel. I've teetered anywhere from 141-150 and it makes me feel like I'm not too great at maintenance. I always get back on the ball and get it back down, but it's still frustrating.

I just came from the feed store and buying a 50 lb. sack of dog food. I am so sore that I had to have the male clerk carry it and put it in my car. That is pitiful, usually I can carry it myself. I've now loaded up with ibuprofen and I hope it helps. If I didn't know better , I'd think I've got broken ribs.

4Rabbit, I have a bunch of peas ready to be picked. I've never tried them raw, maybe I'll have to try that. DH likes them steamed. Last night I cooked a big pot of fresh boiled potatoes with the red skins on them. I mashed mine up and added some pepper and a little non-fat sour cream. Yummy. Tonite I'm grilling some fresh squash.

Last night as the rest of my family grabbed for ice cream for dessert I felt good that I ate SF jello with fruit and non-fat cool whip instead.

Jessica, I hope you get that 5 day weekend that you really do need. Sounds like you've been super busy and could use some time off.

Morning all! Jessica, we're just planting our veggies too. It'll be mid-July before we're eating any! The strawberries haves blossoms though, and I can get some fresh lettuce from our local organic grower (from his greenhouse) for a price! (Heck, CA lettuce is $1.99 a head for romaine or red/green leaf, more for butterhead, and I don't even look at iceberg.)

Thanks Meg! A cruise has always sounded fun, but maybe only for a couple of days. Like you I worry about being stranded on a floating hotel with a nonstop buffet. But, most buffets I've found myself at have at least some healthy choices. And think of all the pools and other opportunities for exercise there must be on modern cruiseships. You'll do fine!

We've been exercising indoors a lot this past week. I hate it because it seems so much more boring than walking in the woods with the dogs. As a result, I'm certain I'm getting less exercise. There's just too much grass pollen out right now. Marti has a little allergy trouble, but I am awful. We got a little rain yesterday and that helped enough to do a 2.5 mi. Pedaling on the elliptical sitting in one place is no substitute for hiking the hills with the dogs. We saw about 8 turtles yesterday and a very tiny deer laying in the weeds -and then it's mother up the trail a ways. We usually go in the evening -sometimes it's dark. May try mornings for a while. Some rain last night and a little sprinkle today. Seems like it washes the pollen out of the air. So we'll probably be okay again today. We can always go to the Y for variety, but it's a 45 min drive. Anybody else hike?

This is our first year gardening since we've moved and the new place has terrible soil (clay and rocks). So while we're building it up we're trying raised beds this year. We made 3 huge ones and had some topsoil trucked in. We've got a whole lot of kale out and some tomatoes and peppers. Waiting for some more soil to come so we can set out some more stuff. It's been so dry we've had a soaker hose going on them for 15min x2 a day.


John

Hi John and Marti and welcome to the forum.

I used to hike a lot when I was younger, but now I walk outside on our country roads with my daughter or husband. I prefer the outside to the elliptical or treadmill, but don't always have someone to walk with. I do love seeing deer when I'm on a walk. Mainly I see rabbits and squirrels and snakes.

I'm turning my water sprinkler on at least once a day on my garden. It is pretty dry here this week. We keep having storms forecasted and it's cloudy but no rain right now.

Good Morning everyone,
Last week my server took until Wednesday to let me see the board and then I got so busy I don't think I even sat down at the computer until yesterday. I tried to catch up from last week but no time. What I did see-Welcome John and Marti and Anne!!!! Woohoo!!
It was unbearably hot here last week so I didn't do as much physically as I should have. Yesterday I had to go to the MD and face the scale. Not pretty. I'm obviously going to have to use the treadmill, even though I find it boooorrrrriiiinnnngggg. Four pounds/month will put me way over. I have two and a half months to go. Otherwise all was ok which is good. I'm off to teach Bible school this morning so better go have a healthy breakfast or the kool-aid and cookies will start to look good about 10:30.

