well done Xena, what a loss!! You go girl!

Well done Jilly too - staying OP like its becoming a habit!! Well done u!

Hey dogpal, impressed by your exercising habits!!

My 3rd day completely OP, yay! Only eating when hungry, stopping when satisfied, sounds simple, but oh no!!

Em x

Hello All,

Oh boy I didn’t think I would ever get chance to post today. Have you ever heard the saying busy doing nothing, that’s what I feel like today has been like. I don’t seem to have had much time for anything, but have nothing to show for it, well except for a sorted out wardrobe lol. But anyway here I am…..

Patti - thanks for asking where I was and hoping I am ok.. I am ok, but as I said above, I just seem so busy doing nothing lol. How is your leg now? More to the point how are you feeling with the blues about your weight gain. Try not to let it bring you down. You already lost 2 of those nasty lbs, it won’t be long til the others follow!

Heather - isn’t it bliss when the kids go back to school, it’s so great to get back to routine. My two go back on Monday and Tuesday next week. I have loved the holidays, but when I can get back to my routine especially with my exercise I will be breathing a sigh of relief. How did the job hunt go?

Heather (Wyllen) - Thanks for your words about me being back OP. I knew I HAD to get straight back on track after the holidays because I have so far still to go on my weight loss journey. I think maybe you are having difficulty with getting back OP 100% perhaps because you have lost so much weight already. I don’t know about you, but when I as at my highest weight the way it disabled me scared me so much that I knew I had to diet or die. Those feelings are still fresh in my mind because I still have at least another 70 lbs to lose. I should think you are feeling fit and healthy, and hopefully like what you see in the mirror, so those urgent feelings to shift the weight aren’t as strong for you. Still all that said, I am sure when you are ready to be OP 100% you will find the struggle goes. I have every faith in you! You are taking those baby steps and you aren’t giving up, that’s what counts

Melissa - that’s great that you made the decision about the move to Dallas. I hope the packing and the move itself isn’t too stressful and that even if you can’t concentrate on losing weight that you will be able to maintain at the weight you are

Lilion - it does look funny to see somebody say they are looking forward to being overweight. But of course that’s what we all strive for on our journey onwards to normality. So I look forward to having our virtual party when we reach 100 lbs lost and then when you reach you hit overweight it will be another reason to party. I have no idea when I will get there, I will have to check out some web sites for the answers

Em - wow 4 lbs over Christmas is fabulous well done!! A couple of weeks and that will be gone So how are you doing with the Paul McKenna thing? I bought that book a couple of years ago. Diet wise it didn’t help me, but listening to the CD was brilliant for sending me off to sleep He definitely has a great voice for that! I hope the whole thing works good for you on the diet front, keep us posted.

Ziggy - good to see you post, hope your New Year will be a wonderful one.

Annie - YES I am right this IS going to be your year, no doubt about it! As for the 50 sit ups on the bed, I don’t know whether to applaud you or yell at you!! PLEASE don’t do anything unless you run it by the PT guy, I worry that you are going to end up doing more damage than good

Michelle - glad to hear that although you have been feeling blue for a few weeks that you have realised what you need to lift your spirits. Sounds like a good plan to me that you want to maintain but want to keep up with the walking if nothing else until you have moved and settled in your new place. Just having something to aim for certainly helps make you feel in control which has to lift your spirits

Catherine - I have sat here to try to put into words what I want to say about your post about your miscarriages, and I just can’t put it down right. So just let me give you lots of Don’t be so hard on yourself!

Sandy - how’s the leg today, I hope it didn’t stop you from getting your work out on the Gazelle. I am quite looking forward to starting back on mine on Monday!

Luan - great advice about going to the gym. Daren and I are biting the bullet and are going to sign up for one by the end of this month. We both really need to go!

