Karen,

You look absolutely FABULOUS !!! Today when I went to WI I looked at my before picture stapled in my folder taken back in February and 35 pounds heavier, and I too was so surprised how different I looked! Keep up the great work. "One of the few pictures I have taken in a while" Genell

Hey Karen u look awsome, such a big difference. U are giving me motuvation since today has been hard for me not to go OP.

Hello all! Just checking in to see how everyone is doing. It has been hard staying op today (my daughter cooked brownies). I'm still in green menu and skipping the rest of the bluemenu, but I am lossing according to my scale!

Fiftieslady, I tried the pancakes from the recipe thread and they turned out a mess. I think I'm gonna do the french toast tomorrow as well.

Well wishe me. Luck, my son's b-day party tomorrow. I'm gonna be strong and resist the cake, LOL! Have a good ON PLAN weekend everyone.

Yesterday was WI...and it was a good thing because you would never believe what I had to deal with at work. Thursday was pot luck for the office staff, which smelled so good while I sat at my desk and ate a lettuce salad with a boiled egg and cheese with very little dressing. YUMMY!!! Someone in the morning even brought a dozen doughnuts in and they sat by the check out board next to this big bowl of chocolate with little candy bars and all sorts of chocolate goodies. This sits there everyday and is always getting refilled by staff. But since I have started MRC, I walk pass it without putting my hand in the bowl. Yesterday, some of the doughnuts were still there, along with two containers of Elieen's Fresh Baked Cookies, trail mix which were left over from the pot luck yesterday. I went downstairs to refill my water jug and there were homemade white chocolate brownies with frosting, chips and doughnut holes. TALK ABOUT WILL POWER!!!! You know, if I wasn't dieting, I probably would have gained a good 5 pounds just from tasting all that was there....I am so proud of myself....someone was testing me!!! But let me tell you....it was ****!!!

Eileen's cookies are so good i am from hastings, where Eileen's got its start!

i weighed in today and was down another 4 pounds, so 8 altogether! and this is only day 7. however, i weighed in the morning today, whereas i usually weigh in the evening, so i'm hoping it won't make a huge difference when i go to weigh in next. and also today i ate some things that were probably fine but still feel like maybe they weren't quite OP, so hopefully i didn't do any damage, eek! tomorrow and the next few days, i will be sure to be extra-clean.

lookin' awesome, karen!

Hey everyone---Well, I went to my center last Monday and they let me come back and gave me the 12 weeks I hadn't used when I quit. I didn't have to pay a dime !!!!! I was on pre-conditioning until this past Thursday when I started the program. As of this morning, I had lost 7 lbs just since Thursday!
I feel so much better knowing that that number is going to be getting bigger and bigger in the weeks/months to come.

Does anyone have trouble drinking all the water? I am not much of a drinker of anything, I am rarely thirsty so I forget to drink a lot of the time except for meals....I have tried new water bottles, measuring out the amount I need for the day and trying to get to the end of the pitcher, etc...I work in health care so we are not allowed to keep water in sight. I am thinking about trying to drink 8 oz between each patient and maybe I will meet my quota, the problem is I get busy and forget, then I have a ton of water to drink at night! Let me know if there are others that have or had this problem! Thanks

Thank You so much everyone for all the great comments and support :0)

Fifties lady, I am honored to be an inspiration to you. I remember when I had first started MRC I too found people here inspiring, especially those with goals similar to mine and that is exactly what has helped me get this far so I am delighted if I can be that for you too. You can do this FL, the key is to just stick to it. BTW, I am really impressed with your resilience in the workplace, is that a common spread of food around your place or was this just an unusual day in the office?? I am so proud of you for walking by all those goodies, it's hard but will be so worth it... While everyone else is scarfing them down you'll be quietly eating the foods you know will get you to goal and a few mo. from know they'll be so surprised and wonder how you did it ... WAY TO GO!!