Wow, it has taken me 6 years to post on this part of the forum. I first posted in 2001 (I recently decided to look back after a long hiatus). I was posting under the binge eating forum then and guess what!!! I still struggle with the binge monster even though I am now a size 4 these many years later. My quality of life is so much better - I have a trainer, I am to be married in a few months, and I have great friends (that compliment me on my weight loss) But lurking in the bushes is that part of me that struggles occasionally with eating way, way off plan. It happened last week, in fact. I have done more to analyze what my triggers are and why I still have the problem with me. The problems still stem from psychology and self-talk. I can fall into that dark hole pretty quickly when I feel like I'm starting to slip. I still wish for the magic bullet to make the problems, stresses, and hiccups of life all go away, but they don't - but what I have learned is perseverance. To get right back to my routine when I fall off the wagon. Cheers to all of us who persevere on maintainence. This part of life is a whole 'nother ball game when compared to weight loss. I'm glad to be back..

Hello Maintainers,
I haven't been posting much (per usual, due to baby demands) but I have been lurking.

Meg, somehow I missed that your dd is engaged, how exciting! I agree with everything Robin said about the cruise buffets. I'm going to Florida this summer and it will be buffets and food galore. I take a small plate and fill it with fun things that I would not normally eat at home, like smoked salmon and fresh tropical fruits for breakfast. For lunch and dinner a good strategy is to fill your plate with fresh veggies/salad/fruits and pick just a few (two or three, decide on a number beforehand) other things and take only one small portion. Eat the salad first and then move on to your special choices. The other thing I do is plan a dessert night, one or two nights of the vacation where I allow desserts, the other nights I just skip it. On dessert night I like to sample two or three small portions of several desserts just to feel like I had a treat and don't feel deprived, it is vacation afterall :) Plus, work out every day and you'll be fine!!! You're planning ahead, which is more than half the battle.

OK Allison, I'm with you on losing the last 10 pounds. But I first must say, you ARE a maintainer, we all go up and down, it's part of the journey. Like you, I've been playing with the last 10 pounds leftover from my pregnancy and it's time to get serious and take them off for good! I've been eating very healthy foods, but allowing too many cheats and too much mindless eating that I do not even enjoy!! I'll check in with you at the end of the week, we can keep each other accountable.

My baby is now 7 months old and has 2 teeth, I can't believe it. She is an absolute joy. I just finished weaning her recently, she bit me and then cried every time she nursed and her feedings were taking forever. So, we're done with that and now it's time for me to get serious about weight loss. I'm so close to fitting into all my pre-prego clothes, and was so determined to get this far. Why is it I lose my resolve when I get down to the last 8-10 pounds?!? It's such a head game. I did my cardio already and just finished my healthy breakfast, so looking forward to a good day.

:welcome3: Kazem! You probably wouldn't be surprised to hear that most of us still struggle after goal with whatever eating issues have plagued us our whole lives. Reaching goal doesn't somehow make them magically disappear, though I honestly thought it would. :dizzy:

I still fight the :devil: Binge Monster :devil: and it's been five years at goal for me, so I'm pretty sure this is something I'll be dealing with for the rest of my life. It's all about management, not a cure ... we just have to learn how to cope with these issues. I think doing exactly what you said -- figuring out the triggers, planning to avoid them, and getting right back on track -- are the best things we can do.

We're so glad you've joined us! :hug:

Welcome Kazem, glad you joined us. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.

Lessismore, it's good to see you posting again. It sounds like you're doing great both with the weight and with the baby.

My soreness is much better today. I've already went out to the garden and picked some fresh peas to cook with dinner tonite. Plus mended the fence gate that my labs had chewed a hole in so they can't get out of the yard.

I weighed this morning and need to be more diligent at staying on track. It's coming down slowly but not quite back to my ticker weight yet. Last night I was craving sweets and grabbed 2 cookies. I ate one and put the other one back in the jar. I guess that beats eating them both. I've been doing tons of outdoor yard work and gardening which I'm sure has helped me from gaining more than I did. My forearms look swollen and I'm sure I'm having some water retention. I'm gonna try to force myself to drink more water and less diet soda. My goal for today will be to work only 1 hr. on weeding garden and walk at least 1 mile on the treadmill or elliptical.