MonaLisa - have you thought of something to do with your hands when they feel empty because they aren’t holding food? Shame that you are at work when you get those feelings, if you were at home I’d advise you to take up knitting, or cross stitch, anything to keep your mind and hands busy. I guess by coming here you are doing one thing to keep both occupied lol, you will have to post more often

Brenda - good for you for passing up on the cake. What kind was it? I love cake, don’t know if I could have passed it up, so to you.

Valerie - I am 100% certain that this time next year when you are posting here it will be just to keep in touch and to support others on their weight loss journeys. I figure that you yourself will have reached your goal or if not, you will be so close to it.

Xena - WOW what a fab weight loss you had at your WI today you must be so thrilled. Watch that ticker move down from here on in

Thanks for sharing what your team leader shared with you. They should make that into a fridge magnet!

Sharon - glad to see your post, I thought you might have fallen off the planet. Though I did get your MSN message earlier Glad to hear that the lb you thought you gained was down to TOM turning up. I bet you will lose a good few lbs by the next time you weigh. Have you changed your WI to a Thursday now then, or did you just weigh early?

Jill - I love Eeyore too, I had a cuddly one and a pen with an Eeyore topper on it as gifts this year Not for Christmas, just gifts.

Sorry about you getting pulled over by the cops and wrongly accused of speeding. You will have your day in court and I am sure you will get the charges dropped. Like you said, had you been speeding you would have known it and owned up to it

Well done on the weight loss. Seems a lot here are making such great starts with the weight loss this year.

Well I have a busy, genuinely busy out of the house kind of busy, day tomorrow lol. So I shall finish up now. I don’t know if I will get chance to post tomorrow, but if not I will try to catch up on the weekend. Take care all and happy WI to all who are due a weigh in.

Hugs,

Ammi

I am sticking around work awhile longer because I have a counseling session at 7:15 and I don’t want to leave yet. I will work backwards up the posts and see how many people I can get to. It has been so long since I have done personals. I feel so out of touch!

EmilyMay – Congrats on being OP for 3 days! That is fantastic! You are so right. It sounds so simple, but is anything but.

Valerie – That is one smart friend you have. I totally agree that negativity is destructive.

Jill – Sorry to hear about your run in with the cop. I would definitely fight that. Otherwise it sounds like you are doing great. I hope everything goes well tonight at TOPS!

Anna – Congrats on passing up the family chocolate. I hope your friend who is fasting doesn’t do any permanent damage to herself. I have heard that is becoming popular again. Fad diets don’t work – they just end up messing up people’s systems!

Lilion – I am so proud of how you have been conquering the elliptical. It definitely does get easier. Your renovation idea to put in a gym is great. I would love to have a gym at home.

Sharon – Sorry you had such a bad day. I think sometimes when I gain when I shouldn’t I end up eating to at least give it a reason, but that is such bad logic!

Patti – Glad to hear the holiday pounds are coming back off. I hope your leg is feeling better too.

Deb – Congrats on your fantastic loss!! Thanks for sharing the poem – that is really great. Also, I don’t know if I mentioned how great it is that you are starting the school courses for your Masters. I am so excited for you!

Heather – Thanks for the tip on the Biggest Loser dvd. I might have to check that one out.

Michelle – House cleaning is definitely work! I hope all is going well with your move organization.

Heather – I loved what you said about choice. Choice is such a big part of our lives – in so many ways it defines who we are. It is true that sometimes we have to make the choice to put other things before weight loss, and sometimes it may feel like we don’t have any choice (especially when there are others relying on us). In the end, by choosing to make weight loss a priority we will end up having so many more choices in our lives. That is one of the best rewards of getting fit there is, in my opinion anyway.

Sara – Aren’t pedometers wonderful? Congratulations on being over your step goal!

Brenda – I hope you get some time off work soon to spend on yourself!

Mona Lisa – Have you had a Hostess Cupcake as an adult? I loved them when I was young, but I had one awhile ago, and I actually thought it was rather gross. It tasted so salty. But great job on resisting! The thing about exercise is that it ends up giving back way more than it takes from you, energy wise. It can be tough to get started, but once you do you might find you have way more energy.

