Good Morning!
I am in a throwing out mood today. I think it started when I reminded myself that I am a mom not a food garbage disposal! My big garbage can is full of things I wasn't sure if I should keep or not. NOT is winning!
Betsy good job on only gaining a pound. I will weigh tomorrow as I was not that brave this morning. Bill should join you on this journey. I would love to come along. Cosco and party trays sound like fun. The crowds not so much.
Was planning on a quiet day and reading my book but the phone just rang and visitors are coming.
Have a peaceful day!

Hey all

Quick check in then I'm passing out for the night. Today...well now yesterday (26th) was my 28th birthday. DH and I made it up to VA quite alright...everything is good. Started my TOM on Christmas Eve and I've been bloated ever since. I didn't bother weighing myself before I left home because I didn't want to be disapointed. I did well at my gmas last night and shouldn't have really gained anything. I'm sure though if I got
on the scale I'd show a gain because of all the bloating. I'm hoping this trip isn't too hard on the diet front. My FIL has been really good with asking things I can and can't eat so I don't mess up my diet. I think for breakfast I'm going to have just eggs and fruit.

Anyway I'm pretty tired and need to be up by 8 so I'm off to bed.

Good Morning!
Happy Birthday Sam! Bravo for staying on plan and having the brains to not weigh because TOM is nothing but a mind game.
Yesterday was a good on plan day. Getting my head back on straight. Well as straight as is possible.
Have a peaceful day.

Happy Birthday SAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning because my back was hurting. So far today my mom,Scott and I went to both Walmart and Dillions. I'm about to do my 40 min. Chair Exercises and then I'll do my 40 min. Evening chair exercises also and thats it. Mom's over her sickness, It was just a 24 hour bug. So I'm glad she's over her sickness.

Hey everyone!

Got to see my dad's side of the family today. It was really good to catch up with them. I don't get to see them but once a year if I'm lucky to. My 91 year old great aunt was there and I haven't seen her since I was 14. She looked great for 91 so looks like I have some good genes to look forward to.

On the diet front everything has been good. I did eat a sweet treaty cousin made...its like something similar to puppy chow but they call it trash lol..I only ate about 1/2 a cup of it so I didn't feel too bad about it. DH just left to go pick us up some salads from the local italian restaurant. His dad doesn't have much I can eat so he offered to go buy me a salad so I didn't have to go eat ham.

Tomorrow we are driving up to West Virginia to see his granny...I think I said before that she wasn't doing well so he wanted to see her and make peace that she probably won't make it another year much less many months. I'm hoping on Monday we can head back to VA and spend a day in Roanoke before we come home but I guess we'll have to see.

Anyway I'm off to shower and get in my pjs...not a whole lot to do up here lol. Night everyone!

Hello everyone!
I just joined this website and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Julia. I'm a 27 year old woman currently weighing in in the 300s. I'm recently separated and taking up the weight loos torch again. The last couple of years were all about my partner and now it's time for me to focus on me again and loosing weight is that one goal I must accomplish. This group seems like an amazing place to get some support while I go through this journey and I hope to get to know you all well.

Good Morning!
Welcome Julia! Mind if I ask what plan you are following?
Sam they call it trash for a reason. Just like junk food. Glad you were able to stop at 1/2 a cup. Proud of you for staying on plan and posting! Enjoy yourself and have safe travels!
Terra why is your back hurting? Did you buy anything shopping?

I had a 4 pound whoosh last night which is strange for me. I am back to my before Christmas weight. I'm not going to make my 10 down by New Years especially since we will be going out to eat that night.
I've been reading the book Fi has been telling us about. I am only a few pages in and have stopped to work on the hungry/fullness body awareness. Yikes! Yesterday afternoon I thought I was hungry when at different times I was thirsty, upset, tired, nothing too mind blowing there but when I confused hunger for mild physical pain and being cold I knew I had come across a big break through. Thanks Fi! I would NEVER had realized that on my own.
Have a peaceful day!

