Hi Jodi!!!! My Oma died a year and a half ago at 89 after 5 years of altzheimers. It is good to know they are at peace and you do go through a mourning period as the person you knew drifts away. I am sooooo sorry for your loss.It is hard on everyone.
I have been comfort eating too. Lets start fresh together TODAY!!!!!!

I'm finally back. Too many posts to catch up on, but jodi, I do want to say how sorry I am about your grandma.

Quickly: I was in sunny Florida for three days, didn't see the beach much, but enjoyed the heck out of the sunlight and warmth I was able to catch between working. Ate erratically, but I don't regret eating that paella, it was so good I wanted to rub it all over my face

One of my oldest friends was in town from Alaska. I haven't seen her in 15 years (or more!), so we hung out Wednesday and Thursady nights. Much overeating ensued--again, it was special grub, not like I was wasting my calories on Milky Ways or something. And on Friday, yet another friend was in from out of town, calling for another fabulous dinner and a margarita...

The good news is that I did get my exercise in. I did a lot of power-walking when I was in Florida, and have been going to Curves, including getting there in the mornings, on a regular basis. This morning I went down to the dreary little workout room in the basement, and worked up a sweat while my laundry was int he machines. Saturday AM I went grocery shopping, so I've been eating on program and feeling much more like myself. I've climbed back onto the wagon, and if I work really, really hard, my Easter goal may still be within reach.

More tomorrow--in the meantime, make good choices!

judy

Hello All,

I need a few words of encouragement. I am almost at the 199lbs goal, but I am starting to crave Honeybuns.

HELP!!

Back away from the honeybuns!!!! They are just not worth it. Look at your success!!!!!


HI Judy!! You sound WONDERFUL!!!!!!

Holly,

thanks I needed that. I didn't understand where this craving was coming from, then I realized that it's almost that time of the month again. I have about 2 more weeks worth of this craving.

Wish me luck!

~Tae2Tas

Hi everyone, sorry I've been rambing again. I've had a little trouble adjusting to dh new hrs. We are getting up earlier, but I have been going back to bed and sleeping to late. I have been keeping op for my exercise. Not so good for food I ate out 3 days last week at work, chinese buffet 1 day, Mexican buffet the next. and fried chicken on fri. I don't think I could live at Curve's and exercise enough to make up for that week. I have left over salmon and brocc/carrots to take today. I better go, get ready. It's great to see everyone back and doing well.

BIG HUGS

Morning Debbie. Your lunch sounds perfect today!!!

2nd day of spring and my nose is crusty. Ack!!!
I had a low grade fever all day yesterday. DH saw me taking Advil and asked why. I told him I had a fever. I was doing all the regular stuff, not in the fetal postion on the couch.....he looked bewildered. Made me laugh.
The party yeterday was perfect.

We had 17 kids in very exciting decorated hats!! It was sooooooo much fun.The food was good. I ate well there. Last night was a different story. I ate and ate and ate and never did get full. Maybe because I really am sick. I laid on the couch and watched skating last night. Enjoyable.
4 day week ahead then Easter weekend. We have a hockey banquet, Bday parties and my family is coming here.
The first week of April is filling up with MEETINGS for everything. ARG!!!
DS has said he didn’t want to go to school but then changed his mind!! Fingers crossed!
DH is still looking for work.We have sent out a dozen resumes.
The kids and DH are all completely over the bug and are very well rested. No whining yesterday. It was nice. I puttered , the kids played well and DH went to a friends to watch the race.
It rained all day yesterday and then snowed over night. Foggy right now. Some sun would be nice!
It may be a soap opera afternoon for me!!
Hugs chicks!!

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie - soooo wanting to leave any number starting w/ a 2 behind forever! LOL

I'm Jenn, 29, mommy to Alex, who will be 3 in May. I work part-time, so I'm not online much, but I pop in when I can.

As for my weight loss, I'm pretty much doing my own thing. Watching portions, eating mostly at home, ditching the fast food, etc. And trying to get motivated to get on that treadmill that sits in my basement.

I desperately want to get to 199 by summer - I'm at 223 now, so I know it's a reasonable goal. I think finally making it to under 200 will be a huge burst of motivation for me to get all the way down to my ultimate goal of around 125 or so.

Good morning everyone,
I can't believe it's Monday again already. Does it feel like spring where you are? It does a little bit here in Ohio. At least the sun is shining. I'm wearing new lime green pants today (size 20) and a lime green and white stripped spring sweater and new taupe colored mules. I wanted to feel good about myself today and remind myself how excited I was when I bought these pants and they were a size 20 and not a 24. I'm planning that when I shop for new clothes again in the fall, I'll be in 16's. I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm excited again about working towards my goals.