Luan – Right on sister about the gym. It is great to see you back. How is school going?

Sandy – Sorry to hear your leg is bothering you. Congratulations on staying OP for 3 days!

Catherine – I was also very moved by your post. I wanted to add that I have always thought you are a supremely positive influence here. I was one of the people who definitely missed your posts when you were gone. I hadn’t gotten to know you very well before you left, but I always admired you intensely. You are smart, creative, passionate, funny, determined, giving, and so much more. You show all of us that we can do this, no matter what weight we start out from. I am also so sorry to hear that you had to miss your Godmother’s funeral.

Annie – You are rocking with the exercise! And with a cold coming on no less! You go girl!


OK – that is as far back as I am going to get with personals tonight. I need to leave fairly soon. I am going to my counseling session and then I will go home to pack up a bunch of my stuff. This is going to be weird for awhile – living out of two different places. At least they aren’t TOO far away from each other, so I can do a bit of back and forth as necessary. I will take what I need with me tomorrow in the morning and then go to my new place after work. It is such a big step for me. I am pretty nervous about it! But, either way it will definitely be an adventure.

The two things I am worried about are demands on my time and also kitchen sharing. When I told her I was planning on working around 10 –12 hours a week (which is totally reasonable in my opinion) she seemed a bit put out. The thing is, I can’t let this interfere with my real job and not too much with my exercise routine. I am going to need to juggle things a bit, but I told her my priority was weight loss. I can’t sacrifice my gym time to be there early. I don’t mind working late and I will put in my hours, but I need my gym time!

The other thing is the kitchen. I forgot to ask if I can have my own cupboards and/or space in the fridge. I need to be able to keep my food. I did find out that I am not allowed to bring pork or shellfish into the house (it is a Jewish household) which is ok by me, but I will definitely miss my Canadian bacon with my eggs on the weekends. I can live with that though. What I can’t live with is either people eating my food or not having the space I need to do what I need to do to prepare my healthy meals. I am sure we can work something out. It is a pretty big kitchen.

Oh, and at weigh in this morning I was at 278, so now only 1 pound up from the holiday. I was pretty happy with that. I have been on plan myself for the past 3 days and it feels really good.

OMG Ammi, get out of my head!!!!! Wow, you hit the nail on the head. As, I might add, you often do!!!!

Nancy -- wow, yes, that is SO true! I already can see the results of my weight loss and many of the choices I have. When I look long term, the additional choices are amazing!

I wish more choices for everyone!!

Lilion, You are amazing on the ellipitical. 20 minutes is just amazing. I'm very proud of you. I know I couldn't do it. Thanks for making the comment about cookies and biscuits. I kept wondering why some of the girls kept eating biscuits. Keep up the good work on the ellipitical.

Katt, have I missed your posts? I sure miss your daily positives. I'll try to share some at the end of this post.

2fat4u Way to go on your loss. Hope your leg is feeling better. Have you considered going to a chiropractor? I know a lot of people don't believe in them, but I know they have personally helped me and my dad.


Sharon, I was so glad to see your post. I'd wondered how you had been.

Xena, Good job on your loss too.

Michelle, sorry to be a dork....but what's a furbaby?


Heather, can you tell me more about the dvd you got? It's an exercise dvd right?

Well, for me, today is OP again. Yeah for me. I'm gonna get on the gazelle in a few minutes. I'm sorry for those that I missed on personals, but please know I'm thinking about all of you and really appreciate all your support and encouraging words.

See, told ya I'm a dork.
Here's the positives

A-It's rainy today.....thank goodness it's not SNOW

B- Made it another day op

C-I get to spend the evening with DH.....even if he didn't pull the fish out of the freezer for dinner. (he was off today)

D-I got the 8 year old dd signed up at the high school for the young girl's basket ball team. She'll be coached for the first couple weeks by the girls high school coaches. And they'll watch her from now on to help her progress to play at the high school level. DD is very excited about it!

