Hey all..

Quick check in before bed. Had a good day at work. Had left over zoodles and turkey meat sauce for lunch. Today is a day off from working out but I plan to get some cardio in tomorrow at the park.

Weekend was good. DH and I went to the river walk on Sunday when it was nice. Went shopping Saturday to look for a new bathing suit for summer. I found a few tops I liked but didn't get anything because I didn't want to spend $40 on a top that I'm hoping will be too big next summer. I'm just going to get one from walmart and call it a day. Luckily though I fit in a size 16 top and bottom where last summer I squeezed into an 18.

No personals tonight but thanks everyone for the encouragement. I'm trying hard to work on myself and get back to my old self again. Have a wonderful night

Elstyle, I'm sure someone here will be able to answer your question about IF. I am not doing it and never really heard of it until I found this board, so I am of no help there. But, good luck to you and I hope you like it here as much as I do.

Tootsie, I am appalled by the way your coworkers treat you and the hate mail you received, but I love your attitude about the mail. One question though, what does HAES stand for?

Fiona, I am glad that you got to see your doctor today, and that you are willing to submit to further testing. Seeing a surgeon does not necessarily mean surgery is in your future. That is usually the last resort.

Today I started week number 3 of my weight loss journey. That's what I'm calling it sometimes lol. So far so good. I still feel motivated and I'm finding this easier than I have before. I started with South Beach Phase 1 and have followed that pretty closely during these two weeks, but not to the letter and I'm ok with that. I seem to have found what works for me and that makes me happy.

I can't wait to have a ticker!

Cindy: HAES stands for Health At Every Size. They weren't co-workers. Just some random people that don't even know me.

Pjvw: My condolences. I know that you said that you weren't close, but I learned that some people in my hs died as well. Kind of scary really. You think that you have a long life ahead, then you see that people your age are dying.

Sam: It's good to know that you're okay. Congrats on the 16/18 sizes. I hope to be there someday.

Fi: Thank goodness that you saw the doc. You had me worried there.

Betsy: Thanks for always being kind and inspirational.

Ubee: Hope that things in your household settles down soon.

If I left anyone out, sorry, but I do recall responding to some people earlier. I hope that all is well with everyone.

Oh, Tootsie, I really feel for you that you got that ugly piece of email! I've been fairly lucky, because I mostly keep to myself, so that hasn't happened to me. But one time I did have some loud and obnoxious teenagers jeer at me as I was entering a 7-11. I won't repeat what they said, because it was sexual and used the F-word, but it was a painful experience. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I did get bullied on the Net long ago in the 90s, in a books newsgroup I was on. Bob told me the guy in question was a classic tar baby. If I responded, I would've gotten his icky black gunk all over myself. That made good sense to me. Plus, several people rallied to my defense and told the guy where he could put it. =laugh=

'Sounds like you've already got a good attitude, though. Whoever did that was a troll, and if you respond, you'll be snapping at its bait. I had never heard of HAES before your posting, but, like you, I agree with most of their principles.

I hope that now you've told us about this episode, that will make it easier to let it go and get on with your life.

This morning I was unable to get up and go to the bathroom. I was upright (after much pain in my right knee) for a ways, but then I fell down multiple times, and in the bathroom itself, I couldn't get up. I shouted really loud and finally woke up Bob. He was a sweetie and coached me into using the toilet itself as something to hang onto while I pulled myself up. What would I do without Bob?

Today we go again for me to see Mike, my Qigong instructor. I can't believe a week has aready passed since what Bob called "a dismal failure" of using the trekking poles. This time, we have a wheelchair—yay! I don't have to be afraid of falling again, because I'll be sitting neat and pretty =smile= in my chic (rented) all-black wheelchair. I never thought I would say such a thing about a wheelchair, but I'm 60 now, so no doubt I'll have to cope with other such experiences. Stuff happens. I chalk up all of this injury-then-immobility episode to life lessons. 'Just hope it will be over soon!

Good morning everyone. Now that I've strung together a few days of staying on plan, I'm remembering that not having all those carbs and salt coursing through my system results in a happier Betsy. Has anyone else noticed that you just feel so much better when you stay on plan? Hope I'm not alone in this!

Tootsie -- Even though you handled the hate mail with grace and humor, it made me want to give you a hug. I don't know why some people feel the need to express their views in such a mean spirited manner. I googled HAES and it's an interesting concept. I agree with your thinking on it.