I'm finding that having the 2 extra SD's in the household is proving to be more challenging in cooking and plain nibbling.

lessismore (Anne)~let's get serious!! I did really, really well until I got home last night and had only half an hour to get dinner on the table. I was bushed from a busy day at work and didn't feel like fixing anything hard. So I copped out and made meatball sandwiches. 230 calories for the roll, 3 turkey meatballs and about 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce plus 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese per roll. I served it with some carrots, celery and pea pods that were already on hand. That's more than 550 just for the sandwich. Egads! Tonight it will be salad!!!
Lily~join me and Anne to get back to ticker weight (or more in our cases!).
Meg~I have to say that I don't binge much. My problem is boredom eating more than anything. That and the fact that I love eating in general. Food is just so good. I'd never make it as an anorexic (but that's good news!). They say there are two kinds of people, those who eat to live and those who live to eat. I must say that I live to eat, but I do keep it as reasonable as possible.
Everyone have a great day!

Hi guys,

Ugh. What a weekend. We went to visit with my MIL for her birthday, and we basically ate for the entire weekend. MIL is an obese yo-yo dieter who is recovering--slooooowwwwly--from a series of knee surgeries, and consequently, she can't walk much or really do much, it seems, other than go out to eat. Here's what we ate: Sat dinner: birthday dinner at an expensive steak house--delicious and we ate too much, Sun: breakfast at Starbucks (!), drive to the beach, fried seafood lunch, dinner was Chinese. We can't get Chinese where we live, so we ate too much. Yesterday, lunch was supposed to be light sandwiches because I was tired of overeating, but we wound up at some corporate restaurant with the most enormous servings of bread I have ever seen. We left last night and bf and I had Ethiopian food for dinner on the way out of town. Ethiopian food is my favorite and, obviously, I can't get it where we live, so we ate too much. Then to top it off, bf and I stopped at a bakery to get desserts to eat on the long ride home--chocolate cheesecake for me.

It was pretty disgusting. I always leave visits with MIL feeling as though I never want to eat again (and usually with a few digestive problems, too :) ), and I also feel guilty because she *really* needs to lose weight and I feel that we are enabling her. At the same time, the three of us have never really found anything to do together BESIDES eating because we are all three eaters and she is only semi-mobile.

Anyway, on the positive side, while we were in the city we managed to get a bit of shopping in (no real shops where I live, either, unless you count Walmart, which I don't) and I spent a fortune on new gym clothes! Hooray! I love new clothes and all my new gym pants and capris are super, super cute.

Now that I've vented about all the eating, and caught up on all the posts I missed over the weekend, I think I'd better put on some of those new pants and hit the gym :)

Cheers!

Welcome Kazem, John, & Marti!

It's week two of DH's new job and he's liking it. I drove up to his apartment on Monday and took 2 trains to meet him in NYC so that we could go to the Blue Note for dinner and a jazz concert. It's the first time in several decades that I took a train into NYC by myself. He keeps encouraging me to try out the subway system, but I'm afraid it might stress me too much if I do it alone. I have to have a comfort level when traveling or it triggers my bipolar

This morning, the scale at DH's apartment weighed me at 103! In the past, that scale has been the same as the one we have at home so I'm anxious to see what I'll weigh tomorrow when I get home.

Today, I'm going back in to NYC to meet DH in Little India - Park Avenue in the Village for Indian food and then we're going swing dancing. When I get off the train, I'm going to Macy's at Hearld Square and shop for something. DH gave me a discount card that expires next week and told me to shop. I'd like another sundress, but also need a bathing suit, and some summer shoes.

Meg - twice I've lived aboard a cruise ship for 4 months each time. The first time I ate whatever I wanted and gained 10 pounds. The second time I was much more selective and ended up losing 5 pounds. Go for the quality food, not the quantity of it. Remember it is your vacation and that you are excellent at getting the weight off if you should endulge a bit.

Have I posted yet this week? I guess not. I'm here, feeling really good, but terribly terribly distracted.