TTFN :HUG:

Just a couple of comments before I jump on the bike.

Catherine: You are so inspiring. I feel like I have known you long enough to know that you don't like to give yourself too much of a break on things. I know that you don't want to let it slide that you did this weight thing to yourself. I feel the same way about my enormous girth. Being a devout Catholic (Christian) You know as well as I do as a devout Christian that God forgives you and wants you to forgive yourself for past mistakes so the enemy can't hold them over your head to condem you! So very sorry about your miscarriages. I have had a few and I was too stupid or scared to see what was causing them and now I know. It was my fault because I am too weak to stop pounding the food in my face. So, I have hurt not only myself but especially my dear sweet hubby who wanted children with me so badly. I'm still extremely obese at 40. I don't want to be this weight and 45 even. Except the obesity, I am happy with my life but I know I wasted so much time and stuff. I can't dwell because I will fall into despair and not be able to move on. I know we will win this battle over the fat monster. We will be healthy and someday Lord willing you will hold your beautiful son or daughter in your arms. Please work hard but, don't be too hard on yourself. You are but human. You are so loved too that we hope we never have to go to your memorial services but, we would all try like heck to do it because of how wonderful you are!

Patty: Congrats on -2

Wyllen: Thanks for all the encouragement on exercise

Xena: Congrats on -4.8

Sharon: right now I don't perssonally own a horse but my daddy has horses and I want so much to ride one of his that is so flashy. He is a quarterhorse buckskin with a black stripe down his back and all four white feet and acts like a pet dog. He is a doll.

Lilion: You are never in need of bragging here. That is what we are here for, to hear all about your milestones and progress. I for one am so very proud of your accomplishments of riding the elliptical for so long. You are amazing.

Ammi, Mechelle, Val, Misti, Emily, Brenda, all of you other sweet chickies that I haven't mentioned by name. Keep on hanging in there and do what you do. We can do this.

Blessings,
Annie

hello everyone hope the day went good for everyone. i am dealing better with the blues today it helped for scales to be down even though it was not my official weigh in. as for my leg .. well i still am limping around... not sure what to do about that but i went ahead and exercised anyway thoug it gets quite painful . we shall see how goes the rest of the week.

hey everyone-

I hope you all had a good day. My day was sort of boring. DH is on the swing shift 4pm-12am. I hate that shift! But the nice thing when we get to Spokane he will be mostly working regular day hours. That will be nice!
Then today we had to clean out the car so it can be shipped tommorow. Won't see it again for a month and a half! Anyways, I was pretty OP today. I have been drinking a lot of water. During the holidays I just had way to much soda. I felt so run down...I wonder why with all the soda??

ANNA~That is a crazy diet! I would be going crazy if that is all I could eat/drink for two weeks.!

JILL~Oh I hate cops like that! That happened to one of my friends, but I think she still had to pay the ticket. I hope you can dispute it or something. And WTG on your loss! You have been doing great!

XENA~I loved the 2007 thing! I love little stuff like that!

Valerie~Sounds like you have a great friend!

Emily~Congrats on being OP!

AMMI~Yeah having something to aim for does help for sure! I would like to lose a few pounds before we leave. But I guess I am not going to freak out if I don't. Plus I have to pack the scale away soon!!

NANCY~The move is coming along. Thank God I am addicted to making lists when it comes to stuff like this. I would be lost! I hope your move goes well. I really hope you can get the kitchen thing figured out. It would drive me nuts if someone was using my food or something like that! And WTG on being 1 pound left from the holiday gain! You will lose that pound in no time!

SANDY~You are doing great staying OP! WTG! You are not a dork! A furbaby is a pet. Allie and Alex are my two cats. I heard someone refer to their cat as their furbaby or furchild. I thought it was so funny and cute! My two cats are almost like two toddlers gone wild!