Christmas turned out not to be the day I expected as my uncle passed away unexpectedly which resulted in my sister, daughter and I throwing the presents in the car and running home to Pennsylvania to be with family. I forgot my IP products, my IP food tracker and didnt pack any clothes besides sweats and tshirts. Now Im back in Virginia to pack a real suitcase and the family is going to head to Florida this week where my uncle will be buried. Needless to say I don't expect to meet my new years goal but atleast I can get back OP today. I can only imagine what the scale will say tomorrow at my WI although I am going to drink as much water as possible to begin flushing my system I really dont want to see the scale tomorrow.

Good morning. Whew! Since I'm not a big New Year's celebrant, the holiday season is over for me, and I can start getting things back to what passes for normal around here. The decorations are coming down today and tomorrow I start tackling the garage which has become ridiculously crammed with stuff that needs to be sorted and either donated or trashed.

Ubee -- Congrats on both your whoosh and on learning to read your body signals. This would be a lot easier if we just had internal traffic signals that lit up red when it was an emotional or some other demand for food and green for when it was a yes, you need to eat. I've got to get 3 pounds that appeared this morning back off to keep the 10 for the month off.

Sam -- Happy Belated Birthday. Sounds like you're having a good trip and love that people are working with you to make sure that you get what you want/need to stay on plan. You will have covered a lot of territory by the time you get home.

Terra -- Hope that backache is better. It's hard to do any movement when your back is hurting. Glad your mom is feeling better, too.

Julia -- Welcome to the group. It is a friendly and supportive group. We're all on different approaches to losing weight but with a common goal of getting it off and keeping it off. Some of us are much more successful at this than others, but this group of wonderful people help those of us on the less successful end of the spectrum (that would be moi) from gaining it all back.

Tami -- Wow -- Sounds like a really hectic and emotional way to spend Christmas and the days after. I'm so sorry about your uncle's passing.

The Costco and grocery store trips weren't too bad crowd wise, the trip down to Portland was fun -- just a lot of driving in driving rain. There are several college age kids in the family so we left most of the food for them to take home with them and they seemed happy with that.

Any resolutions for the new year yet? I'm trying to think up ones that will address my bad and recurring eating habits as opposed to the generic one of "lose weight." Better get started on taking the decorations down. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Hello my lovely chicken friends.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas? And here we are nearly in 2015......how on EARTH did that happen?
I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but I have a feeling that this year is going to be very special. I can't tell you why I feel like that but I think it is partly to do with the therapy .I turn 50 in 21 months time ( and yes I am counting!) and I have been doing some research into 2nd careers and what have you. I think my "scrap heap " mentality has started to retreat and I am feeling like life may begin at 48 and a quarter!
I have finally come in to the 21st century and have a Pinterest account ....how have I missed this?? It is like a scrap book with access to the biggest library in the world!
Am slowly getting back on track food wise and as my chest has improved have taken the dogs out despite it being -4 today (that is incredibly cold for us!)
If you have never seen the film "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" ....watch it! We sat and watched it and it made me laugh and cry and feel positive at the end....quite a movie. It has a whole raft of famous British actors in it.
Well I am off to do some writing........I am making a stab at getting published.
Love and hugs from Wales.
Donna

Good Morning!
Donna my husband just recorded that movie last night. I am looking forward to watching it. Yes, this next year is full of promise as we all continue to bloom and grow! I am glad you are feeling better. Mind going into more detail on the scrap heap comment?
Betsy good job giving the leftovers away. Hope you are back on the straight and narrow and those 3 pounds whoosh away. No resolutions but I am determined to take better care of my whole self and to put my husband, daughters and myself first. Sometimes I can be too good for my own good.
Tami sending prayers your way.

From the DUH! world. I just found out that my stomach is the size of my fist. I thought it was the size of a cantaloupe. This knowledge is helping me to see portion control in a whole new light. Did you all know this??? This just blows my mind how much I have been stretching it every single time I ate.
Have a peaceful day!

Good morning all. Another cold, wet day here, but not as cold as Donna has been experiencing so guess I don't get to complain (too much!).

Donna -- Loved your post and what a great way to be thinking about what's in the future for you. Your writing here is always great -- lots of insight and humor so go for it and enjoy. I still don't have an Pinterest account.....knew it was out there, but I'm trying to cut down on my computer time and it looked like for someone like me who can find something interesting on the back of a ketchup bottle, I feared I'd fall in and never come out. Thanks for the movie recommendation. I love British movies and TV -- they actually have a plot that isn't dependent upon shooting everyone within a 5 mile range and there doesn't seem to be the gratuitous sex just to get a higher rating. Man, that sounded old maidish even to me!

