Thanks Rhonda. I hate being so blah. I've started some tomato and bell pepper plants and look forward to working in my garden soon. Also doing cucumber and probably strawberries, etc. Depends on space. I'm tired of paying high prices for veggies and then getting home and they are bitter, etc!!

So wish me luck, hope all mine turn out ok. Love homegrown ones, taste soo much better.

Trying to stay positive. Reading some on the causes for having fear of being thinner. Makes alot of sense when I start thinking about how I feel that thin people are weaker, more vulnerable, less able to be strong in their convictions, etc. I have to see someone who is thin yet strong willed, etc. I don't know anyone like that I guess. On either side of our families. Guess I need to start studying people and I'd also benefit from a mentor I'm sure. One who is thin enough to show it is ok to be there, etc. Just don't know. Thinking about self-defense classes too.

Hugs to each of you here, hope you all are doing better than I am at the moment, Selina

And, make it a glass of red and your HDL’s will love you! I try to save calories for a nice glass of red about 3 or 4 times a week.

I think finding a thin mentor is a great idea! I wish you could meet my Dad. I credit him for teaching me tenacity and positive thinking. And, he’s always been thin and always been ahead of the crowd in terms of his health and exercise. And, he’s the second strongest person I’ve ever know….the first being my Mom. I swear, nothing gets this man down and there is no obstacle he won't face. I'd like to be just like him when I grow up?

Quote:
So far, what health benefits have you obtained from your new lifestyle changes? What improvements have you seen in your daily life?

I didn't have any *diagnosed* health complications from my obesity that I can quantify (cholesterol, hypertension, glucose...) - but I know that my overall sense of well being has sky-rocketed! My mood has improved. My sex drive has gone up. I'm able to handle stress in a reasonable manner! I'm nicer to my girls and husband!

Quote:
I have a question, (may have been asked before)
How often do you weigh and measure yourself?

I flip back and forth on the weighing thing. I sometimes weigh once a week and other times every day. If I know I'm OP I feel ok weighing once a week, if I'm a little sloppy with my eating I tend to weigh more often. I measure the first of each month. BTW - I use my lowest weight of the week as long as I'm OP.

Selina - Garden fresh tomatoes as spectacular! Next to fresh watermelon, nothing compares! We grew loads of them last year as well. Good for you for dealing with your fears. Would it help at all to change the "terminology"? I honestly NEVER think about getting "THIN". I think of it as "FIT". You seem to equate thin=weak? The way my muscles are, I don't think I'm ever in danger of being called 'thin'. Some martial arts would be a great thing to get into though to boost your self confidence as you get smaller!

Lisa - great to have you joining in!

Amber - That's wrong. Of you to ask! And of course of him to answer that way.

Anna - I love working out early also. Got it done at 7 this morning. The StairMill is still kicking my ***. I keep adding 1 minute a day.

Karen - foot pain SUCKS big time. I'm glad you found a temporary solution.

Theresa - NO JOKE! Your weekends are so busy it wears me out reading about them! Congrats on the loss.

Well, weather man told us it was going to be sunny and 60 today and we promised the girls a picnic on the Puget Sound. They love collecting seashells and playing with the snails. BUT, so far it's still grey and cold out. As long as it's not raining, we'll still go. But it's always at least 10 degrees colder on the water and windy.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Today we have a 'slow food and wine' event so it will be a challenging couple hours for me. Will make sure I have a few snacks in my bag just incase the choices available aren't what I'm looking for. Also thinking to bring my camera along and play photo journalist!

RHONDA'S QOTD: So far, what health benefits have you obtained from your new lifestyle changes? What improvements have you seen in your daily life? Last week I had a fitness assessment at the gym and in the last year, I've gone from "below average" to "good" on the fitness scale they do (based on HR, O2 levels, etc). I totally bypassed "average". Colour me HAPPY! Daily improvements....it just amazes me how much easier it to do the simple things...like climbing stairs, hanging out laundry, vacuuming....they are no longer effort inducing chores.

Soon2bthinner....you're being very proactive and smart in evaluating your thoughts as you becoming thinner. Looking back on my weight loss history, I think it's lack of awareness/acknowledgement of the changes made that contributed to me not being successful at maintaining the weight loss.

Afternoon girls,
I've been bad. DH ran into a snafu with that job. The idiot hired someone else and didn't even have the balls to call DH and tell him. My eating and workouts have been suffering ever since. I've been trying to figure out why I'm allowing it to happen. With DH around I should have more time to focus on myself. Instead, I allow myself to become lazier and not eat as well. Of course now that I have thought about what has been happening I should be able to take steps to correct it, right?