ANNIE~ You are doing so great! I really wish I had some equipment here. Maybe in Spokane I can try a bike or gazelle.

PATTI~WTG on seeing the scale go down! I am glad you are feeling better. Sorry about your leg hun! Is it someting you have to go to the DR for? I hope it gets better soon!


Alright well I am sorry if I left anyone out! I hope you are all doing great!

I should be studying, but I took a much needed break to check out the boards.

Emily- You are so right. It seems like it should be simple to stop eating when you are full. Too bad it's not! If only, if only.

Nancy- Good for you for making your health a priority. Women especially seem to put themselves last on their list. It's good for us to make ourselves numero uno! And your words about choices.... that is truly inspiring. You don't mind if I copy that down and hang it up next to my daily affiermation do you?

Sandy- Gazelle away!!

I'll get better at doing personals, I promise. If I didn't mention you by name, it's not because I don't care. I'm wishing all of us here nothing but the best.

Well all, I had another pretty good day. I stayed OP. It's getting easier to stop eating when I"m full. I just eat really slowly now. Also, no music, no television while I eat. It's too distracting! Again, my step goal was between 6 and 10 thousand. I ended up with 11, 098!! Yay. Substituting for the gym teacher at work today really paid off (although I felt like af fraud!). Not only did I move more at work, but I came home and hit up the "gym" at my apartment complex and did 20 minutes on the treadmill. I put gym in quotations because it is the sorriest excuse for a gym that I have ever seen. I think the treadmill was the first one ever made. I would love to do some of my workout DVDs but I haven't done them since I moved into this apartment. I'm scared that it will sound like a herd of elephants coming through the ceiling for the poor people below me. Maybe I'll give it a go this weekend.

Hope everyone has a fabulous, OP day tomorrow!!

Just a quick note - I got an offer in the mail today from Planet Fitness (my backup gym) which says I can refer a friend and it is only $20 down for them and $10 a month, plus they drop my monthly rate down to $10 (it's only $15 now anyway). If anyone is interested, please send me a PM. I would need to mail you the letter as it says you are supposed to bring it in with you when you go there.

Sara == Don't worry --we get it. Sometimes I come on and make lots of comments/personals. Other times I'm just lucky to come on! If I think I have something to add, I do try to, but sometimes I can't even do that.

So, to ALL our newbies (and "old"bies), don't feel you have to do personals for all. Respond to what you can/want. Tell us what's up with you! But DON'T feel obliged to respond to everyone!

Hi all! Didn't have a perfect day, but had a much better one. Drank 100 oz of H2O, did some exercises, ate much better than I have... although still had too much starch. Definately room for improvement tomorrow, but still a huge improvement on the recent past.

Nighty-night!

I walked 2 hours at the mall today. My feet are killing me. I have a bad habit of walking until I drop when I’m upset about something. I think I just wore myself out on all fronts, and am now feeling better. My husband is taking us to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel on Monday for our anniversary. He’s a sweetheart.

Sandy-Thanks for the kind words. I’m better, and you’re right, the doctor could be wrong, and it may have just been something beyond my control. I do understand about trying to keep busy to keep your mind off eating. Wanted to add something about your daughter. I was well over 5 feet tall by the age of 8, so basketball was a given. My early sports injuries I believe led to some of the problems and behaviors that later led to me becoming so overweight. Make sure she wears hightop shoes that fit really well. That’s especially important if she has any kind of weight problem herself. Ankles are under a lot of stress in basketball, and I have the scar on my ankle from having my torn ligaments reconstructed to prove it. Now knees. I realize she is still a bit young, but they have done lots of studies on highschool, college, and pro female basketball players who have blown out their knees, and they have found a large percentage did it while ovulating. They think that the increase in estrogen makes the ligaments softer during that time. Some colleges have started putting braces on girls who haven’t hurt their knees before just as a preventative. The pain scale they use between 1-10 where one is just a little sore, and 10 is heart attack pain, lists torn ACL’s as a 9 with gall stone attacks and labor pains. I’ve got the scar on my knee from the destroyed ACL, and on my stomach from the gall stones, so I can truthfully say that blowing your knee out is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Tell your daughter good luck, I also found playing sports to be one of the best parts of my childhood, all the visits to the emergency room aside. My problem was I played with reckless abandon.