DH, DD & I went away for a weekend in the mountains last Friday. I did have fun, but DD is not at a good age for traveling. She refused to sleep, screamed a lot of the time, and passed out at random intervals from the exhaustion.

I think my eating is OK. I sort of keep forgetting to eat, and then I'm suddenly really starving. This is the most bizarre pregnancy yet. I'm still walking some, and planning to keep swimming, as long as the OB allows--with my history of pre-term labor, I'm getting grounded before the end.

Anne

Hello! 10 PM already! Evenings always go by too quickly. Since I started this job a few months ago, I've tried to go to bed before 10:30 PM. I used to sleep later at night, but I decided it was too important for me to be at might mental best at this job, and since I get up at 5:30, I've got to go to bed early. It sucks that I feel that I only have about 3 hours after I get home before I have to sleep.

Well, just an update on how last weekend went. On Saturday I ate 2 muffins ( 1 carrot and 1 zucchini) with a vegetable soup for lunch, and I did the same on Sunday. On Sunday, I felt so tempted to go to Wild Oats and buy 2 more, but I mentally convinced myself that I didn't need to do that, that I would only feel less well gastrointestinally, and that I would rather have real dinner food for dinner. I find that the toughest time is right after I finish the muffins -- they taste so good that I just want some more. I've been proud of myself that I haven't overstuffed myself! It's been nice adding muffins back to my diet after not having them for a few years. I used to really like them.

By not overeating the muffins, my weight stays pretty well in check. I'm not 4 pounds heavier at the end of the weekend!

Allison, I will definitely join you and Anne in getting back to my ticker weight. I was very conscious of my food today. Had times that I wanted to snack and ate SF jello and fruit. I came out with about 1450 cal's per Fitday. I worked 1.5 hrs. gardening and did a mile on my treadmill (I had gotten bad at skipping my cardio due to working too many hrs. outside).

I cooked my very first batch tonite of fresh steamed peas. They were so delicious. I had never had them before and I'm looking forward to picking lots more of them to cook.

I am trying to avoid taking my DS to the ER. He has some type of bite on his abdomen that is red, swollen and tender. He is itching on his hands and feet and his skin actually looks almost sun-burned all over (and he hasn't been in the sun). I gave him benadryl and am watching him. He just changed jobs and doesn't have new insurance yet so trying to wait to go to the Dr.'s office in the AM instead of the ER. He says he "just isn't feeling well at all today". He is one that hates to go to a Dr. and won't go if it's not an emergency. I sure hope that this will be better by morning. He's not had any throwing up or shortness of breath. I'm very afraid that it looks like a spider bite. He felt something bite him, but never saw what it was.

I've been ruminating over maintenance lately and thought I'd read through Ann Fletcher again. I thought it might even stick in my head better if I posted in the threads ... but I can't. Apparently the thread is too old.
Has anyone seen a newer discussion of that book?

Susan, the Thin For Life chapter discussions in the Maintenance Library are still open and you should be able to post replies. Let me know if you can't.

Good Morning,

Allison, Anne + Lilybelle - count me in on the plan for getting to ticker weight!
I am hovering in the low 150's and I want to be in the 140's by the first day of summer - and to goal on ticker by Nov 1st.
I am not happy that all my shorts, etc from last summer are kind of snug.
Feel on track today.....but it is only 8 am.

-S

Susan, I've read the book twice so far. I find that when I'm struggling with maintenance it helps me to refocus by reading it and reinforcing to myself that it is possible to lose weight and keep it off. Because sometimes this seems like a foreign concept to me.

I think my tummy has finally straigtened out again. I was having a big problem again with infrequent BM's. (gross I know) but after 5 days, I was totally miserable and my weight was up by 5 lbs. to 147. Yesterday , I finally started having relief and my weight went back down to 144. Today I'm back at 143. I wasn't too concerned that it was fat weight, as my calories had stayed about 1500-1600. I think I was working outside too much in hot weather and not getting enough water which caused the problem. I kept grabbing a diet soda instead and that increased my problem. I should know better. Now I'm using my benefiber and drinking some water and I feel so much better.

sznn, glad you are joining us. I know what you mean about the clothes. When my wt. was up this past week one pr. of my capris felt too tight in the waist. It was very frustrating because I usually wear these very comfortably. I am gonna try to wear them again today now that my weight is back down some. That might make me feel a little better.

