Sum - my family can be majorly stressing at times. I repeat this little mantra in head during the real touch situations.

"It is what it is .. and they are who they are..."

Wish you the best of luck with it all! You're strong, we know you can handle it

Angie that is a great mantra! I keep telling myself that "this too shall pass" But I think I will keep repeating your "It is what it is .. and they are who they are..."

Hi Ladies! Would you mind if I popped in? I'm new and still making my way through all the threads but thought this might be a good place for me to settle in since I'm in my 40's (47 in February - WOW - when did THAT happen?!) and you all can probably relate to many of the same issues that come with this phase of life.

I started eating better earlier this month and am trying to get back in the groove of weighing, measuring, calorie counting, etc., and am hoping to make a few friends along the way.

I've read back several pages but didn't take notes so I don't remember who's doing what but hugs to those who are struggling with car accidents, family issues, stress, "fire thighs" and "inside out pants". <----- Those last two cracked me up!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

PotScrubber of course, welcome! Love your avatar... Are those your own tomatoes?

Welcome Potscrubber! I'm fairly new here myself. The ladies here are all very welcoming, it seems. The 'fire thighs' and inside out pants cracked me up too - I meant to come back and post about that, but I guess I got busy and distracted.

Sum, so sorry you're stressed out about the visit to your Mom's. I wish I could say something that would help you cut yourself some slack about it. I feel bad about how worried you are about your trip

I made a mistake, and the wine tasting is next Friday, not tomorrow - so that gives me some more time to get the smart eating thing down before I have to go. However, I'm having some girls over for wine tonight. We always get together on Thursdays, and take turns hosting. Tonight's my night. I hope they aren't too annoyed when they see I'm serving fruits and veggies for appetizers, and baked chips instead of the usual high fat fare. I went to a lot of trouble to make the food look really appetizing and pretty, so I hope they appreciate that.

Ok, I'm rambling....gotta run!

Hello, all! Reading but not posting lately. My calories have been through the roof this week. I've been scared to weigh myself. I went jogging 3 times this week, and each day I grew stronger and had more stamina. However, any kind of exercise where I really push myself to the limit makes me want to eat the entire house! My appetite has gone through the roof. It reminds me why I decided a while back to cut down on the exercise and just work on calorie intake until I am closer to my goal weight. Today, my son came down with the flu! He is doing ok and on medication, but I stayed home with him and got no exercise and ate and ate. Almost 2,400 calories! Ugh. I won't be getting any exercise over the next few days until he is better, so I really need to stick to my calories - not an easy task over a weekend. I just hope this flu doesn't end up going through the whole family. Another ugh - tomorrow I have a dress fitting for a wedding I am in. I promised myself to eat well this week - instead, I doubt the dress will fit! I dread wearing it and being seen at the event.

Just not feeling it today.....hope you all are faring better than I am...

Good to hear from everybody. Hugs to all who are struggling, kudos to those that are doing well!

I had to use the treadmill tonight instead of walking outside, got home a little bit later from work, had the incline on 5 for my 5k walk, boy am I feeling it now...

Was just telling DH I had the little dog out and slipped on the snow and ended up sitting on my butt on the snow bank, thank God I didn't get hurt, but the funny thing was the little dog came running over and I guess he knew I was ok, cause he started humping my arm...dang dog...lol

Hope things get better for all of us, actually I'm sure they will!

best to all

Hello fellow 40ishers I am new to the site and I am having a bit of a problem setting up my info. I wanted to know if anyone could help me with the setting up of a weight bar??!! Thanks in advance

@zumba - thank you for telling me all that! It makes so much sense to me to do what I'm doing because like I said, I just don't like breakfast that much and lunch is not a good time to enjoy food anyway because I'm with my coworkers and just being around them at lunch is distracting and not conducive to enjoying food. I have a friend who has recently lost 10Kg (not sure how much that is in poundage, somewhere over 20 pounds?) by eating no breakfast, having her main meal at lunch, and then eating just light veggies and a little cheese at night. I'm sort of doing the same thing, only I'm switching it so that my veggies are at lunch and my main meal is in the early evening. Man, this weight loss thing is so hard, isn't it, especially when going through stuff.