Elstyle -- Welcome to the thread. You asked about IF. As Tootsie explained it does stand for Intermittent Fasting. There's lot of information if you google it. It takes a while for everyone to find the plan that works best for them. I truthfully don't think it matters what approach any of us use as long as we are comfortable with the one we choose. It also seems to take a little practice in finding one's losing sweet spot -- the number of calories and for some of us the number of carbs that we can have each day. Of course, this does mean that using one of the many calorie trackers available is necessary. We're pretty open about our successes and not-so-successful episodes.

Magpie -- Hi. Glad to see you here.

Fi -- I am so glad that phase one of the "what's wrong with my knees" is over with. I know you are probably having a love/hate relationship with the wheel chair, but it will be so much easier for both you and Bob. Bob (he is a cutie, BTW) obviously is doing everything he can to help, but being able to wheel you into places instead of worrying about your falling is a help for him as well. Don't know if this works or not, but a Facebook friend tried this and swears it did give some relief to her aching joints and the accompanying muscle pain. Mix 5 g of gelatin (like Knox) in 1/4 cold water each night before bed. Drink first thing the next morning. Drink might be the wrong word since it will have set up. It can be mixed with juice, yogurt, honey, etc. -- whatever you want -- to make it more palatable. Do this for a month. Repeat every six months. She swears she can tell a difference after a week. I don't think it will cure anything, but might provide some relief. Next step is getting the scans -- I imagine that will identify what's happened with those knees. And, I totally agree with you on hating the phrase ortho surgeon. Hope you don't have to become good friends with him/her.

Pam -- I'm into repurposing, too. Right now, I'm definitely working on repurposing me! There are lots of RV forums online that offer a wide range of info ranging from packing your rig to maintenance to good parks etc. I just googled RV Advice Forum and got several pages of hits. Or you can ask me. I'm no expert by any means, but after 5 years of traveling around, I've got some good and bad experiences under my belt. Congratulations on the weight loss for this week. Sounds like you're doing so well and it is so encouraging to see the weight come off. I'm sorry about losing your HS acquaintance. I know what you mean -- several from my class have passed away in the last few years, and it's always a shock to the system.

Sam -- Sounds like you and DH had a good weekend. I know what you mean about not wanting to spend a lot of money on a swimsuit -- or any clothes for that matter -- that will only be worn for one season. But didn't it feel wonderful to easily fit into a 16!!! Can't even imagine how wonderful that must feel to be in sizes where you don't have to go to the "speciality" clothing stores.

Cindy -- Journey is a great way to phrase it. Sounds like you're doing really well with South Beach.

Forgot to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm 1/16 Irish so I'll be wearing something green today. I got the chairs stained yesterday and they look better than I had hoped for. I was going to get the first coat of poly on them, but they were still feeling somewhat wet yesterday so I'll do that today.

This has been a great week with getting back on plan for me as the weight is just falling off. I know it's water weight, but it is so motivating to see results from the effort. I'm also finding that having set a goal of getting under 300 pounds for the year is helping mentally. I set a number of smaller goals, but in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about getting down to 140-160. That made it seem impossible and I probably used it as an excuse to be on cruise control for the last 18 months. Maybe it's setting a goal for a defined time period that's helping. Whatever, the cause, it's nice to feel like I'm back in control again.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Fiona, I'm glad you've got a chair now! Maybe you'll want to use your artistic talents and decorate it (with things that'll come off... maybe ribbons or strung beads or something -- up away from the wheels, of course)?

Inspired by PJ, I'm going to get more serious about trying to meet my step goal each day! To be fair, my goal is much lower -- only 5,000 steps. Each week I hit my goal (at least most days), I'll add another 500 steps to my goal for the following week. Exercise isn't really part of IP, and we're strongly discouraged from doing hardcore aerobic workouts; but we're totally allowed to walk! I need to work up to the longer distances a little more slowly, because of arthritis in my foot; that may only come with more weight loss, we'll see.

Congratulations to everybody who lost weight or inches! I'm proud of all of us!

Pjvw34 ~ Yeah I had a feeling that it was HOT most of the time

Betsy ~ I always thought it was hotter in Texas then it is in Kansas.

The_magpie ~ Thats great, Good luck finding a recipe and please be sure to tell me what you think once you find a recipe and make it.

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I havent been up to a whole lot yet today. I have a doctor's appt. to go to this morning and then when I get back home I will do my 40 min. chair exercises and then depending on the weather I will go walk outside for 30 mins to an hour and later on tonight I'll do my 20 min. 1 mile walking dvd.

Well, today's adventure was going to see Mike, my Qigong instructor. After the last two (eventually successful) trips that were seriously scary—I may like to watch gory movies, especially if the F/X (special effects) are humorously bad, but being frightened in Real Life is no fun at all—today's wheelchair-assisted journey was a piece of cake. (I'm officially allowed to use the "piece of cake" expression, because I don't like cake—too fluffy for me.)

