Lily, it is so good to hear from you! We have all been very worried about you. I'm glad you're feeling a little better and I am crossing my fingers you get that transplant soon.

Sheila, ugh, taxes.

Michele, sorry to hear about the stress with your DD and her BF.

Megan, it's a bit stormy here too! I hope you remember your dinner today (mmm, lasagna! ).

No news here. Weight is continuing to move very gradually down. I'm looking at about 1lb/month right now, but that's okay, it's the right direction.

Lily So good to hear from you.

Lily, prayers and hugs. I hope the transplant happens soon for you. BTW, if you only gained 10 pounds on steroids, you are doing the maintenance perfectly. Those drugs are nasty.

Sheila, here’s hoping the new tax guy finds you loads of $$$.

Michele, I hope your eye dr. is right and that the specialist doesn’t disagree. Hugs about the DD and her BF issues. It is hard to let our grown children flounder and make mistakes that are clearly going to hurt them.

Who asked for puppy pictures earlier this week? Ask and ye shall receive! One of my co-workers dogs had 10 puppies 2 weeks ago. Her DH brought them in today...we're all sitting at our computers with sleeping puppies in our laps while we work. Soooo cute! (until they poop on you... it all comes back to the poop)

I've read the last couple of days, but haven't posted... Behind. I don't have a dog to clean up behind, but I do run at the park and often find myself avoiding things people didn't clean up... So kudos to you guys for cleaning up the poop when you can!

Good workout yesterday, food not as good - nothing really bad, just too much of it. I've been starving since Monday, and yesterday I just kept eating. Haven't totaled my calories, but I'm figuring they hit around 2000.

Lily - I'm so glad to hear from you, you and your family have been on my mind lately. I'm glad you are doing well, and hope the transplant comes through soon.

Sheila - Here's hoping it is something good requiring a review of your taxes.

Michele - DD has been struggling with this guy all along. He is her first real boyfriend, right? That is so hard for girls... And for girl's parents...

Megan - hope you remember your dinner today! Starving and shaking isn't good.

Jessica - good to see the scale still moving in the right direction. Slow movement is still movement.

Good day!

Megan--- awwwww!! Cute puppy photos!!

Yes, this is dh's first boyfriend and she is convinced that he is "the one". He is in the states (we think-- we don't believe a word he says) but they haven't seen each other yet (they are trying to arrange that). We are/were going to help dd buy a car and now we're worried she'll just use it to go wherever he is (sounds like either North Carolina or Atlanta). So stressed out from this plus my work and dh's work is uber stressful. I feel completely overwhelmed today. Just trying to breathe and take one thing at a time.

Lily - good to hear from you. Sorry you are still waiting for the transplant.

Michele - ugh, on the DD and her boyfriend. Hard to see your kid making bad choices, but I guess we all had to learn certain things for ourselves. Let's hope she doesn't do something like take off cross-country.

Sheila - hope the tax situation works out for you. I finally made myself finish ours yesterday, and sure enough we're getting a moderate refund! Still need one figure, but it won't change the overall picture substantially.

TIme to get off my rear end and go to the gym. Legs today, which is probably why I'm putting it off. Here's a for myself....

Thanks so much everyone for making me feel welcome. I sure don't feel like a Maintainer right now. I feel like a lazy, slug.

Dh and I are starting to put in a garden. It will help with my boredom and give me something to do while being so housebound.

My kids are doing OK. Lacy and Shelbey will graduate in May. Shelbey will be leaving to the Navy. Lacy will be going to college (I'm trying to talk her into living at home her first yr. of college).

Shane is still in Wisconsin at Ft. McCoy. His official 1st day in Afghanistan will be the 16th of this month. I really miss him.

Oldest SD (Sam) had a miscarriage with #5 last weekend. I wouldn't wish a miscarriage on anyone, but she can't afford the ones she has already!

3rd oldest SD (Taylor) is expecting a baby girl due May 23rd. This will be her first.

DH and I did get to go fishing last weekend on our boat. The weather was nice and it was a relaxing day. The few fish we caught were small, but we still enjoyed the day out.

Oh, and Lacy wrecked her car last week. She drove it through a barb wire fence. She didn't get hurt, but the car is very torn up. Waiting for DH to take it for estimates for our insurance company. (It may be totaled).

Megan, oh what adorable puppies. I bet they were great company at work, poop and all.

Shannon, I empathize with the too much of the good food choices. My portions have increased. I wonder if I will be always be pre-programmed to want more than the average (note I didn’t say normal) serving? That’s why I know maintenance will be a lifelong battle because I’d like lots but know I lost the weight with portion control.

Lillybelle, your life is full even being housebound. I bet the garden will help and a new grandbaby on the way is always fun.

