Thanks Nicole. I keep telling myself that tomorrow is another day, and that it does not matter that McD's has filet of fish on sale for 1.29, LOL. I have got to quit finding reasons to allow myself to cheat. Do I really want to go back to 220 lbs? NO! But I keep thinking that I am invincible. My fingers are crossed for you tomorrow too!

Barb - You KNOW you can do this! You KNOW this works if you work it! You've got to make up your mind that you're going to do this all the way... get back to the beginning where you were losing and it was working. What's the difference then from now? Maybe your ambition? Maybe your goals? Maybe the new has worn off? Maybe you're reverting back to some old habits? Maybe you're looking for a way out? Maybe you're looking for faster? As you know, there is no miracle cure... it's HARD!!! And it takes an attitude that most of us have not had in the past. The attitude of a Loser - NOT a quitter! Let's face it. Most of us have been there so many times... we give it a try, it works, we stop trying so hard, it stops working, we quit... and on and on. But this time girlfriend, it's working and you're doing it! So don't let yourself revert back to those old habits. The new does wear off. It does get hard to lose. You may even hit a plateau - but you can do it!!!
This horse may trying to throw you... it may be taking you for a rough ride... but the bottom line is you've got the reigns and you CAN remain in control!
Come on honey, you've come to far to give up now. Stick with it. What have you got to lose?!? A pound or two?!?
Hugs,
P.S. - I'm .1 away from the 50# mark... should be here this weekend if I weigh in. TOM is drawing nigh (Isn't it Nicole?!?) so I'm off anyway scale wise and our scale is wrong 95% of the time anyway...
Okay, it's late and I've got to go.
Spoke to the Operations Manager again today and he'll be training me to close Tues. and Wed. nights. Says I made such an impression on Monday with the customers that they actually started calling him and the President of the Co. to request that I be there more often because I'm so much "nicer" than the other lady...
Hugs,

P.S. - Katie - I've been so cold lately that I went shopping for new shoes today for work because my business shoes aren't warm enough... I'm wrapping up in sweatshirts and blankets, and at work, my toes get so cold I can't feel them...
Can you imagine what I'd do if it were cold here? Supposed to be in the low 20's next week with lows in the teens at night... YIKES

Barb - glad to see you back! What part of MN are you in? (Besides the cold part!)

Cassi - congrats on your .8! Sometimes we need that boost of downward movement on the sclae, don't we?? Way to go, chiquita!

Liz - I'm with you.. I keep missing a fruit! How detrimental is that exactly?? Skip it? Drink a glass of juice the next morning to make up for it? It's all so confusing!!

Kristen- laughing about the IV of hot lemon water It may keep you warm, though in that deep freeze otherwise known as Canada! We've got the same forecast here in MN. Fun with negative numbers!! Brrrrrr!

Ulanda - hope you're feeling better today!

Katie - You are absolved of your brownie sin.. no go forth into the world and sin no more! Hee.. just kidding.. I was having a major chocolate attack yesterday.. it's a lucky thing there weren't any brownies around or I'd have eaten them all. The thought actually crossed my mind to eat another chocolate crunch lite I wanted chocolate so badly! Tamarrah's Anothah Day, Miss Scahlet!

Nicole - I'm with you on the Billy Joel thing.. can't wait to hear that! Love that guy! Is it just because we're girls who grew up in the 80's?

Pearl - And there you are.. just popping in out of the blue with words of inspiration again.. what a gift you have! That 50# mark will feel great! You're oh so close.. how wonderful! It's great that you're being recognized at work for your special talents with people.. stay warm!

Ok.. I couldn't sleep at 4am.. I've been reading and typing since 5.. and now I think I'll get on the treadmill and do something constructive.

Question though! Since I've only been doing this for a month - should I wait until someone at cod suggests a TO? Or do you just go ahead and do them on your own?

Have a fantabulous day everyone!

Katie -- Ohhhh how I wish I could have eaten one of those brownies for you! Take one for the team as Wendy says. *drool* Everyone stumbles, or falls hard, sometimes. Forgive yourself and move on to a POP meal/day.

Nicole -- I had no idea that you and Billy Joel had a thing! I don't like to brag about it, but Johnny Depp and I are seriously in love too (in my mind) maybe we can go on a Hollywood double date sometime. That is scary about the groceries. I'm struggling to keep myself to less than $200/week for our little family of three, and it's not easy to stay POP and on budget.

Pearl -- Oh so close to 50lbs, wow! I can't wait for you to post that milestone. Hmmm TOM is drawing nigh for me too...has my body just jumped into sync with the rest of you here all of a sudden? lol Seems everyone is waiting on Aunt Flo.

Kristen -- Your lemon water iv comment sent me running to the kitchen last night for a great big cup of it before bed. I've been 'sneaking' (past who?) popcorn this week, the minibags, and I'm hoping HLW is the miracle cure.

Good Morning Everybody!

I woke up to the plow at 6:30 this morning. At least he gave us a break from a couple days ago (5:00 a.m.)

