Hi peeps.

Lily, I can't imagine what today was like for you. May those 400 days go quickly, easily, peacefully and without incident for Shane and you and yours. :hug:

Pat, I hope that cough clears up quickly. Vitamin D is the only vitamin that I have a deficiency in. I think it's pretty common.

Meg, when I go off plan, I am always terrified that I will be hungry the next day. But, I've been fortunate that that's not been the case. This last episode, the big 3 day off plan bingey thing, I was terribly lethargic and listless the following day though. Yuck. Though a day of off eating doesn't find me too hungry the next day, it most certainly does bring on strong, strong cravings. Which are just horrendous. It stinks. I know you'll be back in your on plan groove very shortly.

And yes, what a humbling experience this weekend was. And most definitely an eye opener. No, sadly I know I will never be "cured". There's defintely a morbidly obese person just waiting to get out. Oh well. I'm gonna have to be even that much more vigilient. I'm up for it. I mean, what choice do I have?

Actually, I am feeling much better today as I took a few deep breaths, put some things in perspective and realized for goodness sakes, that 3 days of off eating does not a fat person make. I'm glad I snapped out of it before it turned into 4 days. Because I'm pretty darn certain that 4 days of "off eating" DOES a fat person make ;).

Oh and did I mention that I was pick pocketed today? I went to work today, stopped off across the street at the local produce store first. Bought 3 butternut squashes (making soup for Passover), 2 cauliflowers, grape tomatoes, 2 zucchinis and 12 kirbys, went to pay for it - and my wallet was - gone.

The worst part about it is, is that I usually have like all of 25 bucks cash on me. But noooooo, today I had about 350 dollars on me. Yup, $350. I then went across the street to work and called my credit card companies to stop them and lo and behold the wonderful thief had already used two of my cards. I am so aggravated. Beyond belief aggravated. If for nothing else, that I had about 100 bucks sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be put away, I was running late and instead of putting it away, I stuck it in my wallet. So there was an extra $100 right there that shouldn't have been. Then a friend of mine who's owed me $45 for the longest time, finally paid me back today, so there was another extra $45. And then my daughter went shopping today, I was supposed to give her 2 fifty dollar bills, but in the end only gave her one of them. An extra $50 there too. And this morning I almost bought a new food processor for Passover, but decided against it, I decided I could do without it. And then of course the fact that I WAS PICK POCKETED. So creepy. Business cards, phone numbers, reciepts for things I need to return, insurance cards, G-d knows what else was in there. AGGRAVATING!!!!!!

I was so aggravated that I ate some unplanned food at work. 10 of those grape tomatoes. Not too shabby, huh?

Good night folks. Be well.

Robin,
What a terrible experience! I am so sorry. I would have eaten much worse than tomatoes!!

Barbara,
Thank you so much for the Pleasanton information!! I will have to go check it out after one of my weight watchers meetings. I will definitely print out your info so I know which stands to check out (and no, I'm not a vegetarian).

Thanks so much everyone for your warm thoughts today on my very stressful day. I appreciate it so much. I will try to post some of the pic's from today with Shane's troop and our family. Lacy has been pretty much inconsolable all evening. It really hurt her to see some of the soldiers leaving with NO family there for them at all. She went and hugged some of them. She is so tender-hearted.

Lacy and Shelbey rode home with Laura today and they stopped and bought me a bouquet of flowers. It was so sweet of them. DH called tonite to make sure I was doing OK.

rockinrobin, so sorry to hear your wallet was stolen. I've had that happen to me twice and it was a nightmare as far as my credit cards, nursing license and such was concerned. You did great sticking to eating just tomatoes.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day and getting myself back on plan. I do plan to take out some of my anxiety/frustration on the treadmill.

Evening. So nice to be back on a reasonable eating plan where I have control of the food! :lol: I had a huge salad at lunch. I went by the grocery store in the next town after I finished at the doctor. It's bigger than ours, and they had just filled the salad bar for the day. Yum. It was a super salad. Then tonight I made chicken and mushrooms with a mustard and balsamic vinegar glaze (okay, the recipe says marinate but who has time for that :shrug: ), along with some sweet potato and peas. Our meals on vacation weren't bad - and only dessert once or twice (for me, always for DH) - but I find it hard to read the menus and force myself past the creamy pasta dishes, or the fish and chips. Oh well, back to real life.

