Ok - I got a quick post. All in all I did ok today, I did give in to 2 bags of cheez its -aaaaahhhhh, those darn chips, lol. But I still stayed in my calorie range. On a bad note, I was lazy as all **** today and didnt exercise and I am having some serious personel issues that got to me today. Its not going to throw me off track, I am too focused on that but it is making me very confused and little cranky at home. Im in a serious funk tonight, really sad. I know Ill get over it, I just dont like this feeling.

Oh well - sorry to be Donna Downer tonight, I dont know what has gotten into me. Maybe TOM is really kicking my butt this time around. HORMONES!

Lindy-- Whoo whoo...look at your cute pic-- love how sassy you look! YOU can fight through those temptations next time on those darn chips!! You are our motivator The WS is good-- but, I think it's more of the discipline it's teaching me to eat 6 times through out the day that is the most helpful!!

Tiff- Congrats on being over Tax Season! My sis in law is a cpa and she was totally crunched as well, I see how stressful it can be! I know now that you'll have less stress you'll be in the "2's" in NO time!

Burgundy- Thanks You go girl-- 10,000 steps is awesome!!! And I totally agree about having so much more energy the more you work out.

MyGrits- I too was a stress eater...ack, I hope I learn from past mistakes--- it's great that you recognized a weak moment and stopped snacking!

Well, I love that my body is changing-- I'm feeling so good! And I know that shows when I go out, compared to how I felt before. When it came to making eye contact with guys that I was interested in-- I'd quickly look away. But, last weekend I went out to a new bar with a friend of mine and it was my turn to not only make eye contact, but to also smile and make THEM blush before looking away first!... it was great! The dj even made me get up and sing several songs with him through out the night...(whom later asked me out).
So, it's definitely working on my confidence level with guys. Now I just have to start accepting a date now and again...right? Ha..one step at a time.

Lindy-Your picture is so pretty!! You look great!

Tiff- I'm glad you won't be so busy anymore! Good and bad, huh. I know when I'm busy I'm better with my diet.

It looks like everyone is doing soooo good. You are all so motivating to me. I start to feel like giving up and then I get on here and I'm like NO WAY! I won't relapse. I just can't. I'm going to start running and working out with my husband. He wants to get into better shape before he leaves in august. So, hopefully I will be too. I'm so close to being under 200. I can't believe I have been slacking like this! I can do it!!!!!

Nicole, I love your new photo too! It's funny, both you and Neesy have like almost the same facial expression in your photos. You like you're thinking "yeah, I know I'm hot!" haha.

Thanks back2basics for the positive words. I am sure I will get there soon. Today was a great day. Work is just completely turned 180, like everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and today everything was just so calm and quiet and easygoing. How one day change of the calender can change things so much!

Neesy, I am the complete opposite. When I am busy, I take every free second I have and just veg out, rather than do the things I need to do, like exercise, clean, cook food. So my house is a mess, I haven't been exercising, and I have been buying all of my meals. Not a good recipe for weight loss. But as of today, I still ate crap, but I ate WAY less crap. Breakfast was at work to celebrate the end of tax season, so I had a bunch of fruit and a bear claw (yeah, like I said, junk), lunch was a serving of potato chips (not baked either), and dinner was a mcChicken with ketchup only. So while I was probably within my calorie range, I was not winning any health prizes. Hopefully tomorrow I will eat less AND healthy. LOL. I have spinach in the fridge so maybe I will make one of my delicious salads. Eating spinach always kicks me in the health food direction, because it is just SO healthy it makes me want to eat everything healthy. Ok, I am rambling again...

The fiance wants to elope too. He has all along. I was pushing to have my family there. But, now I just don't care and want to get it over with. We are practically married anyways...lol.

Mygrits, yeah the house is super exciting and we just went out again tonight to look at things again. They have taken off the lock box, so they aren't even showing it anymore, so it really feels like ours now! We have been looking at furniture on craigslist and at cheap stores...and we bought a dining room table this weekend. My first adult dining room table! lol.

