Good morning everyone--just a short note to let ou all know I am thinking about you.

1Day -- I will start the South Beach program for two weeks on Thursday. I would start it tomorrow except for the fact I have been invited to attend the D-Backs game at the Shamrock Farms Pavillion at the ballpark, and I believe they will be serving refreshments. It will be hard to give up the fruit but I know I can handle it for two weeks. I just need to get off at least 5 more lbs. before I go back to Ohio--Oct. 9th.

Michelle -- Sorry to hear about your DF and DM. I also like your idea of a poem for them. Anything you can do to make them happy and just knowing you are thinking about them will certainly make them happy to have such a "wonderful" daughter such as you! My prayers are with you.

I had my eye dilated today so if I have made any errors in this message I will attribute it to that. He said my eyes were fine except for very mild cataracts which may not give me any trouble for years.

I am still trying to read "Balance your Body, Balance your Life" by Dr. Taub' s 28-day Permanent Weight Loss Plan. What I have gained so far is the fact that everyone is making money off of us who have weight problems. I even seen Dr. Phil is coming out with his own bars and drinks. Dr. Taub's theory is that we need to get in touch with our bodies and go back to eating normal foods. I will have to read further and I will keep you updated.

I believe someone asked me about handouts from WW. And the answer is "yes" they have given us a new counter, and complete new booklets and I understand there are 12 handouts for 12 weeks. I still haven't read them over. I believe I will go back to the WW plan after my two-weeks on the South Beach program.

My DH's dermatitis is coming along very slowly. However, I did get him a sophistocated walker yesterday, one with big tires and a seat and he has promised when it gets cooler he will try and walk around the block. They say people who have muscle problems need to strengthen and the only way is exercise.

Well I had better go--I am going to try and do some sewing before I go bowling.

May you all have a "wonderful" day!

Anita

Hello Ladies,
We'll day 1 on SBD was very hard.. I did well til late afternoon then the cravings started, then I got a big headache, that still hasn't gone away. My head was hurting so much that I skipped the walking. I'm hoping it will go away today. Everyone says drink lots of water... but my body is saying give me sugar

Nita - Did you get the book? If you need copies of the recipes I can fax them to you, ifyou have a fax machine? Once the phase 1 is over, I'm going to try and incorporate Ww with phase 2, I think that can be done.

Thin - sounds like you have been very busy. The weather is still hot here, looking forward to some fall weather.

Hi chickies once again it is a quite trip here. I have about 10 minutes before the girls need to be picked up from Guides and Pathfinders. I am going to start SBD tommorow. Talked to my sister today and I have to order my dress for her wedding and I was so hoping that I had a few more months to do it.....but if nothing else it made me relize when I took my measurements that I need to get my butt back in gear To make matters worse TOM is in the next day or two so I am sure that didn't help with the belly measurments or the chocolate cake that I baked today. Well I picked up a few things at the Co-op til hold me over til I get my regular order on the week-end. Well my chickies take care and I will check in again tommorow.

Good Morning Chickies. It is a bit wet here this morning but I still wish I was able to do my morning walk - I do miss it so much but at least I still get to walk at night. My eating has been quite good although on Monday eening Sinead was making French Toast and she asked me if I wanted a bit ............ they were only small pieces and I thought 'one lil' bit won't hurt' !! ............. so I had four!! ............... moving swiftly onwards. Last night I was so tempted to have a chocolate bikkie and other times I would have given in but I went and had a glass of water instead and the urge passed. I was so pleased with myself and I think that maybe that is all I need to do ........... control myself just that little bit more!!
Orla is off to Amsterdam this morning for a 3 day Art Trip with the school. I let her take the digital camera with her as I figured there is no point in having one if someone cannot take it on an occasion such as this. Most of the Art Galleries probably won't allow photographs but I'm sure she will find something to snap at!

Michelle - great to hear from you and you know that we are all thinking about you and the stress that you have right now. It is good that your DM and DGM are together at the moment. Sending you some

Littlechick - good luck with SBD - you can do it and you will look great for the wedding.

Patty - I hope today is better for you on SBD. I don't think I could do it!

Nita - Dr Taub's book sounds interesting - do keep us posted.

Thin - when is this holiday of yours ever gong to end?!! - I think you are on vacation all the time - I am so jealous!!

Jodie - good that you are feeling focused as that is half the battle.

Catlover - I hope by now that your DH is feeling better and that you are less stressed.

Halgal - hope those clothes are gtting looser and looser!!

To eeryone else have a great day




This is it

This is the day you've been waiting for. This is the day you've been working toward. This day is the culmination of all you've ever done, said, thought, dreamed of, hoped for and planned. It is here, it is real, and it is yours now.
No, it is not perfect, yet it is all you could ever need. No, it is not exactly like you might have imagined, yet in many ways it is even better.