@NEmom - Don't feel too bad. It has to be an incredible feat, giving up smoking and trying to lose weight. I can't imagine. I think you're doing a marvelous job. The other stuff will work out as long as you are consistent and don't give up.

@sum - wow, that really sucks that you have to deal with someone so unpleasant in your family! I find I ALWAYS have to drink to handle being around my extended family!

@potscrubber - welcome!

@guacamole - I hope the dress fitting isn't too painful! Hope your son feels better!

@kellijpa - LOL! Silly dog!

@chunkalicious - I think you have to have been on the forum at least 20 days and made a certain number of posts to get a weight bar! Someone can correct me if I'm wrong... Welcome!

I found myself chopping into sixteen equal pieces each of the five kosher dill slices floating on top of my ground beef at dinner tonight. (It would have been a hamburger had I been more patient with the flipping.) I sobbed to my DS that I had transformed into a pampered pooch on accounta this Atkins diet....eating premium meats off china...."Shouldn't your plate be on the floor?"...."Oh no! I'm *that* pampered."........"Mom......can you chop your pickles a little smaller?"....."HEY! This is a scarce potato in a potato famine...gotta spread it thin and savor it."....Not wanting to promote or condone this Atkins lifestyle, I will now refer to it as the Lucky K9 regimen. (not the same luck as kelijpa's dog....althooooo .. my TH is returning home from a week-long business trip later tonight...)

Day 17 of Atkins....no bread, no pasta, no fruit, no liq donuts (this week), fewer than 20 carbs....and I am in a major stall...I fear the consequences of abandoning the LuckyK9, and regret joining the K9 cult in the first place. Brain and Eyes are in league against Taste Buds & Intestine for dominating influence over what goes in my mouth. Brain's Pleasure Center is rebelling & demanding more deliciousness, and Intestine is just downright devious. Let's just say this LuckyK9 needs to "go for a walk" more often. I think I'm a candidate for colonic floral transplant (faecal bacteriotherapy); perhaps we all are. These transplants have been used to treat Clostridium difficile in humans....and obesity in mice.

Sticking with the LuckyK9 for a while longer...for no good reason...I suppose I could be stalling no matter what regimen I'm on.

Hi, ladies! Hope that you had a good Thursday & that it'll carry you through this weekend!
H got his monitor this afternoon. Shock of all shocks he only has to wear it for 48 hours. I guess with modern medical technology they can tell what they need that soon. Course I'm sure if they feel the need to another reading, they'll do so. Little frustrated though...the dr's office was supposed to call in a prescription for the syringes or insulin pens cause H is getting low. They didn't! We stopped by the office & H talked to them again....I told him if they don't get their act together, I'll do the "talking" next time! I will not put up with this "stuff" when it comes to my hubby's health.
On the journey part of my day: healthy eating , 1 hour walk in the park , H2O . I took H to the park because I know how nervous was, eventhough he wouldn't admit it. He always tells me, "I'm not nervous", but then he'll ask me the same question over & over again. Where do we go at the hospital? Do you have the paperwork? How long did the dr say I might have to wear it (the monitor) for? UGH!!! Oh, well. It's done. We just have to keep a small, short diary anytime he feels light-headed, if his heart-rate goes up or anything odd.

kelijpa: Good job on keeping your exercise in, in spite of landing on your bum. Your dog on the other hand...um, needs to learn some self-control!!

SeeMyFeet: Good job sticking with the program. I don't know if I could do it. I don't like being told, "You can't have _____." Cause then I WANT IT! Sure, I have basically cut out alcohol, junk food & candy...but if at some point I want a little, I can have it. Just not a whole bag of candy, bottle of booze...and not all the time!

guacamole: I'm sooo sorry to hear about your son. Hope he gets well soon! I'm sending you self control...do you feel it? You can do this! You can do this!

PotScrubber: to the AWESOME 40-somethings board! Hope you find a great home here with the support to help you reach your goals! We really do have a great bunch here.

LindaWW: I think the gals are your wine tasting might be pleasantly suprised. I'm sure they had quite enough of the heavier "party-type" stuff over the holidays. Who knows, you may start a trend for them?