Ok, well everyone enjoy the rest of your nights!

I forgot something:

Neesy, I remember when you started this back in December and you said, so many times you have lost 20-30 lbs and then you give up and gain it back (I'm paraphrasing, obviously). You also said you felt like this time is different. The only thing stopping it from being different this time, is you. Blunt, I know. But you have to get through the mind games. That's all it is. You lose 20-30 lbs and feel great and get complacent. But just imagine how great you would feel if you took it all the way?!?! Stop even thinking about having those thoughts about giving up. Don't let them enter your mind. You can do this. You only have to do what you have already done 1.5 more times!!! Wow, it really sounded easy putting it that way! Haha, it doesn't work for me though. I have to do what I have already done almost 4 times more....eeek! You are the original founder of this group, and if ANY of us do it, it had better be you!

Maybe you could go back to our original thread and reread some of those threads from the first few months. You were SO motivated then and I think rereading them would help get that feeling back. Heck, I'm gonna go read them again!

Thanks everyone for the compliments on my pic, I took is yesterday and yes, you ALL are right, I do feel sassy and hot!!! LOL.

Tiff - I am soooooooooooooooooooo happy you are back in the game. People say I motivate them, well you motivate me and I love that you broke it down for Neesy (and Im sure she appreciates it too). I am so afraid to lose you guys or see you guys give up, I feel such a strong connection and I REALLY want all of us to succeed. I know we all have it in us and bathing suit season is just around the corner ladies!!! Now is the time to stay on track and beef up our game. WE CAN DO THIS!!!

I hope everything is ok with Maddiesmom. We have not heard from her in a while. Whats the matter Maddiesmom - are you scurred? (lol - thats mis-spelled on purpose). Im just messing. I hope Maddies feeling better and your doing ok.

One other thing - Back2Basics - congrats on the self confidence boost and gettin hit on by the DJ (remember the song that used to say "Im with the DJ"). LOL - its some sort of upbeat song. You should put that in your ipod or MP3 player to boost your spirits while exercising, that would be so funny. When Im exercising I LOVE to play "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas, Ill be on the treadmill lip singing "my lovely lady lumps", lol. IM SO FREAKIN CORNY.

Anyway - Im excited that you have that confidence. I definately have it too and Im pretty sure that I am going be full blown conceited once my journey is over, lol.

Wow! I've been gone for 2 pages...lots to catch up on, so this will be long....(deep breath)

Lindy - Woo Freakin Hoo!! ONEDERLAND...Congrats girl! Your new pic looks great. You look soooo different...sexy! LOL! And I so look forward to your posts, they make me smile! You are a confidence booster.

Burgundy - Great job on the walking! It's starting to warm up here, but I don't have anyone I can walk with. I'm hoping to change that or just work around it.

Neesy - How did it go with hubby doing his contract? Spend quality time with him for sure. Does he like going on walks? Maybe you could do double-duty on your exercise while with him. If he's interested in 'beefing up' before he goes in, the Hamilton Cty. parks have trails and some of them have Parcours fitness trails where you stop at fitness stations along the trail. (interested? site: greatparks.org) I also think Tiff got it right...for all of us.

Brown - Welcome. As you can see, we all push each other to be accountable and it works. Being in a new city has to be difficult. But after a while, it will feel like home here and you can always come in. Your 3 o'clock binge is my 5 o'clock binge..haha! One idea...mini-rice cakes. The apple cinnamon is like a dessert if you like sweets. The bar-b-q is awesome! You have to be careful just like with anything else, but it will hold you over till you can eat a real meal.

Sandy - 'Jillian'- that was great! And.... happy belated birthday! Hope you didn't end up with a sinus infection the other day. I just got over my 2nd and it just drains you. You seem kinda busy still. I know if sounds stupid (or at least when skinny girls say it), but are you forgetting to eat? Then that is why you snack in the evening? If it's just stress... I TOTALLY get it. But you did good yesterday and caught yourself.

