Holly - I can totally relate to the emotional eating - I used to eat when I was hungry, tired, bored, etc, etc.. But I'm working on getting past that. My problem is avoiding all the treats that all my co-workers keep putting in the break room!

dakotamidnight- congrats on the loss! Sounds like you had a great week!

Annie - congrats on the 5 pounds!!!

Why must the scale tease me? I'm so addicted to it, but this morning when I got on it said I was 1.5 pounds down from Sunday...ALREADY?!?! Although, we'll see what it does this week, there's still a LONG week coming up!

I got 50 crunches in yesterday! And 50 the day before, so far my goal for the week is working! It's a pretty simple goal, but hey!

After today Hubby works for a week straight until Vacation...which means I'll have plenty of Gym time!! I feel guilty going when he's home because I never really get to spend tiem with him (he works 70 hours a week at his miserable job) so I usually settle for a 2 mile walk when he's home.

Holly, ((HUGS)) I totally understand your stress level, and I hope that things get better at home soon! I can see how that would make you emotion eat!! MMM! Maple corn!! I love that stuff, I've only had it once, but it was AMAZING!!

Annie, another 5 pounds?!? That's just amazing!! Just proves that WW really works when you stick to plan!! You're making me want to go back if only I could afford it!

Debbie, what a productive day!! Curves sounds like such a wonderful place! Everyone I talk to has amazing things to say about it... *sigh* We never get fun stuff here!! I hope your weigh in on the 7th pleasently surprises you!

Hello Everyone,
Well, the meeting last night with my TOPS area coordinator had to do with offering me a Area Chaptain position. It would require about 5-10 hrs of my time a month. I'm considering it but I really have to think about it. I'm one who takes on things all the time and doesn't leave anytime for myself.

Not only do I cover up my feelings with food, but sometimes I do it with things to do. Anyone else do that?

I would love some input on this decision I need to make.

I didn't get any exercise in last night except my ab work. Better than nothing. Tonight I will walk with my workout buddy and do some weight training. I've got to exercise 4 more times this week to get to the 5 day a week goal. I'm usually good at exercising but the past few weeks I've got out of the habit and I don't want that to become the norm. That's why I set that goal.

Food for today:
B=rice crispies, water
L-turkey and veggie wrap sand, handful of chips, 1 1/4 sugar cookie, water
D=No idea yet

I just want to get that written down do I remind myself to stay on track.

No time for personal's..except I want to give a big CONGRATS to Annie. Keep up the good work.

Oh, and Holly: I don't have children but I watch my sister-in-law struggle with the same issue with my nephew. I think that you just have to stay consistant with them and keep those guidelines in place. Eventually they will grow up and boundries is what helps them to do that so they learn to control theirself. Hang in there!

I hope you all don't mind if I join in with my last couple pounds to 199. I feel like I'm so close but so far away. It sounds weird, but I'm kind of scared to see that 199 on the scale, I haven't been that low in YEARS, it makes no sense to me why I would be kind of scared, but excited at the same time. Anyways, good luck to you all on the race to 199!!

Hi, I'm back in the race after a couple of pit stops and too much refueling . My new job has started, my vacation is over and I'm ready to re-focus. I will readjust my ticker this Sunday. I have gained a few pounds in the past few weeks, but I hope that a week without pizza and fast food will minimize the damage.

Haleys, congratulations on your success so far! I was down to 199 for about a day a few years ago, and I was delighted and pertified at the same time. But I didn't have a support network to get me over the hump, like I will this time.

Susie--you would be a wonderful Area Captain! I agree that busyness is sometimes just another way to avoid situations or hearing your own thoughts. If you think you'd enjoy the time you put into this, that's one thing, but if you think it will stress you out, maybe now isn't the time to take this on. Maybe the area coordinator can let you ease into the position, so that you can test it out before making the commitment.

Thanks so much to all of you for sharing yourselves on this thread.....I can't possibly catch up on the last week and a half's conversation, so here's a groups hugs to all of you: Now that life is settling down, I will be a more regular visitor.

Keep up the good work!

judy

Hey everyone!
I made it to curves again and even went an extra round. I wish I had good news about food...BUT
B- 2 slices of w-wheat toast with a dab of p-butter, and a orange.
L- roast w/ mashed potato and gravy, corn.
D- a sm piece of roast.
I difantly see room for improvement.

Judy: Welcome home. We missed you. Glad things are going well.

Haleys: Welcome, you will find all kinds of support here. Glad to have you here. What part of texas do you live in. I'm about 25 mls nw of ft worth in the country.

Susie: I agree with Judy, do what makes you happy about TOPS but I know you would do great.