Today marked another stride back to my pre-op routine. I woke up at 4:45 and did the elliptical before work. I am so much more patient with co-workers (I work in technology and get the stupidest tech questions) and just plain happier. So today is a great day – of course some of the good mood is due to the fact that it is Friday and weekend starts in 1 hour, 7 minutes. But who’s counting and clock watching????

Marie

. . . on the back today. DH went for a "cookie" run last night and spent 5 minutes asking me if I wanted anything at the store . I think I said no thanks at least 10 times.

I didn't touch any of the cookies, even though he offered and offered . I ate my 1 cup of red grapes and retreated to my office to read.

I wish DH would stop treating his body like a garbage dump. I think I'm going to have to get really mad at him one time and lay it all out for him and then just look after myself. I never yell , so this is going to be really stressful, but I think it's the only way to really get his attention .

And I will continue to set the example, even though he's not paying any attention to it right now. He's still convincing himself that the reason I'm so fit is just the dogwalking. Sigh.

Have a great weekend all!

Dagmar

Lily, glad your kids are doing okay!

Marie, it sounds like you're making great progress on your recovery.

Megan, adorable puppies!

Shannon, how did DSS's party go?

Dagmar, I am kind of with you in that DH has not been taking great care of himself lately. Not as bad as what your DH does, but he has been slacking on the exercise and eating too much random stuff in the evenings when he's not really hungry (raisins, toast w/jam, stuff like that).

I could use some advice on dealing with him too. Here is the issue. Since I met him, he always used to work out at a gym 3x/week. When I was trying really hard to lose he came with me to the gym 5x/week, running on the weekend, everything. We both agreed that if we didn't go straight to the gym after work, and we came home first, we would never end up exercising, and it was usually true.

Almost two years ago, we got our dog. Well, once we had the dog, I felt that it was a bad idea to keep going to the gym after work, because then we would be leaving the dog alone from 8am to 8:30pm instead of 8am to 6pm. We knew we'd have to get the dog exercise too, so we agreed that instead we'd come home and run with the dog for exercise. We bought some workout DVD's and some dumbbells for home too to do strength.

You guys know that I've been sticking to my plan since then, running, swimming, biking, doing a couple triathlons, and doing NRLW on my lunch breaks at work. DH, on the other hand, has been slacking. Last summer I got him running in the mornings and it was great, but he hasn't really picked it up again since it started warming up.

He says he has no time to work out unless he goes straight to the gym after work. He likes to do gardening and gets some good exercise that way, but it's not the same. His office has a gym with a weight room. He refuses to work out on his lunch break because it "takes too much time." I say at least one of us has to be home at 6 to take care of the dog. We carpool to work. He refuses to take two cars so that he can work out after work while I go home to take care of the dog, because he says it's a waste of gas.

What can I do to convince him that he really needs to be getting regular exercise? I think he knows he's just making excuses. He also knows he's been eating junk, and while he complains that he thinks he's getting a big belly, he knows that it's his own fault. He knows exactly what to do to get in shape, he just isn't doing it. The exercise isn't just because of looks -- he needs to get regular exercise because it is pretty much the only thing that reliably prevents his depression from coming back (he knows that too).

Blah, sorry for ranting. I do really love DH, even if he may not be as muscular as he was a few years ago, but it is frustrating that he knows exactly what to do but refuses to do it.

Jessica and Marie and anyone else whose DH is trying to be fit, thinking of trying, or just frustrating our *sses off by slacking off their fitness - maybe there should be a 3FG - 3 Fat Guys?

There are a couple of men here on this forum who work very hard at maintaining their weight and fitness - to them!

Dagmar

Marie~maintenance is a struggle (as evidenced by those of us who are struggling to re-lose the pounds we've previously lost).

Jessica~as you well know, you can't make someone do what they don't want to do. I know you've said your DH struggles with depression, so perhaps you should ask him if exercise helps his well-being and take it from that perspective. I'm sure he'll say that working out does help. From there you can suggest he accompany you running or whatever. And you know what? Most dogs do just fine being home alone for 12 hours a day. My dogs did it for a long time and were no worse for the wear (as long as you give him lots of attention when you're home).

Dagmar~good for you for refusing the cookie and then removing yourself from further temptation!

Allison Hey! You're going to put me out of a job here!

Most dogs can be left alone for 12 hours but I think all of the ones I walk prefer their break. They get to socialize and belong to a "pack" (I organize them by certain criteria and keep them with the same group every day). And some of them only get the walk that I provide. They get attention at home but no other exercise. And, because I'm pretty good at what I do and provide all sorts of extra stuff, for some of them the only training they receive is from me. A good deal for the dogs!

Dagmar