Basics - Congrats on doing good at Easter. It's hard to step away from a food plan for a day and not go overboard. Was the DJ cute? LOL! That is awesome.

Tiff - Welcome back and congrats on the house! I love your idea for your wedding. I haven't really been anywhere, but I LOVE nature. My dream getaway is a cabin in the woods with hiking trails and a stream running next to it with no phone or tv. Maybe even a little rain from time to time while sitting on the porch in a rocker or swing reading and drinking coffee. Not exactly wedding material, I'm afraid-sorry. Sounds like Lindy is your best bet. And now that tax season is over, you can really think about what you are eating and what it can do for you (or to you).

Vicky - You out there? Hope all is OK with you. Just drop a line if you can. Hope you're dropping lbs, too!

Whew! OK, my turn..haha! Where to start..? Well, I ordered 2 pairs of walking shoes online and was so excited when they came 2 days later. I haven't had a good pair of shoes for almost 2 years...YIKES! One pair felt awesome in the heel and the other in the front cause of width. I have circulation problems with my left leg and shoes have to be wide enough for my foot and my compression stocking. So my friend and I go for a walk and I wear the first pair. We get 3 blocks away, and my foot starts cramping..the shoe isn't wide enough. So I limp home and as soon as I get in the door and take the shoes off, I break down bawling my eyes out. I mean, can't breath cause of my snotty nose and eyes so red you can't see the whites. That was the straw that broke this camel's back on top of all the family and work stress going on.

Last Saturday day and Monday at work, I kept getting the feeling that my heart was coming up through my throat and then would stop for a second, like I had to catch my breath. Monday it did it like 40 times, so I got a doc appt that day at lunch. I go to the doc's office..and break down bawling again! Sheesh! She did an EKG and it didn't show anything, so she believes it is stress. She said I have a lot (A LOT) going on now. So we discussed it and decided to up my 'happy pills' like I thought should be done. When I got back to work, the heart/throat thing happened like 40-50 more times, seriously. Since then, it's only been about 10 times and I started the higher dose that night. I told her how I'm trying to lose weight by eating right, try to get my butt moving AND quit smoking. She said I can do the patch with this med, so I'm starting tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

On a good note...I have been writing down all my food, no matter how bad it is and marking the calories, protein, fat, fiber and carbs. This has opened my eyes again. My pattern is-do good all day (hi-fiber oatmeal, yogurt, 2 fruits, healthy lunch, maybe mini-rice cakes), then starve on the way home, get something bad-and lots of it-gorge myself and feel miserable. But at least the good part of my day is having an effect. Today when I wore my jeans, they weren't as tight as usual.

And I am so happy with myself. I was craving beef stew (protein) the other night, which I've never made. I bought the meat and had the rest at home. Looked up a recipe and voila! I had freaking delicious, healthy food for 3 lunches! Yah! I can't believe it's so simple to make! I've also found a way to keep myself from snacking late at night. I drink crystal light strawberry/banana with fiber added. I sip it slowly, it's sweet and I feel full after cause of the fiber in it. It's awesome.

Well, it looks like I'm blabbing, but if I only write on the weekends, it's hard to catch up. I will make more of an effort to check in during the week. But it will have to be when I get home. We had a company meeting Thurs. and we were told there is a salary freeze. We saw it coming. Our insurance gets renewed in July and I guarantee that will go up, so I'll be making less money when I'm already strapped. I've gotta learn how to eat healthy for 1 on the cheap-like my yummy beef stew! I'm gonna get those 'green bags' for my fruits and veggies. I saw my supervisor using them and she said they do work and extend the life of the food. Then I won't be throwing expensive food out.

I'll check back later or tomorrow-at least that won't be as long...haha!