Zumba: I'm sending positive thoughts & prayers for your friend who's going through treatment. I wish I could kick cancer out of our world/solar system. I've seen it take sooo many special people & just devestate those left behind. Now you know why I DO NOT have chocolate or any candy for that matter in my home...I CANNOT say no! As my maternal grandma would say, "I come by it honestly." My grandpa (her hubby) had a HUGE SWEET TOOTH!!! He always had candy around. Fact is I can remember him impatiently waiting for the homemade ice cream to be ready at family reunions! My mom would nearly have to smack his hand with the large serving spoon!!! Her own dad!!!

NEMom: I wouldn't be a bit suprised if you your quitting is possibly effecting your weight loss. Think about it, you eliminated something your body was used to & now it's gone. I don't know if there's any studies on it. Have you looked around to see if any drs or scientists think there might be so correlation? Sorry, I'm a big nerd...I love to research all kinds of things. Not just health things or medical type things. I just basically go bonkers looking up whatever thing catchs my thoughts at the moment...that's me!
Either way....just don't give up! I'm sure that once your body adjust, I'm sure the pounds will bid farewell.

SUM: Ah, family....can't love 'em (in most cases), can't kill 'em. Sorry, I've been down this road soooo many times that I can walk it in my sleep. I'm sorry your family stresses you so. I wish I knew what to say. I, too, haven't spoken to either of my sisters since Dad died in 2000 (1 is a horrible alcoholic, the other is just horrible). My brothers? I've got 4 & they treat me like I'm 4 or my personal favorite non-exsistant. I still love them, for Mom's sake, but it's not at all easy. I wish you the best. On the rare occasion I do have to deal with family, I exercise more & harder. I take my frustrations out physically, feel the burn & usuall I'm just too tired to give a rat's you-know. I'm sending you this much dust cause I know how tough it can be! It's also one dose for each of MY siblings...hope ya don't overdose!

Heading to watch Person of Interest with my hubby. Love me some Jim Caviezel! JJ Abrams knows how to make a great show!!!

BE HEALTHY! BE GOOD! YOU ARE WORTH IT! WE ARE HERE FOR EACH OTHER, RIGHT? LET'S DO THIS!!!

I've gone back to work, so no more time to sit and browse 3FC all day. I feel like I missed too many posts. I read other's responses... like kelijpa falling on her bum ... I have to go back and read that one. So sorry if I miss aanyone below with my responses. I always like to try to get everyone because I like it when others respond to me.

Yesterday I came home P.Od! Work. Management, completly off their rocker.... incompetent. UGH! So I ran off my frustrations.

I was so excited to plug in my BB. A full day of work (good calories, good steps) and then a run, and I was good with my food up until dinner (Del Taco). Much to my surprise, no deficit. Surplus. UGH! Seriously?? What does a girl have to do? Starve? Yes.

The more I exercise, the hungrier I get. It's very frustrating. It completely undoes what I've done.

I was so good yesterday, too. I didn't go for desert even though all of my coworkers did. I told them I just wasn't in the mood for anything sweet. Which (happily) was true!

I did this metabolic test that showed where my heart rate needs to be for maximum burn and I'll tell you what, it's impossible! My HR zones are much higher than the average. Say zone 1 is 80 to 100, mine is 80-122, for example (not actual numbers). Then zone 2 would be 100-130, mine is 122-150. Crazy.

I couldn't understand why I couldn't run so far yesterday. Well, it's because I was trying to maintain my heart rate in the zones set up by this program= high. I know i need to push myself, but's ridiculous hard! I'm going to see if somehow it might be off.

Girl Scouts today. Beware, cookies sales are beginning in some areas!

NewLeaf, I made that lentil soup and was anticipating a luke warm response. Much to my surprise, everyone loved it, especially my 13 year old who would have finished the pot of his dad didn't insist he save some for me!

Zumba! Not the fat pants!! Me no likey fat pants. LOL on the fire comment! Does Sensa really work? So sorry about your friend with cancer. That's rough.

Syndehat sorry you're loss has stalled! I know how you feel. I'm back at work too, and I was hoping it would help with all of the activity, but apparently not. I hope you start losing again soon.