But the session itself was difficult. The hardest thing I have to do these days is to go from sitting to standing, and Mike made me stand up about a dozen times! Not only is he not fazed by a wheelchair patient (client? I prefer patient) moaning in agony each time she gets to her feet, he taught me some really useful tips for getting that Qi flowing and ignoring the pain. And he asked a lot of questions about details, which I really appreciate—like does the pain move around, and if so, when. When a medical practitioner—or, in this case, a nonmedical practitioner—is intensely curious about your individual version of a body in crisis mode, you know he or she is going to try their best to fix you. Sometimes Mike gets on my nerves because he doesn't want to chit-chat about anything but Chinese medicine, but he's the real deal: a man whose calling is to be a healer.

In the rest of my life:

• Bob's being very dutiful about visiting his Mom and fine-tuning the set-up in her assisted-living facility, solving problems like getting MSNBC included on her cable so she can watch her beloved Rachel Maddow show. He's out there right now, having dinner with her. Her dementia is exasperating to most of the family, but my anxious, irritable husband turns into a paragon of patience every time he talks to her on the phone. He lost his dad before he really had a chance to have an adult-adult relationship with him, so I can see what he's doing with his mom: he refuses to feel guilty when she does go.

• The kittens are starting to act like cats—jockeying for position when there are sunny spots in the living room, and actually turning down play opportunities in favor of curling up in a ball and conking out. I love kittens, but I love cats more. They're more subtle, more self-aware, more finely attuned to my own rhythms.

• Bob's sister out in California is slowly dying of lung cancer plus COPD, but she's got a sense of humor about it. She knows she did it to herself with the millions of cigarettes, so she doesn't expect people to be all hushed and reverent at her bed side. She's the sort of person who likes to gab so much she manages to have long, involved conversations even when her oxygen dependence is way high, so when the Reaper comes by to take her, he's going to have a hard time prying her away from all this. In shorter words, she'll be late to her own funeral.

• No new collages! I can't climb the stairs to my studio! When Grace comes over on Friday, I'm sure she'll be able to lure me up there. I do have three collages all mapped out and put together in my mind. Meanwhile I'm reading books like Austin Kleon's "Steall Like an Artist" and "Show Your Work!", trying to decide whether I want to have an artist's career, which is a different thing entirely from being an artist. Do I really crave feedback so much I'd ditch some of my hours of making art in order to promote myself? Bleah. And money gets involved in the process, of course. I don't like money at all. I could survive at a much lower standard of living than we have right now, which I'm sure I'll have to do, when my private disability insurance stops at age 65.

Well, that's enough thinking about Death for one day. =guffaw= At least our cats are feisty, stubborn, even sullen at times, adolescents. lLike the Rush song goes, "We're only immortal for a limited time."

Just peeking in on this thread again, read up the last few days. I saw that someone talked about IF and also 5:2 dieting, I only heard about that myself last night (some BBC documentary that was linked somewhere, not sure if it was here or another thread) and a friend and I were discussing it over lunch. She might try it herself, she's been struggling to lose an extra 20 or 30 pounds of baby weight. I don't think it would work for me, at least not right now, I would be a grouch on the 2 days and a ravenous pit of gorging on the 5. Since I'm a binge eater it would just be bad, but I can see how it would work for some people.

Evenin all...

I'm not quite back to doing personals and what not yet but I have read everyone's posts and thank you all for the kind words.

It was nice outside today after work so instead of going to the gym I went walking at the park. I did 4.5 miles in a little over an hour. I use the Nike + Running app on my phone to track my progress and today was my fastest 5K since I started using the app last year. My feet feel sore from not being used to walking on pavement since I've been a gym rat this winter and used a treadmill instead.

I had left over spaghetti for dinner tonight but I unfortunately ran out of zoodles and had no choice but to use regular pasta because I only have $5 in my bank account until I get paid tomorrow. I still watched my portion and didn't eat to where I was stuffed. I'm quite satisfied.

I am so tired now. One of the cats are laying on my leg as I type this and DH is playing his video game. I'm starting to become content with my life and how it is going. The fog is slowly clearing and I am slowly becoming my normal self again. My goal is to reach 200 lbs this year. I think losing 47 pounds is doable in a year. I just need to keep my head down and keep pushing.

I hope everyone had a Happy St Patty's Day...today I remembered my grandfather who passed 3 years ago. It doesn't even seem like it's been that long.

Anyway....good night friends. We'll all keep pushing, one day, one pound, one meal at a time...

Good Morning.