Woo hoo, I am rockin the past two days. I was almost on my way to eating crap last night and I looked at my photo on my blackberry and it totally made me cringe and I walked away. It's so amazing how better I feel after just two days!! I am less grouchy, have more confidence and see things with less bitterness. I forgot how this felt and how happy my body is thanking me for making good choices! The weekend is here and I will need to be strong...I usually way undereat - but I have my plan and ready to go. I have a birthday thing on Sunday and I will allow myself to have one beer and will eat before I go so I don't eat chicken wings! Also I have spread the word at work what I am doing and they won't let me be bad!! Lucky - can't wait to see you new photos!! And I can't wait to take mine in another few weeks!!

You guys are soooooo right. Tiff, you nailed it. There is definitely a trend with me. I definitely feel like I have another burst of energy. So I WILL NOT GIVE UP. Like you said, I get complacent. However, lately I don't feel good about myself at all. I don't feel like I look good. I definitely want and know I need to lose more. So.. that is different than what I use to do. I'm going to run some laps around this park down the street from me. It has a huge track. I think it's like a half mile long. I want to switch it up from just doing the gym.

I'm in this with you guys. I won't give up. I just can't let you all down! Thanks for all of your support. I'll say it again, I love you guys!!!!

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a great Friday and has an exciting weekend planned. First things first: tonight I went back to the gym for the first time in...gawd I have no idea...at least a month. So recently I read on here that someone walked/jogged a mile and it took them 22 minutes. They would never take 22 minutes again and each time they did it they would improve on their time, even if just a tiny bit. I have been really wanting to try that out. So the first machine I got on was the treadmill. My first mile took 16:50 and my second one took 15:50! I shaved a whole minute off! So, as of tonight I will never take more than 15:50 to walk/jog a mile. Only problem is that my ankle is kinda sore! Hopefully that goes away pretty quick. I hope I didn't push too hard. Jogging at 300lbs might not be the smartest idea ever...lol.

Second, today we had a wedding shower for one of the girls at work. Recipe for disaster? I think not! Of all the pizza and delicious chocolate cake, I limited myself to one piece of pizza and half a (large) piece of chocolate cake. I was completely satisfied and at the same time limited myself to a reasonable amount. For dinner, I had my AMAZING spinach salad that I had made for lunch. So today...I think I did pretty darn good. Only problem is that I am lacking protein. Oh wait! I had peanut butter on nutrigrain waffles this morning! That's protein. Yup, :atting myself on the back:: I am totally back in the game. I see my goal so close in the future!

Tomorrow is going to be a cleaning day since I have left my house a mess for too long. Oh and packing too! What I really need to do though is buy some clothes!! I have to wear a belt with all my pants now, and have resorted to buying dresses because I think they will fit longer than pants. It's kinda incredible though...I am still wearing this one pair of jeans that I wore at the very beginning of my weight loss. They are very loose around the waist now, but if I wear a belt, they still fit perfectly around the legs. They also have some stretch in them so maybe that explains it. But I jsut think I must have been wearing them WAY too tight at the beginning of this. Most of my other fat clothes have been donated though. I am also officially skinnier than my fiance has ever seen me. That feels pretty awesome. Plus, the whole time I was slacking and not losing, he was eating junk right with me, so he is still 10 lbs above me and he hasn't passed me yet (I'd cry if I weighed more than him).

So, enough about me...on to you guys:

Browneyedstaccie: way to go on rocking it. I know what a great feeling that is!