I didn't do too bad with my food on Saturday. Yesterday was a little off. I bought these sugar cookies that I like to have with milk. I knew when I bought them I would overdo on them and I did. At leas they are gone now and I'm promising myself that I won't do that to myself again. Why would I want to. That's the question I need to ask myself when I feel like doing those sorts of things. I'm the only one who is stopping me from losing my weight and getting on with things. I need to be accountable to myself.

Is anyone else a big Oprah fan? I am. Not just for her weightloss efforts and direction but because she knows that it's more than about what we are eating, it's the reason's behind it. I would recommed the April issue of Ophra's magazine to everyone. It's very motivational and it's got me pumped up again.

I'll post my food later on today. I have no idea what I'm having for lunch or dinner. DH is in charge of meals this week, so I need to talk to him and get an idea. I can tell you that there will be NO cookies and milk in my posts. Also headed back to the gym tonight. Feeling ready to get my body moving again.

Jodi: Glad to have you back with us. So sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Welcome to the Newbies. This is a great source of encourgement.

Got to be busy at work gals. Later!
Susie

Good morning everyone! Happy Monday...blah...just counting down the days until Friday again.

I see a couple new faces - welcome! I will get to know you quickly here.

So much that I missed I can't catch up. Sounds like everyone is doing well though!

Susie - you sound great! Congrats on the size 20's - you are with me - trying to make our way to the teens again!

Spores - you sound great too. You and I must be alike - a neat house and empty kitchen sink = happy!

I had a great weekend everyone. It was so nice to be at home and relax for a weekend. I cleaned the house and I felt good about that because I know the housework isn't looming in the back of my mind. Plus, I was able to keep it that way for more than one day because DH was gone! I did eat a bad meal once, fried chicken which I adore...and made wraps the rest of the weekend. I cooked fish last night with asparagus and corn and it was SO good. Will have leftovers tonite. I read, I watched movies, I hung out with the cats, I went to the GYM and finally shaved my legs after like 3 weeks - that in itself makes me feel so much better about myself. I deep conditioned my hair at the gym and braided it before bed and now I have nice soft bouncy curly hair today. I'm well rested and feel good. I weighed at the gym and am up to 234 again - just a couple pounds up - I have decided to be at 229 by the end of March. Time to...as Emeril says - "kick it up notch!"

Also, I got up and left for work in plenty of time, no rushing.

I'm meeting DH at the Vietnamese restaurant in a few minutes. They have a lunch buffet and I'm going to get NO rice and load up on veggies/tofu.

Now I just need 5pm to be here!

Talk to you all soon!

Girlie

Hi everybody! Sounds like everyone is doing pretty well and bouncing back from off-plan eating. Glad to see you all. Welcome to the new folks!

Well, today is the first day of Spring Break!!!! I worked extra hard this weekend to catch up on my teaching work, and I have promised myself a real break: no grading, no lesson plans, no student conferences. Just five whole days of not thinking about teaching. Woooo!

The hardest part for me will be that part of me knows that I need a real break. I need to relax, do things that are fun and healthy, write, etc. But the other part of me wants to magically accomplish in one week everything that I have been putting off for three months. And when I put that kind of pressure on myself, I always crumble. The other hard part will be staying on plan. You'd think that the extra time would mean I would get in every single work out and cook lots of healthy meals! But in reality, without structure to my days, I easily fall into wallowing and skip workouts. So my goal this week is to exercise and have fun with it.

Thinking of everyone with happy Monday thoughts. Let's all have a great week!

Good morning,
I'm at a computer class today,so I'm out of the office. It felt great to get to the gym last night. I was able to pick my workout up where I had left off, although I did feel it when I was finished.

I did good with the food yesterday, but I did have 2 cookies. I think I'm just that sort of person who has to have something sweet after I eat my meals. My goal is to just limit those sweets. When I don't have them, I feel deprived and feeling that way leads me to binging.

Spores: I'm on spring break too! This week is really finals week, but our final was a take home. It needed to be handed in by this Thursday. I handed mine in yesterday (took me 3.5 hrs to do it on Saturday), so I get a two week break and I'm excited about it. How are you doing with your exercise? I'm the type of person who also needs structure.

Girlie: Sounds like you had a nice weekend...I know you felt like you needed that. How did you do at the buffett?

Menu for 3/20/05-
B=rice crispes w/ milk
L-(Damons) BLT salad, water
D-Sloppy Joe sandwich, french fries, broccoli, green peppers, cucumbers, water
Exercise= walked for 30 min. Lower body workout with weights.
Water total=84 oz.