LB: Your doing great! You really rock!

Have a great evening, If its cool enough I think I'll take a walk. Later

Hi Everyone....

Still hanging in here.....so hot here though! I didn't exercise on Sunday, went to the Twin Cities to pick up my boyfriend. Then on Monday I almost had an impromptu overnight trip...so packed to go and got in the car.....only to discover...the plan was off by a week, it is next Monday night.....luckily wasn't even out of town before the call came.....so ended up going out for dinner and a long harley ride! Very nice evening with the BF! So today I walked 3 miles outside. The new shoes are awesome.....my feet and legs get tired, not sore and full of blisters! Feels good! Tomorrow I will go to the Y and ride the bike and lift weights.

Judy...Welcome back!

Haley's....Welcome

Everyone.....keep on keeping on!

Lilybutt

I'm feeling a bit miserable today, I ate 1800 calories today I feel like I totally blew my day! I did do 30 minutes of cardio, and I will do at least an hour tomorrow (maybe 90 minutes) to make up for being bad.

My husband ordered pizza for dinner, he meant well, and I only ate 2 pieces and 2 breadsticks...but it was 1350 calories!!! (I just looked up all the nutritional value... and I about fell out of my chair!!) I just need to control myself more around food, and stand my ground when he's trying to convince me it's ok!!

Susie, What exactly is TOPS? If I were given the opportunity I would sign up for all those things!! (I love to volunteer my time, jump into projects and emerse myself in things to do! Unfortunatly around here, I'm yet to really make any friends or find any groups worth joining. Every time I try, I get a great big kick in the butt from my new "friends"...)

Haley, welcome to out group! You are so close, but I definately understand being a little scared!! How have you been losing your weight? Good ol' diet and exercise? Or something special?

Judy, Welcome back! I definately agree with you, this support system here is amazing!! I don't know that I could do it without these ladies!

Debbie, An extra round at Curves?! How awesome! As for your food choices, wow they look better than mine, even on a good day!! I'm cutting my calories and slowly, oh so slowly, switching to healthier foods...

Lily, Thank Goodness you realized before you got out of town! What a pain in the bum!! But at least you've got some kick butt new shoes and your walking bunches!

Judy, having a support network like this really does make a huge difference! I feel so lucky that I found this site with so many wonderful people.

Debbie, I'm from Houston, but I go to school in Austin.

LegallyBrunette, Yep good ol' diet and exercise. I've been sticking to about 1200 calories a day and 4-5 days a week of an hour on the elliptical with every other day doing strength training as well. I haven't exercised since last Thursday, blahh, but I'm definitely going tomorrow. I need to learn how to control myself around food, I'm fine when I'm by myself, but if my friends and I go out and they're eating badly, I eat badly too. I definitely need to change this! If you find any tips to change this, please let me know!!

Good morning everyone,
Just a quick hello. As soon as my dinner finishes cooking, I'll be out the door to curves. With dh working nites I cook in the am. I don't get home til after he leaves for work. This way he has at least 1 real meal a day. He just "nukes" it when he's ready.

Haley: If you every find a way to resist good food when you are out with friends
PLEASE! PLEASE! share it with all of us.
I sure don't have that kind of willpower.

Lily: My favorite thing in Minneapolis
is the Mall of America. I only got to send a few hours there, but I loved it.
Oh yeah! I love chicken and wild rice soup. I can't find anyone who has heard of it here. Great stuff. But nothing I love more than to ride my Harley.

LB: When we mess up all we can do is forgive ourselves, Learn from it and get right back on plan. You are doing great.
Just keep going.

Big (((HUGS))) Have a great day.

Hi all, just wanted to stop in and say hi! Tomorrow is the offical WI day - however I just WI on Monday since I was on vacation last week and forgot to WI before we left. I'm feeling pretty good today, I put on a pair of capris that I bought about a month ago, and I can now slide them off without unbuttoning them! That's always exciting. I haven't dung to the back of the closet yet for my "skinny" clothes, but I'm getting tempted to take out at least one pair of jeans just to test every so often.

LB - I'm with you on the scale, I step on it way too much. I also like to take my measurements to see where I am on that too - those numbers always make me feel good. Because sometimes even though the numbers on the scale are going down, it's just not noticable. yk?

HI Chicks!! Nice to see everyone here!!!