I missed my w1d3 workout that I was planning on doing Wed. or Thurs. so I did it today. Not quite as planned with the 60/90 intervals. I warmed up and then jogged until I was ready to collapse and then slowed down a bit. I didn't watch the clock at all other than to make sure I got my 30 minutes in. I had better time than before so I am happy. I think I am just gonna kind of do my own thing for a while as long as I am getting faster. If I start to stall then I will track my run/walk times and figure out what week I am supposed to on and then move into the plan.

Hopefully I am back on track and more willing to check in with you supportive ladies.

Welcome to the team Erica. Glad you finally came around.

Afternooon Blues!

How is everyone this weekend? I'm off to work in a couple of hours, but thought I'd drop one of my posts on you before I go.

QOTD (Friday): So far, what health benefits have you obtained from your new lifestyle changes? What improvements have you seen in your daily life? I do not have high blood pressure, but I was pre-hypertensive. Now, my BP is back in the normal range. My cholesterol is lower. I'm able to do more physically without the huffing and puffing that used to come along with mild activity.

QOTD (Saturday): I have a question, (may have been asked before) How often do you weigh and measure yourself? I weigh in every morning before I eat or drink anything. And, because of the Watch Me Bloom theme for this TBL challenge, I take measurements once a month. Otherwise I rarely took measurements because I saw the changes in the way that my clothes fit, or rather didn't fit. But, now that I'm doing it, I don't think I'll stop. (Thanks, Chelle!) Wish I had done it at 286lbs, because that was 52lbs ago, and the difference would have been nice to see in writing.

Zinke: Sorry the job didn't come through for DH. Like you said, now that you've recognized the problem with your eating and workouts, you will be able to correct it.

Kris: Good thinking to go into the event with good food choices for you. I'm snickering at "slow food," as I'm picturing the waitstaff walking very slowly from table to table. Have fun!

Nori: I agree with Tee. I love your dirty mind. I hate being in the gutter all alone.

Tee: I love how woman-positive and assertive you are!
Selina: Since I've never, ever been thin, I think of this weight loss journey as me getting healthier, which IMO means I'm getting stronger mentally and physically. I'm tackling those obstacles that would otherwise keep me at a heavier weight and unhealthy. And dear heart, overweight does not equal undesirable, and therefore unthreatened. Your determination to protect yourself comes from your internal will to fight to survive. You can do that at any weight, but the healthier and more active you are, the better your strength and stamina to fight off whatever needs fighting.

Missing: Glad you're back with us. It never occurred to me that someone could get insight or support from the things I say here, then it hit me one day. We're all counting on one another in some way or another. Here's to being Blue!

Now, before I actually get banned from posting (can't seem to shut up once I get started), I'm off to work.

Oh one more thing . . . I did manage to round up a couple more friends of that 1/2lb nuisance. I'm down 2.5lbs this week.

Ta-ta ladies. Have a great weekend! Go Blue!!

- Sonja

missingmyerica- You are doing great with your weight loss! Keep it up girl.

Have you tried square-foot gardening? I am getting some bed put in next month and going that route. I have trellises for my pepper and tomatoes. I need some for my egg plant, squash, melons and pumpkins. Almost all of my favorites need to grow vertically.

My HDL is lovely. It is also nice to save as a before-bed treat for me and DH as well.

I so look forward to when Meara is a good sleeper, and I can get up early to write and work out before everyone else is up. When she is up too much at night, I just can't get up early.

Isn't that weird. I can exercise most days when he is at work, but when he is hear and can take care of the kids, something else can easily get in the way.

Well, thank you. My mom is quite feministy without being a bra burner. She managed to be very woman positive and have a great marriage, so she was a great role model. She also is stick thin, so she should be Selina's mentor as well!

If I don't do my workout during the day when the babies nap (and the older kid plays pbskids.org ) and I tell myself I'll do it at night, I NEVER do it at night. I never do. I'm so pooped by night that I just want to curl into a ball and pass out. So if you ladies ever hear me say I'm going to put off my workout until evening, smack me!

Hello ladies!!!

Don't forget to Spring Forward tomorrow... for those of us doing daylight savings time.

I ate out twice today, I tried to make smart choices, but you can only do so good when you're not the one cooking. I'm running an 8k tomorrow, and I'm a little nervous. I haven't run that far in ages.