I have been caught up with other things and really missed being here. I will try and respond to more individuals when I have more time but I read every post and they are meaningful to me.

I weighed in on Monday morning and was up .4, I was really discouraged as I felt I had a good week. I had a lot of salty foods though on the weekend and I weighed in last night and was less. I remembered that Fi weighs in once a month and I think that might be a better strategy for me as I obsess.

I really, really wanted to phone in sick today at work but I am here. I am just tired but my sick days for the year are almost up and they don't renew until July.

Sam Hello, sorry you are having difficult times.

Fi I really hope your knees heal soon, keep us posted.

Wish I had more time for posts, but later.

Have a good day.

I woke up at 8:00 a.m. and its now 9:20 a.m. I have school today but I dont have to start watching for my bus until 11:40 a.m. I will be at school until 4:00 p.m. today so I dont have that long of a day. Tonight I'm gonna do my 20 min. 1 mile walk.

Hello everybody,
I have been reading everybody's posts but frankly feeling a bit sorry for myself so have lurked and not posted!
I am having trouble keeping the Venflon in my veins for the twice daily antibiotics. This morning's nurse tried 4 sites then finally managed one in my hand. The first one on my arm had set up an allergic reaction so had to come out.
The next step would probably be hospital if the one in my hand doesn't work. I have at least another 5 days of treatment to have .Last night was better with less coughing so I am hoping that at long last we have found something that helps.
I am going to get going on my mind map tomorrow.....all coloured in and fun.....and assuming i feel better next week, start on my healthy eating etc once again.
I am grieving my marriage, fighting a battle with my chest and trying to lose weight has not been my main focus so I need to refocus and regroup.

Fi I am sorry your knees are so awful.
Sam.......thinking of you ....and well done for keeping your focus.
To everybody else.....miss you ...I will soon be back!
Big big Welsh hugs to you all.

Good morning everyone. I'm running late today and have what seems like a million things to get done......which, of course, should but won't shorten my posting!

Fi -- The trip to Mike's office sounds like it went so well (including the pain part), and I'm so glad that the wheelchair is helping you to be able to keep this very important part of your life. Thank you for the update on what's going on - both in terms of sharing and how you write. Love reading your writing.

Rabidstoat -- Finding the right plan for yourself does takes some time and trial and error. Look at me.....I've been trial and erroring for over 2 years now. I'm on IF -- tried the 5:2 version and couldn't stick to the 500 calories for the 2 days, so I just eat during an 8 hour window from noon to 8 PM. It works for me much better than others even though I'm consuming the same number of calories and carbs. Do I know or understand why? No. It just works for me, but you're right. Each of us has to figure out what is the best approach for us.

Sam -- Glad you're beginning to get back to your old self. You must have been really moving -- more like jogging? -- to do 4.5 miles in a little over an hour. Good for you.

Andrea -- Some weeks our bodies just don't respond like they should. I swear that after losing they take a break and decide to check out the new weight. I refer to it as setting a set point -- kind of like with a computer where you do a set point before installing new software so that you can restore from that point if things get screwed up. As you sit there scratching your head at that one, just chalk it up to a combination of being a tech head for decades and creeping old age on my part.

Terra -- Sounds like a good day is planned out for you. I chuckled over your comment that you knew Texas was usually hotter than Kansas. One of the reasons that I moved to WA is because I absolutely hate hot weather and to me Kansas and Texas both have brutal summers. But that's why AC was invented!

Donna -- So sorry that they're having so much trouble finding good veins to use, especially since the IV approach seems to be doing what the orals could not. You're dealing with a lot. Give yourself a break and don't worry about the dieting side. Try not to go off the deep end (that would be my approach as in if it isn't bolted down, I would eat it), but this is one of those times where maintenance is ok.

I'm fixing a delayed St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage meal for Bill and myself tonight. This afternoon I'm going to lightly sand and put on the second coat of poly on the chairs. Hopefully they'll be ready to use by the weekend as the boys will be here. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow and get the house cleaned up. Oh yeah, somewhere in there I need to pick up the RV as the servicing is done on that. We'll probably stop by the service place on the way from picking up the boys on Friday. They will want to ride home in the RV because they are still young enough to be thrilled with do that kind of stuff.

Even with having the corned beef dinner tonight I'm going to be at about 1200 calories. No soda bread as I don't think I'll have time to make it, but I am making an apple crisp for Bill. I also ordered some individual size bags of puffed cheese and puffed popcorn chips from Amazon. They're about 130 calories for a serving and definitely help me when I'm getting the really bad carb cravings. Kind of like Fi's muesli only not as healthy!

Hope everyone has a great day.