Sum, sorry you're so stressed about your family trip. Just smile and nod, smile and nod. My family is quite the "interesting" bunch, and I tend to bite my tongue a lot, smile and nod a lot. That's how I deal. I kind of enjoy the passive aggressive game with them, though.

Linda, love your wine night munchies! I hope your friends were happy and supportive! I wish I had wine-night friends!

MyTryingAgain, I'm glad to hear your dh got his monitor and is on his way towards a healthy heart. I hope the doc office called in the script so you didn't have to become involved!

Guac- I'm having the same problem. Only worse, I come home and it's not about food, it's about CARBS! There was an open bag of Lucky Charms on the counter the other day and I dove in! Last night, I went way over calories eating nuts and dried fruit. Out-of-Control. Luckily, up only .6 pounds.

Chunkalicious, 20 some odd posts and 3 months, I think, something like that, before you can have a ticker/signature. Just post away! Welcome!

SeeMyFeet, your post cracked me up! You just have to get through this part, the hardest part. You can do it!!

Kelijpa- ROFL! Glad I'm not the only one with clothing malfunctions.

Potscrubber, and chunkalicious, Welcome!

Good morning everyone........this atkins thing isn't working for me this time and im not really sure why. I have done it a few times before over the years and was pretty successful at it. I'm going to keep trying and if I don't have any significant loss by the end of this weekend i"m going to have to go to another plan....not sure exactly what that plan is.

What I plan on doing today is getting my supplements in and get into the habit of taking those...also I need to get more water down......

Going to Walmart today to look for the frozen atkins dinners, they are a new product and no supermarket has them yet.....thinking those may save me on those nights i made something for the kids that I can't eat, or when my husband has the kids and i don't feel like cooking just for me.....

Have to teach my aqua class now...I wish I had a body bugg so I can see how many calories I burn in class. I think my body is just so used to the amount of exercise I do, that I really need to punch it up a bit.....maybe i'll blow the dust off of my Brazilian Butt Lift DVDs.

Stay strong today everyone.......I'm so impressed with you ladies and the amount of exercise that you do as well as how well you pay attention to what you are eating. We are all trying here.....there are no slackers in this bunch.....

xoxoxoxox

By the way the Sensa isnt working...I think it is more a psychological thing..like I sprinkled this crappola all over my food now so I will eat less....I don't find that to be true, but since i paid good money for this junk I;ll keep trying...

I get so behind on all these posts...I am so sorry. I see some of us are doing well..others struggling. But the main thing is we are here and we are keeping it up! So I say we all should be happy with ourselves on that.

I can eat again with out pain! YAY!!! I am keeping small healthy meals though. THe doctor knocked me out with pain meds for two days and I must say there isn't the pain that is like 'omg..just go away..it hurts..rip my spine out please..." but more of a dull "hey..i'm hurt..don't over do it..." pain. which I can stand. So I am not sure if it just released all the tightnes or some swelling..not sure..but much better. I do have to go back because he said i did d something to my ribs. There is still an area you cant touch unless you want to see how high I can jump through the roof. I also got great news about my car..it is totaled but it was worth much more than I thought...and even after my research I got top dollar for it with their first offer. I thought it would be worth what our daughter's cheap little car was worth since my car was 6 years old. But for some reason Vibes keep their value well I guess. I can still get a very nice used car for what I am getting. Which takes the stress of "I had a great car..perfect for me..now I have to have someone else's throw away..." off of me. So I am feeling so much less stress right now.

I have gained some weight back like i thought when I started eating..partly because the pain meds have blocked me up. I have meds for that as well..they just don't work as well as this one herbal tea I have. But I am unsure if I can drink this herbal tea with the meds..never know how herbal remedies mix with prescription pain meds. I did wear jeans for the first time yesterday I have been living in sweats and yoga pants to not put pressure on my side..and my jeans were loose! WOOT WOOT!!!

I wish you all a WONDERFUL Friday!!! And I hope everyone's bad days turn good!!!! I feel very good today and I want everyone to feel the good vibes coming from me!!! Hopefully it will put a little smile on your face as well!