takeadeepbreath: we are glad you can at least catch up on the weekends. I am glad you got to a dr quick and got your problem situated and hopefully can get rid of those panic attacks (?) soon. That's really rotten about the shoes. Having to buy stuff online is one of the main reasons I want to lose weight sooo badly. I want to be able to go shopping with my skinny friends and try things on with them at all the stores they shop at. Not just have to look at the accessories!!! On a slightly related topic, I have pretty much told myself that I never want to buy another thing at Lane Bryant ever again. It is a fat girl store (no offense to anyone who shops there) and I don't want to be a fat girl anymore. I mean I am no where near being too small for their clothes...but it's just the idea of it. At least old navy and target have skinny people clothes and fat clothes...but Lane Bryant is ONLY fat clothes. I think I am being stubborn, but oh well. Plus if I really look at any of the clothes I bought there...I don't really like them. I only bought them because they fit and they (hopefully) made me look halfway decent. I want to wear cute clothes!!!!! I want to not have to order clothes online. I want to be able to choose from more than 5 different tops and 3 different bottoms in the plus-sized section. Fat clothes blow. Can I just be a stinking 14 already??? I know...I am sooooo far from that, but I can dream right?

OMG... I just realized I wrote a book. I am SOOOO sorry!

Brown - good plan for Sunday. Maybe I will try my pic on my phone.

I'm drinking my CL w/fiber. But I want to 'munch'...gggrrr! I won't though, cause it is getting late, and I've done so well today. And I'm remembering how my jeans felt today-NOT TIGHT. If I have to, I'll just go to bed. I could use the sleep anyway.

Yay!!! Go Neesy! Just don't hurt your ankle like stupid me!

Lindy: Thanks for telling me I am motivational...I really do try. I now I need my pep talks every now and then, and I know you guys have been there for me, so I try to do the same. Even when I am doing great, you guys are there cheering me on, and it just reinforces that I am doing the right thing and makes me want to do more. I know sometimes I can get a little self-involved and talk about me, me, me...but I really do try and focus on giving that motivation right back.

Brown-you are right, tomorrow is a new day, so you ate the chips, you cant change it now, so just take different steps tomorrow and stay away from the binge foods. I felt the same way when I posted my before pics, they were horrible. I still dont like to look at them. Good job not eating crappy foods, the pics are a great motivator.

Mygrits-we ended up just making hamburgers and hotdogs, no BBQ chicken. I had one hotdog, no bun, dont like the buns.

Tiff-glad you are back to posting regularly. Glad to see everything is going good with the house. You can get to your minigoal of 299, just dont push yourself too hard and hurt your ankle more. Savannah would be a nice place to go, never been there but want to so bad. Lindy had a lot of nice ideas. I dont have many, we always go to the same places on vacation. I told my husband for our anniversary next month I want to go somewhere we have never been.

Lindy-cheezits, yum, I love them but never buy them or I would eat them all the time. At least you were in your calorie range. You pic is so pretty.

Basics-Way to go with the confidence, did you go out with the DJ?

Neesy-you cant give up, I am glad you arent and that tiff gave you a little pep. You have come this far, dont just throw it away.

Kelly-glad you got to the doc right away. Hopefully upping the happy pills will make it go away. Too bad KY isnt closer so we could walk. I have a few people to walk with but not everyday. Too bad about the shoes, hopefully you can find some that work for you so you can walk. I wish I would write down everything I eat but I just cant seem to keep it up once I start. I do better just counting cals.

OK now me, I walked again today and got in 6500 steps. I want to make it to 10000, but that is a lot of steps. I did good all day, then a friend asked me to go out with her tonight. We went to dinner and I had fajitas, but didnt even eat half and brought the rest home. Then we went to the movies and of course I got popcorn, but only ate a tiny bit. So tomorrow, I will have to drink a lot of water and get all the salt out of my system. I am gonna stay home tomorrow and clean my house. My husband is gone to a convention today and tomorrow so I am all alone so I can clean without him being in the way. Glad to see some more activity here. Have a great night everyone.
Allison

OH- I AM SO EXCITED!!!! You guys are so active again, YAY!!! Whew...I thought I was losing you all.