QOTD- I weigh myself everyday. It stays pretty static, but I still do it. I measure myself sporadically.

Zinke - That sucks about DH and the job, a couple bad days of eating are understandable. Atleast you've recognized the problem and can correct.


Everyone have a lovely weekend

Hello everyone! Just checking in...

Last week was so very busy - dad got his pacemaker put in last Wednesday and they sent him home Friday - he was a whole month in hospital!!! He is still in pain and is finding it difficult to get comfortable - but most of his pain is due to doing too much... when he got home the first thing he wanted to do involved going into the garage and he lifted the garage door - hence pain!!! Getting into chairs is difficult too - he is supposed to use a pillow on his chest but I havent seen him use one!!! He is very stubborn - he goes to the doctor tomorrow morning so we will see what he says.

As for my weightloss - I am down another 2 pounds!! I have to make this another on plan week - and hope for further weightloss.

Good morning everyone. I think I'm going to have to work my way into writing one of those personal posts with everyone's names. I can't seem to keep up!

This week has been one of the weirdest weight loss weeks for me so far. I've adjusted my ticker 3 times this week....which is a good thing....just kinda weird for me. I got on the scale this morning and it said 187.2, that is 2 pounds less than yesterday. Maybe I'm losing all the water weight I gained during my period? I don't know, I've been so used to (and happy with) losing a pound or so a week, that this just kinda freaked me out. I've been trying to be really careful to lose this weight slowly, because at 42 my skin isn't what it used to be and I don't want to end up a big ball of skin! Speaking of skin, I went bathing suit shopping yesterday. OMG....I realized while I was standing there looking in the mirror.....I WILL NEVER LOOK GOOD NAKED....ever again. I know, I know.....I'm slow to realize things. You would think that after 3 kids I would have gotten the message by now, but I didn't. I guess I always thought if I lost the weight I would look sexy again. NOT without clothes....that's for sure.

Anyway, this has been a week of realizations for me. I think this is the first time since starting all of this that I've really sat down and thought about what weight loss means to me. I tend to just see it as a job that needs to be done and forget about the emotional end of it. I've read through so many of the posts on here and I see that many of you have talked about how you "feel" about this weight loss journey. My posts on 3fc's are all about the technical end of it...like "what do you think of this product?" I'm such a mess, and I guess I'm just starting to notice!

Oh well, enough therapy for today. Are you guys sure you still want me? I may need lot's of help!

Have a great day!

Sonja....now I'm thinking about how slow the wait staff was! (teehee)

Missingmyerica.....it's cetainly a process and so be gentle with yourself. We all come to our awarenesses in due time. You've done so well with the technical that it's probably just your time now to have the more emotional-based issues arise. Hang in there!

mumtoliam-glad your dad is doing better, even if overdoing it. The stress must be terrible for you. Good job on continuing on your plan.

Onefluffychick-congrats on rounding up a few more friends! whoop whoop!

Off to work out. Weighed in this morning and had a fantastic surprise.....will post about it later! Colour me HAPPY!

Hey chicks. Not much going on here. The reverse eating is still taking some adjustment. Not sure what the result will be tomorrow. Possibly the last of the freebies.

Sunny but still a bit cold. Plan to walk/run outside later.

I effing hate DST.

I'm going to have to take a freebie this week. I'm having some MAJOR period problems. Since I had my baby (one year ago tomorrow!!!) and then started getting my period back about 7 months later, PMS has been horrendous, but since the periods were only coming every six weeks or so,I dealt with it. Well then last month it was only 4 weeks - ok, that's normal. But I bled for eleven days! It finally stopped, I was so glad. Then, only nine days later (last week) it started AGAIN. And it's so heavy, like postpartum heavy. I'm sorry if this is totally TMI and grossing anyone out. I don't know what to do. All my GYN recommends is taking the pill, but it gives me huge anxiety attacks and I just want to avoid it. I KNOW something is off and so I'm waiting until I see my family doctor in 2 weeks to ask her opinion. Maybe they can do blood tests to see what's wrong with me. Anyway, I'm bloated, crampy, my face is puffy, so I'm not even getting on the scale because I know it'll just depress me, even though I know it's water retention and hormones, still, I hate it. I am so tired of all of this. I wish when you are done with having babies, you could shut off a switch and the eggs would stop coming out and the whole process could just stop! I only want to use that area for RECREATION from now on!!!

Sorry about the rant.

Anyway.

I am going to make some black bean sweet potato quesadillas now, my new favorite food.