Today is the day you are living your dreams. Today is the day you are fulfilling your highest possibilities.

It's not a rehearsal. It really counts. This is your life and this is your day to live it with all the fullness, all the richness you can possibly give. This is really it, so make it truly great.

-- Ralph Marston

Good morning chickies, decided to get my back back on track this morning..... I can not go without my fruit, so I have decided that I am not going to eat any refined carbs or junk food, and see how that goes. I ordered my dress for the wedding this morning size 14 not happy about that hoping that I will have to get it altered to a size 10 by then. :wink: I am hoping now that I ordered the dress I will get my eating back on track. This morning I had a fruit smoothie and two boiled eggs, for lunch I had a cup of beans and some pot roast and an apple. If I can just get through snack time with the kids at the play ground I might just make it through the day. I also have been trying to drink some water... which is still my bigges problem. Well my chickies have a great day.

Hi Everyone,

I just had my message disappear! Hit the wrong key!

Just a short note to let you know I am thinking about each and everyone of you and wishing you the very best for today.

1Day -- Yes, I printed out the SB program from the Prevention site and I am ready to go starting tomorrow.

Before I went to bed last evening a paid program came on about another weight losing program. It is called "Fresh Start" and the author Cathy only gives you enough info on her site to get you interested and not how it works--she wants you to purchase her products for $79. I have said this before--after we have gotten to our goals we should write our own book and include our "before" and "after" pictures. I am sure it would be a "best" seller.

Well I had better go--I need to sew a baby blanket, then go bowling and then onto the ballpark for Diamondbacks' game. At least my life is not boring. Tomorrow is another day at the office.

Take care all and do your best to stay on program!!!!



Anita

Hello Ladies -
This is day 3 of the SBD and I am feeling good... I still have the urge for something sweet, but not as bad as day 1. I still have not exercised, & tonight I have lots to do around the house.

Nita - Hope you enjoy the baseball game... I love going to see our Texas Rangers..

Mej - thanks for the reminder on Dr. Phil... Sorry to hear the rains are coming to late...

LittleChick - I know a few people who started on phase 2 of the SBD.. that way they could keep the fruits..

Mooz - I hope Orla has a fun trip... I really enjoyed my morning walks too... I need to start back with that...

To everyone else... hope you having a great day!

Good Morning Chickies - where does the time go - here we are at another Thursday and another weekend coming up. This has been quite a good eating week for me - still eating plenty you know but just having that little bit of control most of the time - that little bit that makes a big difference hopefully!
I have not done Pilates this week yet so I must do it today. I have been walking every evening sometimes 2 or 3 miles and I will be going linedancing tonight. If I keep ............ what do I mean IF?? ............ I will be keeping this up because I am so much happier when I am in control this way. This is the time when I am actually doing something about this extra bit of blob that I carry around with me. So I will think of my extra weight as in 7 pound bags of potatoes!! I am carrying between 2 and 4 of those around with me every day ........... now how silly is that. I am giving my body all that extra work just because I took the pleasure for a few moments, far too many times, eating empty calories. This extra weight is putting a strain on nearly every area of my body. I intend to get rid of these '2 - 4 bags of potatoes' If we asked a person who is a healthy weight to carry even 2 bags of potatoes around with them for just 24 hours, do you think at the end of the day they would be saying " That was great fun so I will eat as much as I can and put on some weight" I don't think so!!
So how many bags of potatoes are you carrying around every day and more impoirtantly how many do you intend to get rid of??
Life is too short chicks so lets make the most of what we have!



Resilience

The best thing to do when the worst thing happens is to begin moving forward again. The real essence of strength is in resilience. Drawing upon and exercising such strength will make it grow ever stronger. Make the commitment to bounce back and you end up at an even higher level, an even stronger position than before.
It is indeed difficult to begin going forward when your world has just been devastated. Yet time and time again, people do, and as they move persistently ahead, the world does too.

The resilience of a positive purpose knows no defeat, for each setback serves to move it forward. It requires much effort and sacrifice, yet it is worth the cost. For with resilience we steadily rise above higher and higher levels of challenge. With resilience we move our lives beyond our fears, and forge ahead in the direction of the best we can be.

On this day especially, consider the power of resilience. And do what must be done to move yourself and your world positively and lovingly forward.

-- Ralph Marston

Good morning--

I think everyone (LC, Mej 1day) is doing a very good job in finding what works for you. LC--you might even try the 9 servings of fruits and veggies a day--while obviously Hal is thriving on avoiding carbs. I think there are quite a few health choices--and I need to start making more of them.