Well, we have a nice little group of us that will motivate each other to get back to ticker weight!!!

I think I need to do two things to make my body start losing again: 1) stay away from refined carbs. I'm really good about having my ww English muffin in the morning with my cup of mixed berries, but I've been on a sandwich kick for dinners and lately I've been buying sourdough instead of ww; and 2) eat more salad for dinner. Again with the sandwich kick--I need to have more vegetables (dressing isn't a problem for me on salads) and less starches.

I was planning on salad last night and what did I do? Had a sandwhich on foccacia. Had I made the foccacia myself, I would have made it ww, but I bought it so it was white. See my problem? Tonight is definitely going to be salad!!!

Hi guys, well so much for exercise. I was hoeing in my garden last night and felt something sort of freeze in my lower back. Today I am very stiff. Argh! I'm hoping a couple days of yoga stretches will ease things out. I admit I'm a little envious of all of you working towards your ticker weight. I've started using fitday again because I just feel out of control. I KNOW I'm going to gain weight, duh, but it doesn't really make it easier to look at. That's my whine for today. I hope you all have a good day.

I am trying to type with one hand. I just caught my left ring finger in the water sprinkler as it was revolving and it hurt terribly. DH had to come out and pry my hand loose. I now have ice on it and it's swollen and blue but thankfully not boken.

I had just gotten back from the ER with my DS. The bite on his stomach is very abscessed and he was given pain med's and 2 different antibiotics to take. He has to go back on Friday for it to be lanced open and drained. He is in a lot of pain. (I tried to get him in to see our family DR. and his office was closed). DS now has a high fever and has swelling in the inguinal canal. The DR. gave him a note saying Shane can't do his PT this weekend at Drill but I don't know if the Army will heed this note or not. The Demerol shot made Shane sick at his stomach on the way home.

All in all, it's definitely been a stressful pain filled day for us. My only good news for today is that the capri's that were too snug a few days ago fit perfect today.

Lisa so sorry to hear about your back. I hope you feel better soon.

Ah, Lily, the fun never ends at your house! You need a :hug: Hope your finger is feeling better. And scary about DS - maybe he'll listen to mom next time.

Lisa - I just love all the things your new baby has to say :lol: There is a physical therapist where I go who is due 6/15. She's done really well staying fit but man she looks so ready to have that kid. It's her first.

So, Allison, did you have salad??? I talked myself out of making macaroni and chees last night (it must have been the cold trying to seduce me to the dark side :lol: ) and instead sauteed up some onions, red peppers, zucchini and mushrooms, added a can of seasoned diced tomatoes, simmered til everything was cooked, and served it over ww pasta. I felt so good to have defeated that little voice.....

Thanks Pat, my finger is feeling better now. DS is conked out on the couch now from the Demerol. He didn't want the shot because he hates any kind of medicine that makes him groggy or "spaced out". He is 21 yr.'s old and I still can't stand to see him sick or in pain. He really should have listened to me last night and went to the Dr. then. He was in such pain this morning that I had to put his shoes and socks on for him. He couldn't bend down. They circled the 4" round area on his right lower tummy that is dark red, swollen and inflamed. It has a black necrotic center from the bite. The Dr. said it was probably a fiddleback spider bite. Which is pretty scary. It happened at his GF's house which I'm glad to know we didn't have one of these spiders in our house..

Pat that dinner sounds really good and like something I might need to try sometime.

Good morning everyone,

Day one went fairly well - convinced myself to have an eggwhite omelet instead of pizza. I was tired and hungry..... so it was almost pizza.
Other than that the only abberation for the day was a piece of LF loaf type thing.

How are the rest of my back to ticker coherts today?

-S

Pat~yes, I had salad with enough left over for my lunch today. Now to pick something healthy for my dinner out with the girls at a Mexican restaurant tonight!