I think I'm going to trudge out and go to WI again today, for my 3rd WI this week, but I want that $10 coupon!!

Wendy II -- JMO - but if you're losing, not on a plateau and havent' cheated, I wouldn't put my body through the suffering of TO. BUT that's just me.

I hope everyone has a GREAT POP day! I will check back in later.

Sherry, you get a coupon for going in 3x per week? That's so cool. I wish my COD did that, I'd be up $40 by now!

Angie - Well, everyone except Dan and Jason!!

Sherry - you sound like me. When my COD had stuff like that I always made it in 3 Xs a week; they quit doing it (new owner and he's cheap). I haven't been to the COD for several weeks now (ran out of weight loss weeks). I thought for sure they'd have called me by now to lure me in with some amazing deal. Perhaps it's still too close to the new year rush.

Wendelina - it's rare that I miss a fruit, but a quick fix for that is one of those mini boxes of raisins.....of course, something fresh is way better.
As far as doing TO, I only do them when I've had a bad couple of days and want to get myself back on track. Also, if you have plateaued for a couple weeks, you may want to try it, although I really think a plateau is your body adjusting to your current eating habits and doing a TO could do more harm than good. Just my unscientific thoughts and ramblings for today.

Nicole - your Friday nights sound as exciting as mine. Wow, that does sound like a lot for food, but in all honesty, I don't track mine...I feel like I stop at the store everyday and drop about $25 a day and there are just two mouths to feed. I pretty much eat all my meals at home. Groceries have gone up substantially, so....what's a mom to do? Oh shoot, ask Billy to help out!!

Oh, and for future reference (we're having way too much fun with it this time), next time you make a typo in a thread title (like the sclae challenge), I THINK you can contact one of the moderators to fix it (like Aphil, Suzanne, etc). I don't know if they can fix it or if they just have to delete it.....anyone know??

Ulanda - hope that weigh in goes well, cause I don't think you're going to get your other wish (warm weather) for a little while yet.

Katie - oh my.....7, seven, seeeevvvvvennnnn brownies. I saw where it was lucky to be getting married on July 7, 2007 (7-7-07), but I don't recall hearing any benefits to eating 7 brownies. But, it sure sounds good. I think the worst "binge" I've had (and there have been a few) was eating about 3 or 4 of the LAWL biscottis one day. That won't happen again ... I've only got one biscotti left! Oh well, today is a new day. Go drink some water or we'll have to put you in the LAWL Naughty Corner...or better yet, Kristen's IV chair (see below).

Kristen - Great visual:

Oh I had to tell you Aunt Flo is on her way to Canada as well! Should be a cheery board next week lol! Warning to Jason and Dan.. an unheard of influx of hormones may register on this board.. for this reason and that of your own personal safety please come to the boards full of compliments, bribes and well wishes!
I'm going to find a vein for my Superbowl IV and get out some long johns.. Minus 27 with windchill today!!
My home scale is showing what looks to be a good drop today but I weighed in yesterday so it's making me pretty determined to stay POP tomorrow on game day to get a good WI on Monday before my aunt arrives!

Well, Aunt Flo made an early mornig visit here in FREEEZING St. Louis. Oh, and she is packing heat this month. Oh well.

Kate.......I have binged much better than you and Jone. A couple of weeks ago (well probably last month when Aunt Flo stopped in), I demolished an entire snack pack package of reeses peanut butter cups, a half of a bag of mini twix bars, and a box of smores granola bars. Now that is some serious fatty going on there. LOL.

WendyII.........I didn't do my first TO until after my first major cheat........the weekend after Thanksgiving. I only did it becasue it had been several days of indulging, and I needed the mental do-over. I do an occasional TO now, but usually as part of a contest, or if I have had a few weeks of not losing. I got stuck at 25 pounds for 3 or 4 weeks, but I don't know if that was a true slump or not, as it centered around the Holidays. In any case..........I agree with Joni......I think a TO works on your brain more than it does on your body. Then again.....look at Cassi this week.....she is kickin *** and taking names

Pearl, my dear............good to see you are doing well. My fear after not seeing you for a spell was that you got wrappd up in the daily hustle, and stopped working the program. Now, in all seriousness, I didn't really think YOU had given up, but, it seems as soon as people stop showing up around here, they often are not doing so well on LAWL. I am so glad that is not the case with you!!!! Congrats on making it sooo close to the 50 lb mark. We are going to have to have a party!!!

Ok, so I had to weigh myself this morning, despite the no sclae challenge (thanks Joni, Cassi, Wendy, Kim, all of you for your endless smiles over my boo boo), and I have to admit, it was pretty darn fun. I think I am personally going to extend my no sclae challenge until next Sat. It has been good for me...and I didn't gain or anything. I did stay the same......TOM.......but from Wed until this morning, I would have been going out of my mind the the little gains and losses, and you know, it was pretty nice not to have to deal with that.

Ok, have to report my WI on the TBL challenge page, and then I really have to get to work here.