Michele - I am the director of a public library in a small city. I love it.

Barbara - I am :drool: at the farmer's market you have. Sigh. It's a long, long time til we have local fresh produce here. I'm still getting a CSA box from Washington, but will probably stop it by mid-May. Given the fuel prices, it's getting pretty pricey. At least in the summer I can find lots of local stuff and we grow quite a bit ourselves too.

Lily - my heart goes out to you. I know your son will be in your thoughts all the time. Our next-door neighbo just came back from Iraq last month, and I heard this afternoon that another neighbor's son-in-law is back in the country - though not yet home - from Afganistan.

Robin: Oh no! :hug: I'm so sorry about your wallet and the $350, not too mention all the aggravation of having to replace everything in your wallet. :mad: Hopefully the credit card companies will be good about removing the charges. A restaurant once accidentally gave my credit card back to a different customer once and I didn't discover it until after he had charged something on my card, but my credit card company removed the charge, no questions asked. Hopefully you'll have the same experience.

WaterRat: Yes, we are blessed here in CA when it comes to produce! We keep our vegetable garden growing all year.

Hi Everyone, :wave:
This evilwoman has been MIA because my business keeps me extremely busy. I am an entrepreneur and work 12-14 hrs a day/ 7 days a week, but I wouldn't want it any other way! I'm still maintaining my loss, so hopefully none of you think I have failed for not posting, because honestly I am just too damn busy!

I don't know if any of you remember, but I started taking scale breaks and it has actually been very freeing! For me those up2/down3/up4- those daily normal scale fluctuations just drove me crazy! Especially when I stuck to my healthy ways and exercise plans, so for sanity sake I needed to do this. So, I had to let the scale go to gain my sanity back! The scale determined my mood, and my mood determined how I ate. But not anymore, I am now "dieting" from my scale, because the scale doesn't show the whole picture. Yup we got a Divorce- the scale and I!

I continue being true to myself with my healthy food choices the majority of the time and daily workouts, and I just no longer OBSESS over a magical number on my scale everyday! I now check in with the scale only once a month on weigh- in day.

Nowadays how my clothing fits me daily is my guide that I'm staying on track!

Whew, I really do feel free, like a huge weight has been lifted. I feel great and I look great too and that is the most important thing. For me, life is too short to be stressing about that "magical number" that has to appear week after week.... Besides a 3 digit number does not indicate the real me at all, looking fit and fabulous thats what its about for me!

Todays weigh-in 145- right at goal weight. :hat: My jeans and shorts fit me on a daily basis, so my way is working for me... Hope all is well for everyone here. Sorry I do not have time to catch up on everyone and everything, but I hope your all doing great too!

Lily :Hug:

Robin, sorry 'bout the pickpocket.

Meg, don't know what to say about the hunger. If I'm hungry, I eat. It's the mindless eating that does me in. I always figure true hunger is a true sign. Perhaps eating more on vacation has ramped your metabolism?? Is your weight stable?

I'm getting DD's cold, one more day of meetings, and OB appt and a haircut, and then my MIL comes to visit tonight. Busy week left, and I'm feeling tired and cruddy. But, I had dinner out with some friends last night, and had a nice time. Fridays are my day off now to rest and recuperate, since DH is usually at work and DD is usually in day care, but everyone is taking this Friday off. Hope I make it through without taking someone's head off!

Have a good one everyone!

Anne

I don't have time to respond to everyone, but I've been reading/lurking!!

I just wanted to say to Lily that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers right now. :hug:

Doctor's appointment today, with the dreaded weigh-in (eek!) I've been feeling quite crappy lately, but I suppose pregnancy has its ups and downs!

Barbara~I don't know for sure if varicose veins are hereditary. My Mom has had a tiny one for as long as she can remember. I started getting this darn one when I was about 20 and it's just kept getting bigger and bigger (I estimate it is about 12-14 inches long). Mom's is about 1-2 inches long.