Lily~spider bites are bad!!! DS had one a few years ago and it was really hard to get the abscess to drain, but it finally did without having to be lanced. He got another a couple weeks ago and as soon as we saw redness around it, we were off to the urgent care for antibiotics. This one didn't get nearly as bad as the first. The necrotic tissue is scary!! I hope the antibiotics get to work soon--that can be really, really bad.

sznn~WTG on the omlete instead of pizza!!! I have some eggs at home and really want one myself, but DD won't eat eggs, so we always save those meals for times when she is away. I am having pizza myself tomorrow night, but I make it myself and it will be a lot less calories than any take out!

So far, my re-dedication to diet is going well. I have seen the first dip in weight by 1 pound, so I'm on my way. Still 2.5 pounds before I hit ticker weight, though.

I'm working on "back to ticker" too :) I had a GREAT weekend, including dinner at Bucco el Beppo (spelling?) and Benihana's.

We have a big work meeting today from 2-5 and I KNOW that there will be munchies. I used to love the spread we get at big work meetings, but now I absolutely dread it. Something about free food during work meetings is a huge challenge for me. I always go up there will really good intentions (only fruit, veggies, whole grain crackers, shrimp) and I always end up loading my plate and eating too much. Then I feel bad and skip dinner.

I think..I will just go to the meeting with the mindset that I'm not going to eat anything from the meeting. I'll take my baggie of cherries. I do much better with "none" then with "some."

Hi all, I'm still 1 lb. over ticker weight, but that is an improvement over last week so I feel like I'm back on track. I've started walking on my treadmill again. I had 1350 calories yesterday which I was happy with. I was so hungry when we finally left the ER that I wanted to drive though a fast food place, but I didn't do it. I came home and made a turkey sandwich so that much was a victory. After smashing my finger yesterday evening, I didn't feel as hungry as usual at dinner and ate less than I normally would have. So far today I've had 2 four inch wheat pancakes and a cup of coffee. I got my Fitday back up and that helps. I tend to go over more on calories for sure when I skip logging it in.

DS's spider bite looks better today. The area of skin that they circled yesterday has shrank a little and he is feeling better. Less pain and less stomach upset. I think the antibiotics are working. I noticed that you can see his hip bone again, which yesterday it wasn't distinguishable due to the swelling. The center area is forming a pretty big head on it now, which is what the Dr. wanted so he can drain it tomorrow. Shane talked to his Sergeant yesterday and explained what happened. He is still going to Drill this weekend but the Sergeant said they will wait to have him do his PT test next time. (which is great news). He just has to take the ER papers with him to drill.

sznn and Allison, WTG , it looks like we've all managed to get back on track.

Glory, I used to have a really hard time too with free food at work. Although it was a hospital, it was always junk food that was provided. Some of the people would make me feel guilty if I didn't partake of it.

I've tried posting this comment three times and it doesn't look like it worked so I'll try again . . . apologies in advance if it shows up three times!

Wow Lily, that's really scary! I had to go look up fiddleback spiders. I hope you and your family all get healthy soon!

Lisa, I hope your back feels better!

Tara - GREAT JOB not overeating on the muffins! :woohoo:

I have a confession to make . . . this week I ate a Milky Way bar and cheez-its. :o I have really been struggling with emotional eating lately due to stress. Last week I had had a tough day and my fiance bought me a Kit Kat bar as a special treat (we almost never eat candy bars) to make me feel better, but I felt guilty about eating it. But then this week I was frustrated at work and decided "I want a candy bar now" and went and ate a Milky Way. I made up for it by not eating some other food I was planning to eat, but I still felt bad because the candy bar wasn't nearly as nutritions as the fruit and yogurt I had planned. :( It did make me feel better though.