Have a POP day everyone. I have to resist my love (not Billy), cake. I have a birthday party at 11........and the only GREAT thing about kid parties is the cake.......well, that is not true.....but I LOVE CAKE. I WILL be good
XOXO

Morning all! I am gearing up for a POP day. I have been thinking long and hard about why I am not losing, and what I used to do differently. I used to eat Laughing Cow Lite cheese for my dairy most of the time. I used to eat a lot of pitas. I used to eat a lot of fish. I think that I am going over on calories. Time to get back to losing girl!

Kristen- Wow, I can just see you clunking around your house and your guests dragging an IV pole to the bathroom 40 times during the SB. You are losing so well. I am very impressed.

Pearl- Nicer than the other lady? Well, duh? You are the nicest lady on the face of the earth. Grat news about the 50 lb mark. You can do this!

Joni- Hmmm, a naughty mat for overeating. That is a great idea. It should probably have a treadmill on it, huh?

Angie- Ooooh oooooh, can me and Nicolas Cage come too? We have been involved for several years. Okay, so if I took a few brownies for the team, are you all gonna be mad at me if you have gains in the next few days?

Wendelina- Thanks ma'am. I'm gonna do my best. Oh, and I agree with the others. No way should you have to do TO when you are doing so well as it is.

So, wanna hear a weird story? Last night someone starts text messaging my DH on his cell phone. DH has no clue who it is, but starts playing along for fun. The texts start getting pretty naughty, and we are laying on our bed texting and laughing our heads off, thinking that this person (we thought it was a girl) had the wrong person. Says that they used to live in Idaho Falls, now they live in VA. So we ask her name, turns out it is a man, which was even funnier. Finally we text that he must have us confused with someone else, and he texts back, "No, it is you I am looking for. Your husband lined my truck bed, and I like what I saw. You are very pretty." We both about fell off the bed. It was me he was talking too. He starts listing specifics about our business transaction, name of the business, location, etc. (I was very involved in this job, and did some of the work, in fact he came back for more work twice.) I totally remember this guy, he is probably 50. It was 2 years ago that we did work for him. How crazy is this? And scary, maybe. Anyway, at the time, I always answered DH's cell while he was at work because that was our business number. This dude must have assumed that was my phone. Thank god it is not. He started wanting to know if we could talk on the phone and email. We said no. He finally stopped texting about 10:30 our time, which would have been 12:30 his time. I hope we are done with this. This guy works for the military, he was here working on some nuclear stuff, now he is back to his base, I guess. Should I be worried about this, or do you guys think that it is just some random weird thing?

I'm back from WI. Down a little. I'll take it!!

Angie - My COD was running a "special" that during the past 4 weeks if you get in 3 times each week, you could earn $10/week. Today was the last day for it. I saved last week's "coupon" for this week ($20), and came home with 1 box each of biscotti, cereal bar and some cookie, and 2 bags of toffee popcorn, and paid $1 out of pocket. Extra incentive to get in there, plus it keeps me more on track!

Joni - when I strayed from COD, they would call first, after I haven't been in for a while, but I always waited for the coupon/postcard to come in the mail offering my weeks back. You only get your weeks back with the postcard.

I rarely miss my fruit or starch. Usually I end up missing veggies! But my new best friend has been cherry tomatos and baby carrots. You dont' need as many to get a serving in.

Aunt Flo isn't quite here yet, but she's due. I've been crampy, bloaty (and crabby!). I had the manager at the COD today, who always likes to put her $0.02 in. She said to try to eat fish, no red meat, no CC until it arrives. Katie - you're 7 brownies sound really good about now!

Pearl - I'm sure you will hit the 50# plus before the end of the weekend!!

Katie - I would just watch and be careful. If you no longer use the cell for your DH business, then call the carrier and ask for a number change. Depending on the carrier, they may do it for free. (I have Sprint - my kids gave out the number to people we didn't want, we called and told them just that and it was changed immediately.) and be careful.

Well, here's to a GREAT POP Saturday everybody!!

Good morning!! Don't have but a few minutes because I'm going to get my hair cut and highlighted. Wish me luck because the first time I was brave and got it highlighted, the stupid lady turned my hair blond. I didn't want to change the color of my hair...just jazz it up a bit. The lady doing it today has been cutting my hair for a while, so hopefully SHE'LL get it right!!

Oh, and have to share my NSV this morning. I'm wearing a SIZE 10 jeans!!! Granted I have a bit of "overhang" but they're buttoned, and I can still breathe. These are loose fit jeans (well not right now), but they're still a 10.

Well, gotta fly. Hope everyone has a POP day!!

Oh, and Katie, that is really scary! I'd keep a watch out.

Hi everyone. Just wanted to stop by (I've been lurking this week mostly) to say that I start my Take Off on Monday to officially start the program....again for the 3rd time.
Just wanted to say hi and wish everyone a good weekend! I'll be chatting more as I get more involved in my plan again.

Wendy - WTG on your NSV!!

Jillian - We look forward to getting to know you better. Good Luck on TO!

Wendy- Whohoooo on the pants!

Jillian- Welcome aboard!