This is what has been eating me....
I had the most incredible talk last night with the woman who ran the parenting workshop at our school in June. She is a gifted teacher and therapist. We connected on a personal level and I asked her some questions about managing my personal life and she invited me to her home to talk. I was there til 12am. I went after doing Grandma’s hair.
I really wanted to find some answers and peace with my mixed feelings and changes in my relationship with my family of origin. I was given some great feedback that I think will help me sort through it.
I have been anxious abut DS and she gave insight on what we/I have been doing and I now realize I am on a good path with him.
We talked about my anxiousness about where this Avon business is going. I really need to have some clear ideas with it. It is soooo hard to balance the parts of my life. Obviously, for me, number one is my family. I also need to nurture the spirit in me that LOVES to run a business. It is good for my soul. It is what I do best and it feels great. There is a lot of opportunity for me.
I adore the kids I babysit and it is good steady income.
The bottom line is we need more income. Hubby put a major effort into making changes this past year and it didn’t pan out. H has a good employer now but no big bucks or benefits.
I need to figure out just how much I can do and I want to do. I am afraid of losing myself in the mix. But if running a business is being true to myself I wont get lost, right?
I dont need to do as much with school council and I can delegate more for Sunday school. I will ask hubby to help more with housework. That is the big thorn in my side. Again, we need the income for the kids to do the activities that are important to them and we have a bit of debt to clear up. He can do his part!
The woman last night is looking at making changes in her life and interestingly she wants to use her skills and develop a “centre” and has no ideas how to do it. She asked for my guidance to help her!! That is cool because I feel I will need her “therapy”.

Right now I am super tired and a little headachey and hot. Supposed to go up to 33C today again.
I have a loooong to do list. Feeling anxious about that too.

I need to: make several phone calls, go to the township office,make banana bread, feeze a mountain of green beans, fold laundry, take kids to bible school, sort and bag avon, get books ready to deliver, go to library, wash the kitchen floor, I have 2 extra kids today, make a double batch of spaghetti casserole for supper tonight- 1/2 for lunch for the bible school troupe tomorrow..............
Oh yeah, and love and nurture my kids, hubby and myself!! ( and the cats and rabbit)
Some days I think it is no wonder I am fat. No time or energy to take better care of it.
Lots to ponder and process today.

OH! I received a phonecall yesterday asking that I attend the Avon sales meeting Thursday evening because I am to receive an award!!!??? Yowza. What the heck??

Hello,
I'm using my lunch hour today to catch up on email, and the board.
I had a great workout last night. Walked for 30 min with my workout partner, then did upper body weight training. I went home and at dinner. When I got in bed with a magazine I relized that I hadn't done my ab work for the day, so I got out of bed and did it. I felt like that was a MAJOR accomplishment. There would have been a time when I thought "I'll just do it tomorrow" but I decided that tomorrow might not come so I did it then.

I will walk again tonight and hit the weight room for some lower body work.

Today's food:
B=rice crispies w/ milk, water
L=ham and cheese sand, handful of chips, 2 cookies (one would have been better), water,
D=(We have it planned) steak (from the grill)--I'm not a big meat eater so it will be a small piece), baked potato with butter, peas, water
Exercise=30 min walk, lower body weightraining, abs


Haley: It's nice to have you hear with us. You have done so well. I think it's normal to be afraid of something new. I know that I've worked so long and hard on my weight loss, I ofren wonder what I'll do when I get to where I want to be. Does that make sense?

Judy: Glad you are back! You will get back on track. Believe in yourself.

Debbie: How was Curves? You have been doing so well with getting there. I remember when you first started..look how far you have come!

LegBlo: Debbie is right...forgive yourself and move on!

Holly: I completley understand what you are going through with that thought process. I don't want to loose myself eithier in some things that I think seem like they are what I would love to do, but not sure if it will cause me more stress or not. I always tend to take on to much. Let us know what Avon award you get!

OK..time to get back to work. I do want to step outside so that I"m not in the building all day.

Susie

Happy Hump Day!!!

Another scorching day in Indianapolis! Shu weeee, however I don't care for snow and cold either. hmmmm, wonder why I stay in Indiana. Family, I suppose.

Legally B - You are doing a wonderful job on your crunches. Don't let one day of pizza bring you down. Jump back on the truck and go for the OP ride.

Susie - If TOPS is something you feel you really want to do and actually have time for, go for it, however only you can answer that question. Bravo for getting out of bed and doing your AB workout. I am with you, once in bed, it is easy to say heck with it.

Haleys - Welcome to a wonderful bunch of ladies. We all are very supportive, do please come back!

Best get busy, lunch 30 minutes is about up!

Have a sweet (not food) evening!

Annie

Judy - Welcome back, and good luck on the new job. New job, new journey, you can get right back in there and do this!

Holly - trading therapy, now that is an excellent idea.

Lilyb - a harley ride and a long walk with BF, how dreamy!

Kelly - Goodluck on your WI, let us know how it went.

somehow my close got in the middle of my post...