Classs is about ready to start. Talk to you all later.
Susie

HI CHICKS!!
Well, the sun is shining!!
I went to bed at 8pm slept til 7 am. I am really sick. Fever, body aches, ears are aching, nose running....still doing all the usuall stuff. No fetal position yet.
It is the photography day at the church for the church directory. I am the co cordinator. Yikes, I feel like crap. The appts are booked. I need to be there from 6-9:30. Our photos are booked for 7pm. I bet i will look glam! Not.
I just had a heavenly shower and popped some meds. All the big kid are in school. I will watch the tube and lay down all morning. Conserve energy.
DH is at a job interview.
I didn’t snack last night because I wasn’t awake!! There’s a plan.

Good morning everyone, I just got back from curves, I really love it. I have several loads of laundry to catch up on. That and housework is going to fill up today.

Holly: I hate to hear you are sick again. Have you tried Airborne? It was invented by a teacher who got tired of
being sick all the time. Oprah raves about it. You can get in most pharmacies and walmart. We have tried it and had good results. dh2 had just started feeling bad and had a runny nose it started taking it and was much better the next day. It never turned into a full blown cold.
The washer has stopped so away I go!
Welcome to everyone new

BIG HUGS

MyChoiceSusi: Woo, Spring Break! Doesn't it feel nice? I sure have needed it. Just a break from the pressure. But then there is the lack of structure, which is bad for me. Hm, wish there was a way to have structure in my life without stress and pressure! Maybe that's a balance I need to work on. Definately would help with weight loss. I too struggle with the need for something sweet after a meal. I have found that sometimes I can manage to get something sweet that's also healthy and satisfying. Sometimes I slice bananas and strawberries and stir them into some strawberry yogurt. Or a sliced apple with some peanut butter or fat-free carmel sauce. But all too often I go for the cookies or brownies. But fruit usually does satisfy my sweet tooth if I can get myself to eat it. Anyone else have healthy sweets ideas?

Holly: Oh no, sorry to hear you're sick! And with so much to do! Hope you can find time to rest and recoup. Feel better soon.

Well, yesterday was not a great day for eating or exercise. But I did do some major cleaning. I am trying to clean out my house and get rid of tons of excess stuff. I am a packrat, and this place is filled to the gills. We're moving to a much smaller place this summer, so I need to mercilessly clean out. So yesterday while I was attempting to do this, I had an intersting revelation. I was having a terrible time trying to get rid of stuff. I was going through my shoes first. I have, well, way too many shoes. I used to have over 100 pairs, and I've managed to get rid of some over the years, but I was still looking at a walk-in closet filled with 80 pairs of shoes. Ridiculous. I wear maybe 10 of them. The rest I can't wear. They're too narrow or too high, hurt my feet and give me blisters. But I kept thinking, "well, maybe if I lose weight, I could wear these." Or I was thinking, "oh, I wore these at so-and-so's wedding, I have to keep them." We're talking about some shoes I have worn once in ten years! And I realized that part of why I hold onto stuff is because I create my identity out of things I own. Owning the red five-inch stillettos means that I am still (or might someday be) the kind of person who wears them. And I found as I went through the room that the same is true for all kinds of other stuff: clothes, lipsticks, nail polish, knick-knacks. I have this horrible fear that if I get rid of the stuff I don't use and don't really want right now, I am eliminating all the alternate possible lives and identities I might someday have (or have had in the past). And the thing is (this is getting relevant, just wait), I think maybe it's the same thing with the weight. Like, if I lose the weight, that means I change. Not just change how my body looks, but change my identity. I've identified myself as a fat girl for so long. Not being that means being...well, a different identity. And a changed identity is scary! I don't know what it means or what it's like. Being a new identoty comes with responsibility. If I become a thin, healthy person, that means I am the kind of person who works out every day, who skips the cake at weddings, who finds comfort in non-food ways. And I don't know who that person is or how to be her. It's scary because it's changing something more fundamental than what I eat for dinner: it's changing a major part of my identity.

A weight-loss counselor once told me that I was holding onto my weight as protection. I thought that was silly at the time: why would I hold onto something that makes me miserable? But now I think maybe there's something there. What we know is always easier than something new and unknown. Who we are, who we identify ourselves as, is enormously powerful and compelling. The change that identity, even if we know the change willbe good, is fundamentally frightening. The writer Bahnu Kapil once said, "The new gesture is more painful than the habitual gesture of pain." I think I'm starting to get that.

So what I want to do now is look at this. What are the habitual, familiar gestures I fall into? How do I create my identity? How can I overcome the fear that goes with releasing old identities?

And as my mom always says, "you must get rid of the lesser good to make room for the greater good."

So now I only own 50 pairs of shoes. It's a start.