Takeadeepbreath - I am so sorry to hear about your health scare, Im glad its something that is controllable and that the doctor was able to diagnose you quickly. You know, in December something very strange happened to me that I am ready to share with you guys. At some point around Christmas I was stressing big time about health issues, not just with me but with family members, and financials and just other things and general and felt like I was on the verge on having a mental breakdown, I mean seriously, it was sooooo bad. I cried for like a week straight and couldnt get out my emotions without flipping out, its was just crazy. Anyway, I debated on going on anti-depressents. I had been on them once before but was just so adament about not going back on them, so I went to my doctor. He told me that if I really did not want to go them that I needed to make some changes. First he suggested Yoga, I wasnt exactly the biggest fan but I bought a at home Yoga DVD, it kinda worked (temporarily), he also suggested that I really try to exercise, not for weight loss but to getmy endorphines moving and to releave stress. Ironically enought after about a month, I changed, I felt better and my stress level went down even though everything I was stressing about still existed. My point is - have you tried a regular routine for exercise? I know...I know....it really sounds crazy but reading your post, it really tugged on my heart strings because I can totally relate. Anyway - about the shoes. Ahhhh....dont you hate when you buy something and it doesnt fit?! Are you able to return the shoes? One other thing, do you have the beef stew recipe? I LOVE me some beef stew. I know you can find pretty much any recipe online but its always nice when you know someone else tried it (and its healthy).

Brown - you rockstar you!!! Haha. Good job on self control. Sometimes if its late at night and Im hungry, I go to sleep and try to sleep off my craving, even if its not necessarily my bed time. So weird but it works.

Neesy - great idea about the track by your house. Its funny because you guys up north, your weather is just starting to get nice enough that you can go out and do outdoor walks and stuff and here in Florida, within another month, its going to be so flippin hot, I think Ill be going to the gym everyday just to walk on the treadmill because it will be too hot to do my 2 mile walks outside. I guess you weigh the good with the bad wherever you live. I hope you got out there. Good job! Im sorry your not feeling so nice these days, I know, we all go through it. But know this - YOUR ARE ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! You were beautiful before and look even more stellar now with your weight loss and with a few more pounds (when I say few...I mean your goal), you'll be a knock out, I mean seriously, you'll be conceited because you KNOW how smokin you are. Just keep that in mind. Deep down you know it, I think maybe, your mind is just racing with your hubby joining the military and that may havew you down, even though you and him both know its a good thing, its a big change and that can change anyones mood. Keep up with your diet and exercise. Sitting there just thinking about it isnt going to make you feel better, doing it and reaching your goal is what is going to make you feel awesome.

Tiff-oh-tiff, Im so glad your back. You and your "me,me,me" post. Haha. I love when all of you write novels. Its boring to read and re-read all the time "you can do it", "keep your eye on the prize" type posts. DOnt get me wrong, there inspirational but its the funny stories, the day to day stories that make this group so close and so interesting. AND enjoyable to come and read every day. Good job at work yesterday. Tomorrow is my weekly family gathering and were having Italian.....mmmmmmm......my favorite. I am going to indulge but try to eat in moderation. Sunday is definately my cheat day. I too am trying to do what you are doing as far as time at the gym. When I started looking into doing marathons (not even close yet), thats one of things my neighbor told me, he said that I needed to record my time each day and try to improve it by seconds every couple days. Sounds like your on the right track. I can also realte with not wanting to be heavier than your husband. Its funny, my hubby looks a lot heavier than he really is, he has a big oh belly, lol, but he weighs 186 and it is so depressing to weigh more than him and everytime he goes on his tangents about me being obsessed with losing weight I just point out to him that it is so frustrating to have your husband weigh more than you and he kinda gets quiet.

Burgundy - I am having a cleaning day today too, I just have to get off my butt and tell myself that. LOL. I also am retaining some major water because I went to the gym twice yesterday and both times I did not drink ANY water...dumb....so now my body is retaining major water today so I have to keep on drinking up and running to the bathroom every 10 seconds so that I can see some sort of results on the scale tomorrow. Fingers crosses.

Ill check in later if I have time (Im sure I will). Take care.