Ubee -- The size of a fist. I knew that. I've chosen to ignore it and it certainly explains why I feel as though there's a person inside me pushing in twenty directions when I overeat. I need portion control in so many areas of my life. I wonder how one does portion control on these little projects around the house that I start and then don't want to finish! There seems to be a trend here.

Off to the gym. I got all the decorations down and put away yesterday and balanced the check book. Today I'm going to dust, vacuum, and take a swipe at the bathrooms. Oh yeah, got the sheets changed and that reminds me that I never moved the sheets from the washer to the dryer. I'm so glad all of the holiday meals are finito -- I'm actually ready to just eat my regular food again. Hope everyone has a great day.

I finally jumped on the scale after denial and avoiding it for quite a long time. I fell into a horrible depressive episode and basically laid in bed, eating and watching TV. I weighed in at the doctor's today at exactly 300 pounds, so I'm popping over here for some support to deal with this weight. It's nice to meet you all and I look forward to working with you!

Hello ladies,

I tend to be more of an everyday lurker than an everyday poster. Just don't have a lot of interesting things to say usually. I am on week 8 of my extended atkins induction and feeling fab and seeing results. My bf leaves at the end of this week for a three week trip home to Ghana and the UK before returning to China. When he comes back at the end of January we leave for our one month vacation in Texas and our cruise to the Caribbean which we are so excited about. Other than that, you know me, as a teacher just busy as a bee. Preparing students right now for end term exams next week. Hope to see progress since I took over their classes 7 weeks ago from someone who was not teaching the right syllabus to them. Other than that, that's all that is happening here. Since i'm doing my extended induction and I'm in China food choices are even more limited than in the USA, however, I'm doing ok and feeling good. Nothing to really report about. I'm down 28lbs in the past 7 weeks and two of those weeks I was sick with food poisoning where I lost/gained/relost about 11lbs. I'm just now back to where I was 5 weeks ago with weight loss so ready to see the drop continue. On a non scale victory, everyone at works knows I'm on my WOE and I get comments everyday about how great I'm looking or that they can see a difference which makes me feel good. I'm excited to see what I can do in the next 4 weeks to surprise the bf when he comes home.

Wishing everyone a good on plan day and a solid end to the year.

Hi everyone
Ubee...remember I mentioned how old and kinda useless I felt having had to give up work because of my chest and my Bipolar Disorder? My DH also kept mentioning how I had "retired" and at 48 that sent all sorts of negative messages to my rather sensitive brain. Add that to the fact that I haven't had a period in almost a year (though I had been diagnosed with PCOS so it may not be ......you know......MENOPAUSE!!) As the one thing I knew I was good at was being a Physiotherapist I am only just finding out what else I may be good at and enjoy. Well it turns out that second careers and usefulness do not wither and die when one hits 50 and my maturity (age wise anyway!) may be an advantage!

Betsy....Pinterest is a bit addictive but I have found a load of info and links to site that I may not have otherwise found so I justify it that way!
TOgden...so sorry for your loss. There is plenty of opportunity to find your way back when life returns to normal. Grieve for your uncle and attack the scale when it feels right!

Julia...welcome to this group......feel free to ask anything......I usually do!

Shan....so lovely to hear from you. You have been so poorly with food poisoning I hope you are getting your strength back.

Am I the only one who needs a few days to start cutting back and introducing better food choices? I have never been one who binges "the night before the diet" I find I get too many headaches and feel really sick if I try to go from binge-healthy choice all at once. DH has put on quite a few pounds over the last few months so is joining me. No doubt he will lose the 40 extra pounds in 10 days and be done with it!
Walked the dogs for the third consecutive day. If I sound like a bad doggy Mummy we have a large garden that they run around in every day chasing each other so the dog walking is as much for me as it is for them and is always a good barometer of how I am feeling.
Had a session with my therapist today. It is really hard work but we are doing imagery when I go back to bad events and sort of rewrite them. It works on the theory that the brain can modify its pathways......absolutely fascinating and is starting to help.
Fi....are you OK?

Have a great Day
Donna