Genell,
I never did like to take pics either... most of my adult life I have deleted pics that involved me (the joys of digital cameras) if it involved more than my shoulders up so sadly we do not have alot of pics with me in them. Apparently my hubby has been stashing some for just this opportunity. He had to fish around to find a before pic of me but managed to find one. Anyways, DH has been bugging me for a 2 yrs to get family pics done and I kept putting it off but I finally feel comfortable enough to go for it. One of my many reasons to lose this weight was exactly this, so I no longer have to hide from the camera at family functions, in family pics etc. I was tired of being ashamed of myself on the outside. I'm not exactly jumping into photo ops yet but at least I'm willing to let someone take a pic for memory sake!! Another goal accomplished on my goal list, quite a few more left to keep me going :0)

Lmickley... I love to bake and was in a baking mood this weekend so we've been baking away. My daughter starts back to school tomorrow and we're making CC cookies for the class and realized it is hard to bake w/o eating your creations or taking little bites, licks and tastes (BLT's). All of your comments reminded me I can do it. :0)

Nomoreexcuses,
That is wonderful! What a great thing for them to do for you and I am so very happy for you... You are doing so great, 7 lbs since Thursday is awesome!! You are well on your way!


Hey loveamy,
I'm in a similar predicament... I work with a nurse that has a 72 oz bubba keg from walmart, fills it up each am and drinks that throughout the day. It's in a very secure container and she sips on it throughout the day so I'm thinking of getting this as well. We are allowed to have water in our workspace but if you're not, maybe get a paper cup and like you said, drink 8 oz every other pt or 4 oz between each pt. Good luck :0)

I can totally understand how you are feeling about the junk food all around you. Since I began, there has been excursions & nights where the family had pizza, Dairy Queen, cupcakes, cake, or some other treat that I would just love to take a bite of. I am looking forward to the day when I can have a bite and it not throw me into a tailspin. Let's keep up the willpower wall and hope that the stones are little pebbles and not huge boulders.

Karen1234,
You look awsome. Keep up the hard work, it is so worth it.


Started MRC 5/9/09

Good evening, everyone! I recently signed the 50-pound board but have since gained about 4 pounds. Yes, I have been cheating because I seem to have lost my will power. I still have almost 40 pounds left to reach my goal weight. Any suggestions on maintaining the will power at this stage?

Karen,
You look fantastic!!! Keep up the great work!

I weighed in on Saturday and was down another 3.5 lbs. I'm 1.5 lbs. away from the 20 lb board. So for reasons beyond my understanding, I went out with a friend to Carrabba's. Needless to say, I ate everything that wasn't on my green menu...LOL. I woke up feeling so ashamed of myself. Getting back on the wagon was definitely not a problem this morning; the guilt has nearly killed me.

Oh well...back on plan and moving forward!

I know exactly how you feel, after losing 40lbs I went on an overseas vacation for 6 weeks and ate completely off plan, gaining 7 pounds back...I had no will power to even consider trying to stay on plan during the trip...As soon as I got back from my trip I began again ready to go round 2 and feel very much in control. I still have 40+ pounds to go and having a little break was all that I needed, before I went on vacation I was struggling weekly to stay on program, I was just burnt out. It is different for everyone, but now I am just as motivated as I was when I began the program during round 1.

P.S. you are from NWA, so am I, I attend the Fayetteville center, and have to say during my 6 week vacation, they have had a big turnover in counselors, or maybe it is just different working schedules, but I do miss seeing my favorite counselors.

I don't know if this will help you in staying focused, but I took out pictures that have been taken of me in the past (my skinny days) and a few of the very rare recent pictures (my fat years) and compared them and decided that I liked and wanted to be ME, the one before I gained all this weight, and I keep them posted on my fridge!

I hope everyone had a great OP weekend. I did really well except I had two bites of my son's b-day cake yesterday. I got on the scale this morning (exactly 193) and the same as yesterday. So I did not gain from it. I am going to try to WI today and see what my offical MRC weight is. Have a great day everyone!