Princess-Thanks, I do feel very supported. It would take a bunch of folks to physically support me, maybe a whole football team.

Mona-Don’t worry, I knew you were running the two together.

Brenda-If anyone gives you a second glance at the gym, tell them to kiss your big, wide, fat chick behind.

Anna-I’m sorry that you are having to work so hard, but I know how great it feels to get a credit card statement in January that has a zero balance. That’s something that your ex can’t take away from you.

Sara-You got to love those pedometers. When I first started walking again, my legs and tendons were so atrophied that I walked like Frankenstein’s monster, all stiff. I didn’t move right at the waist so the pedometer wouldn’t work on my waist band. I had to adjust it to work on my shoe. That worked fine until Hurricane Charlie. I went through a rather deep puddle, and the pedometer, which I had forgotten to take off, went to its reward.

Valerie-Thanks, I really do try to be aware of the people around me, and every day I try to learn something new, help someone less fortunate than I am, and not be a burden. It can be so hard being the person I want to be.

Wyllenn-Thanks, you guys have really picked me up. And you will never offend me by telling me something I know but am trying to hide from myself.

Lillion-Thanks, I know you guys will be here for me if I let you. And you are right, I am definitely dedicated to my health now.

Xena- Wow another one who lost weight over the holidays. I am so jealous. Next year that will definitely be me too.

Sharon-Both my doctors reminded me that even if we never have a baby, that we had the fun of trying. We really haven’t been doing anything. Well, we’ve obviously been doing something, we are newlyweds after all, but we’re not tracking or taking temps or any kind of meds. He said with a 44 year old, he’s usually trying to figure out why they can’t get pregnant, not why they keep getting pregnant but can’t stay that way.

Anna-If that diet was all I got to eat for two weeks, I’d start chasing cars like a rabid dog trying to eat the tires off of them.

Jilly-I have discovered a great way to avoid getting tickets. For the first time since I was 15, I don’t own a car. If the subway goes too fast, they won’t be ticketing me. That’s a shame that a great week got messed up like that. By all means contest it. Chances are the cop will be too busy writing other tickets to show up for court. In rush hour traffic going the speed limit when everyone else isn’t is just a great way to cause a wreck.

Ammi-thanks, hugs are the one thing that I can have as many of as I want since they don’t have calories.

Nancy-Thanks, but you’re going to give me a big head. Try the vegetarian Canadian bacon. My husband can’t tell the difference, and it is kosher.

Toofat-I hate to say this, but something else I was thinking about is that if the pain you are feeling isn’t like a shooting, electrical pain down your leg, then it’s probably not sciatica. I’d sure feel better if you had it looked at. It could also be a blood clot. Overweight people are susceptible. Have you been on a long car or plane trip over the holidays? That can cause it. I don’t want to scare you, but I also would hate to see something bad happen. I had pains like that when I started walking again, and the doctor said it was because of the atrophy of the tendons and muscles. It was great to hear that it wasn’t serious and would go away soon, but being told it was because I sat on my big behind too long was a bummer. We probably don’t say it often enough around here but everyone should have a checkup before they start an exercise plan, not after something starts to hurt. I was guilty of that many times. Just look after yourself.

Annie-This may make sense to you, but I find myself feeling that God gave me a strong, healthy, athletic body, and I destroyed it. It’s like opening a Christmas present, and then smashing it to pieces. I’m trying, one little piece at a time, to put the present back together again.

I’m off to bed. I’m going to get lots of sleep, and tomorrow the sun will come up, at least for a couple of hours here anyway, and I will have an attitude of gratitude and tell myself that just having enough is a glorious thing.