I had lost wt. before and gained it back when DH was in the hospital. I can NOT do that again.

I thought I was done with the Kansas Authors Club brochure--dropped it off at the copy company. Told the pres ( a real micro-manager) if she had more changes to contact them. Well, she called them, and they said they had no record of it at all. Now I realize things like this happen, and I hope I can get them to find it, but I seem to get thrown more easily than I ought by this kind of thing. And when I realize I've made a mistake in what I've told someone at work (and the info is terribly complex) I find it hard to let go of that. Fortunately, I haven't made any life-changing errors, but I sent a man in to file a form at his local office, when all he needed to do was mail it. I hope when he reads the form he'll realize I was wrong. (He WOULD need to go to the local office, but only after the initial processing. UGH )

Michelle, Nita, everyone--you are all in my thoughts.

Did I mention that another of my cats was sick? He was peeing outside the box. We and the vet were afraid of diabetes, but turns out it was "only" a urinary tract infection, and he is coming around nicely.
Catlover

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note--today is my one-day at the office!

The ballgame was excellent. The ballpark is awesome and they even opened the top of it so you could see the airplanes as they went by. We left early to avoid the crowd and wouldn't you know it, after we left they ended up winning the ballgame. When we left it was 4 to 0 and they won it in the 8th inning with 5 runs. It was still experience.

I had my SB breakfast and have packed a chicken salad for lunch. I have four weeks from today when I fly to PA. I am getting excited and I need to stay on track!

I am happy to see most of us are doing what we have set out to do.

May you all have a "great" day!


Take care,
Anita

Good Afternoon chickies hope that it is as beautiful where ever you are as it is here. The sun is shinning and it is quite warm although you can feel fall in the air. Well it is day two and I am doing pretty good so far. Had a yummy lunch of a veggie omlet and carrots and cucumbers. for me. I made it through snack time at the playground yesterday...there was chocolate cake, pretzels, popcorn ( the bagged stuff) gummy candies and I ate none of it..... I had a peach and a banana and a glass of water. Now if I can keep this up it will be amazing.

Nita- glad you had fun at the ball game. Have a wonderful day.

Cat- don't give up you will get there it is an endless battle I am not sure why it is that we lose and gain and lose and gain it is a terrible cycle that we put ourselves through. Keep your chin up you will get there girl.

Mooz- Love the tought about the potatoes. Keep up the good work you are doing great. We will all look fab by christmas.


Oneday- how is your day going. I guess I am doing phase two I just can't give up my fruit try as I may.... I am hooked on the stuff I find it is the only thing that gets me through the "I am starving phase of the day"

To the rest of you groovy chicks keep smiling and have a wonderful day.
PS not hard to tell that I am in a great mood today is it.

Hello Ladies

Still on the program. The first day and 1/2 were the hardest for me... but it's only day 4 so we'll see. Tonight we be hard.. I have a work meeting & they always have these great desserts on our tables. I'm thinking when I walk up to my seat to either ask if anyone wants it, & if they don't they just hand it over to the waiter. Otherwise It will be very tempting on my plate. Still haven't workout... i'm thinking of walking tomorrow morning. I guess it just depends on what time I get to bed tonight.

LittleChick - I'm think i'm doing ok, but I think it's only because I have not had to be around chochlate cake, & all those yummies you mentioned. WTG for eating your banana & passing them up

Cat - Sorry to hear you cat was ill. Glad it was not diabetes.

Mooz - I must be carrying a 50lb bag...need to get rid of that..

Nita - What is the name of that ballpark? Is that the one that has a waterfall? sounds like you are prepared today...

To everyone else... Hope your having a OP day!

[B]Happy friday everyone! this week has gone quickly, although I am exhausted today. seems to just take time to get everyone back into our routines.

My DF who is ill with the life threatening disease has had quite a week. Her DF got the call last Sat, night for his lung transplant. Things went very well, although he is not out of the woods yet, and has a long recovery ahead.

WTG patty, littlechick, and Nita - you guys are all really on track this week. i do well during the day, but still have the evening struggle. Helps that we have a wedding tomorrow and i want my dress a little looser! DD is the maid of honor, and my goodness, has it been a lot of work. She says she may never get married because she doesn't want to do that to her friends! I'm sure it will go well and be lots of fun.

Hope you all have enjoyable weekends. September is flying by!

Hi my chickie friends, TGIF, DH and I have a date tonight... we are off to the jazz festival we are hoping to get tickets to see David Wilcox.Can't wait. Eating has been pretty good. I am not going to weigh myself till wed. I hope that I can make it through the week-end. Well chickies hope everyone has a good one.