Robin~ouch! I'm so sorry about your wallet. What a pain in the you-know-whay!

Anne~have a nice visit with your MIL.

Wendalyn~WTG on your "divorce!"

To everyone else--HI!

alinnell: Oh, they're definitely hereditary. In fact, family history is the most important factor in whether or not you'll get them. And I've already got a few started plus a few spider veins. My mom's legs were filled with varicose and spider veins--not just one or two, literally all up and down her legs. And I believe her dad, if not her mom, had them as well. She often experience pain in her legs and she had circulatory issues (cold hands and feet); I have both of the same problems, so I know my day is coming. It's okay; varicose veins are a minor concern compared to some of the other health issues I may have inherited. I am hoping that I manage to stave them off a bit with all this exercise I'm doing, though.

Hi maintainers,

Lily - Sending good vibes your way for your son. I hope he will stay safe on his 400 day tour. I am thinking of you.

Anne - i am thinking of you too. Lock yourself in the bedroom if DD and DH and MIL do not give you sufficient rest. Say you are going to meditate and take a nap. No social obligation is worth risking another scare like you hal last timem so chill out and enjoy and take your rest if you need it. How many more days before you can stop working?

Hi to all the other maintainers.

Rabbit

Hi everyone. My plan to get some rest must have worked. I didn't wake up til noon today. I probably would have slept longer if Molly hadn't woke me up begging to be taken out.

School is out tomorrow for teachers meetings and the girls will be home. I need to get my grocery shopping done as I'm out of fresh produce.

My allergies are a mess again. I'm beginning to notice a direct correlation with major flare-up everytime I work on the floors pulling up the old carpet. The zyrtec is helping some . Maybe stress is also what has been keeping me so sick. I don't recall a sicker winter/spring in the past 5 yrs.

Lacy's next Dr.'s appts. in OKC are on May 1st. They are repeating the hydescan and doing a CT scan. Hope they figure something out soon.

Last night I was on the computer and DH's XW kept trying to PM me. I didn't answer her. After the day I had yesterday, I don't think she would have wanted to chat with me.

Lacy tried to download her pic's on the computer last night and it didn't work. So Laura is gonna load them at her house and then we'll get them from her Myspace. I don't have a clue how to do it, but Lacy will know how.

Hi everyone,

I went to the city for a workshop all day yesterday and was forced to go out and eat with everyone, no choice about the restaurant. It was a sort of sports pub so I got a chicken breast sandwich, but they had nary a slice of whole wheat bread in sight. I think the white bread made me a little carb-crazy, b/c when I got home I was hungry and had the leftover garlic bread from Saturday's dinner that I hadn't touched all week. I had decided the day would be my high-cal day of the week anyway, and at 2100 cals for the day I was ok (2000 cals is about breaking even for my body), but I'm watching myself carefully for cravings today. I've been OP so far. My work life is so hectic (still) I am really looking forward to the weekend (and all the obligations I have then :p).

My roommate is off to greet her BF's plane tomorrow. He is coming home from Iraq after a 9-month deployment. Lily, I hope the next 385~400 days pass quickly for you and you get to experience this day soon!

Meg, I was also wondering if the increased cals during vacation ramped up your metabolism. How is your weight? If I eat a high-cal day, I do feel hungry for a few days going back down to low-cal, so I kind of ramp cals back down rather than just slashing a bunch right away.

Robin, that stinks! Sorry.

Jessica, I always compare myself to you too! We definitely have similar eating habits and food likes. Shane is close to our age, but I always think she's "too cool for school" for me to put myself in the same group as her.

Evil, I'm glad to hear that giving up that scale has been such a freeing experience for you!

Pat, glad your trip was so great.

Oooh I miss a good farmers market!

I've gotta run and do stuff...more work...I dunno... then off to the gym to start Stage 4 of NRLW!

Originally Posted by Megan1982:


I've gotta run and do stuff...more work...I dunno... then off to the gym to start Stage 4 of NRLW!

What is NRLW? I've seen it posted here but I have no idea.:)

New Rules of Lifting for Women, a recent book with a full 6 months workout program that many of us are liking. :)