I am struggling with a lack of exercise. With moving, doctor's appointments, and acupuncture, I haven't been to the gym in two weeks. I went jogging last weekend which helped but the lack of exercise is really getting to me. The less I exercise the more I want to eat junk. I'm hoping that next week we will get back into our routine now that we are officially moved out of the apartment. We'll only be able to do 3 days a week since I have two acupuncture appointments but it's better than nothing. I am so exhausted from getting home so late and not having much free time. Last night we didn't get dinner on the table until 8:45, then only had an hour until bedtime. Tomorrow we're headed to Boston again for another wedding. Next week is packed with more appointments, including seeing a new doctor (rheumatologist) and getting the second dose of the HPV vaccine.

Do you guys have trouble filling out medical forms ever? The forms the rheumatologist sent me are so extensive and I don't even know how to answer some of the questions. I mean, I get headaches sometimes (probably from congestion from allergies right now), but I don't get migraines or anything or even usually take painkillers -- so do I check off the "headaches" box on their list of symptoms I have had? There is a little drawing of a person where I'm supposed to shade in the areas that I have pain. My neck aches all the time but I'm 99% sure it is just a muscle ache from my computer monitor at work not being directly in front of my keyboard. Do I shade in my neck anyway? What a mess.

Hey Jessica, is there a place on the forms for comments? I don't think I'd mark "headaches" because doesn't everybody get the occasional headache? If you have pain in your neck, definitely shade in the neck and then make a comment if possible. The forms are a great tool, but hopefully, you will be able to speak to a physician and provide all the details about your health!!

Jessica, unfortunately I've had to fill out medical forms so many times that I'm a pro at it. If there is anything extra that you need to explain, you can always just write in on an extra plain sheet of paper and attach it. I've had to do this a lot as there is never enough room to list all my surgeries, hospitalizations or medications. Some forms are worse than others, that is for sure. I think the ones I filled out for my disability were 16 pages long if I remember correctly.

I do understand your concern over the candy bars. I wanted one really bad about a week ago, but when I picked up the 3Musketeers and read the label, I put it back down and bought a little pack of Peanut Butter crackers instead. I felt like I still had a snack but didn't have the sugar cravings afterwards. I'm not always able to resist but I made it through that one. I have more trouble with Ice Cream than candy. So, I do indulge in some fat free frozen yogurt at times. I don't keep it at home or I'd eat it everyday. I have to drive 30 miles to get it, so that limits my getting it. LOL.

So - day 2...not going so well:(
Already swayed down the garden path with 2 large (but delicious) cookies
+2x chocolates at breakfast
and now some crackers and melted cheese.
I am blaming it on an attack of the hormones, cramps and just major hormone overload.
How does everyone else combat the hormone monster???

Lily - scary about the spider bite -gives me the heeby jeebies.
I was bit by a scorpion years ago - that left a nasty poison filled welt.
Sure glad I didn't find out what bit me till much after the fact - I would have had a melt down.

-S

Thanks for the support, Jessica.
Good job Sznn!
Glad your son is doing better, Lily.

The weekend's coming up. I hope tomorrow goes smoothly. Today was kind of a crazy day at work, and I didn't get home until 8PM. Tomorrow I'll probably be there late, too because I still think I have a bunch of stuff to catch up on. If the day goes smoothly, maybe I'll get home before 9!

Well, I still am just eating the muffins on weekends. Hopefully, I'll do well this weekend, too, and just eat the right amount each day. It turn out that a couple weeks ago, the blueberry muffins that I bought at Wild Oats were spelt muffins. I didn't find out until last weekend, when I saw 3 different shelves of blueberry muffins without labels (?why?!), and asked a staff member which was which. Apparently one was spelt (gluten free), another was vegan, and the last set was regular.

I don't know why it's so hard for them to put the correct labels up. The lady who I asked to identify the muffins looked at me like it was weird to ask which was which!

Two weeks ago, the muffins that were labeled "low fat" looked just like the regular blueberry ones last week. Luckily, I wasn't buying the lowfat blueberry muffins, but I just hope no one was fooled!

Good morning, gang! :coffee: I'm off on my family reunion cruise today and will be totally without Internet access until next Thursday. :fr: :faint:

My goal is to come back weighing what I did this morning. Send stay strong vibes my way!!

Would one of you start the weekly thread on Monday? Thanks!! :)

See ya in a week!