Hey all, my WI today claims i didn't lose any more pounds, but on the plus side i didn't gain any either. So i guess that's something. i just got done walking on the tread mill, i got another mile in. tomorrow i start going to the gym with my friend from work. one thing i have learned since i started paying attention to my food and exercise is that i defintely eat when im bored. I worked a lot the first week i went into healthy eating + exercise mode and as a result lost 7 pounds. this past week I haven't worked so much, had a lot more days off and haven't lost a thing. this week i have/had sunday, monday, tuesday off. as for sunday and today, everytime im bored i find myself in the kitchen. i really need to knock that off! lol. I need to get out of the house, but, alas, it is snowing again!! and unfortunately i don't drive. But on the plus side, when i found myself going to the kitchen earlier i just hopped on the treadmill for a half an hour and now i feel as if i really don't want to damage the work i did so i'm not going in there!
Anyways, the treadmill hasn't broken yet, but every time i get to around 20 minutes it smells like it's buring but then quickly goes away. so i hope that nothing serious is wrong and it just needs to get used more often.

i also wanted to congratulate all the "losers" and wish everyone good luck this week on their journey

Lavandel-I know what you mean about needing a break from the weightloss stuff. I have had to have a couple of vacations where I could think about other things for awhile. For women who have 20 lbs. to lose, it’s a short sprint. For us, it is a marathon.

Brenda-shopping is way better than eating when down in the dumps. We spent the weekend walking our legs off going to every thrift store, pawn shop and flea market in the north part of Edmonton. We only came home with a bunch of used books and videos, but we sure had fun. I even stayed away from the concession stand food the rest of them were eating. I did have one bite of hubby’s hotdog, and then left them to rest while I went around again in case I missed something the first time. It is always so hard knowing that we’ve done everything right, and have seemingly nothing to show for it. The scale may not show it, but think about how much happier your heart and veins are. Maybe you didn’t lose that much weight this week, but you might have lost some inflammation in your arteries or joints. That’s a victory.

Donna-I’m the same way about things. If it feels great to do 50, so 100 will be even better. I worked in a morgue in highschool (way long story), and I’m the same way about stuff. My husband can’t watch a crime story on TV with me because I gross him out with stories.

Kymberly-I’m still learning new stuff too. When I first started writing down the things I was thinking or feeling or doing in my food journal, I was amazed at finding out things that were triggers. Keeping a diary didn’t really help because I could talk about feeling bad that I had overeaten, but seeing the food next to what I had done right before that was an eye opener.

Sharon-You know it is physical hunger and not just brain hunger when you start thinking about licking out the dog’s tins. If you want dog food, I can recommend a good restaurant here in Edmonton.

DJCJ-We also have snow hiking here, it’s called going to the grocery store next door. Sometimes I leave the house like that kid from “Christmas Story” who had on so many clothes that he couldn’t put his arms down at his side. I haven’t left the house without two pairs of pants on since October.

Anne-I once told someone that I had spent my life taking care of everyone except myself. Now is my time, and I have to be selfish to succeed. We are worth it, you know.

Karen-Nothing gives one knowledge like having already dealt with “the system.” I am always afraid of giving advice, not just because I no longer have a license, but also because people often take it the wrong way. I hope it all works out okay.

Lisa-there is nothing so eye-opening as knowing what you are actually eating. I remember when I found out that a bagel with cream cheese has the same calories as 3 frosted donuts or one low fat muffin. When I was taking a 5 day bus trip across the continent, I downloaded a list of all the stuff I could reasonably eat at a variety of fast food places. I was surprised to find that plain hamburgers were often the best choice, or only choice. Luckily they stopped at Subways mostly. When I told my husband that a poached egg on an English muffin was better than the toast with peanut butter on it that he’d been trying to “diet” on, I had to actually show him the math. I had heard that HALT thing before, and it really does hit all my high notes.

Onemoretime-I have gone to buffets and I have been on an all expense vacation at a resort. It is hard, but can be done. My biggest problem is that I will do so good that I know that I have room for a treat, but once I have the treat, it just seems to freak my system out and then I lose it. What I did after that was order in the room from the spa menu, that way I had something decent without having to see what everyone else was eating. When I’m really trying to slow myself down, I eat with chopsticks. By the time you get through with your plate everyone else has already had their seconds and are done. You don’t want to ruin a vacation by feeling bad about it afterward. Just go nuts on the salad bar and veggie station. You can always say you are a vegetarian and no one will think anything of it. If you do okay, treat yourself when you get back with a spa day, or new shoes or something.

Wyllenn-Shorts!! Oh my God. I haven’t worn shorts out of the house since 1991. And I lived 12 of those years in Florida. When I had a big weight loss years ago, my boss hired a fashion consultant to take me shopping. She did this color thing to find out what colors looked best on me, and things like V neck or round neck, etc. It made it so much easier to narrow choices. By the way, you’d have made a good drill sergeant.

ANNIE-Way to go. I wish I could lose 7.6 pounds in a week. I haven’t done that in literally years. I don’t even bother with the scales anymore. As long as I am above 380, they won’t register anyway. I work hard, eat right 90% of the time, and have seen no movement in 3 months. I’ve stopped getting on the scales because it just depresses me. I’m at a loss right now whether I need to increase or decrease calories. I’ve tried both. I’ve increased my exercise to ridiculous levels to the point where I’m now in pain pretty much all the time. This week I’m going to try increasing my breakfast and water intake. I’ve just force fed myself 480 calories of oatmeal. After doing my posts I’m going to go shovel the entire parking lot. Sometimes I feel like I can’t even allow myself the time to sit to use the computer. I know that part of it is my thyroid, but I can’t increase it any because my blood pressure is creeping up again. I know you can understand my feeling at a complete loss as to what to do.

Sandy-Don’t beat yourself up too much. When company comes, it is so hard to stay on track.

Nancy-Rents got so high in Florida at one point that I seriously considered becoming homeless for a couple of months to save money for a downpayment. Prices have now crashed there, so I’m glad I didn’t buy anything, but I understand how hard it is. If you want to find a “low maintenance” roommate, find out where they train nurses in your area and post on the board there. They work such long hours that they aren’t home long enough to cause much trouble.

Luan-I remember being able to drink like that when I was younger. I often say that I drank enough in college to last the rest of my life. Now I can’t even stay up late enough on New Years Eve. Partying is definitely for the young.

Brandnew-You don’t have to feel that you have nothing to offer. I haven’t lost anything in a long time. I don’t really know why. It has happened so many times before to me that I’ve almost gotten used to the idea that nothing will change again. Just do the best that you can while you are down, and when it swings back up again, hit it hard and things will get better.

Lesley-Isn’t it unfair how much easier guys seem to be able to lose weight.

Chimi-If you were only losing 20 lbs. you could go like crazy and be done. This isn’t a sprint when you need to lose as much as we do. It’s like thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. If you try to keep up a full head of steam the whole way, you’ll blow a gasket. It’s about taking babysteps. You have to learn one new good thing, or unlearn one bad thing at a time, slowly. Those of us who have yo-yo dieted for years remember the big, quick, weightlosses and how nice they were. They don’t last though. It’s like someone being born again at a tent revival and then only going to church for a month. You will have to be able to do this the rest of your life. It can’t be a diet until this or that, it has to be a lifestyle change to work long term. We all have 6 pack abs, they are just covered by fat. I saw a few minutes of Nip/Tuck where one guy was looking at another guy in the shower. Stud thought he was looking below the waist, but he was looking at this stomach. He said he did all these crunches, but couldn’t get definition. Stud said the secret was that he didn’t eat. He only drank protein shakes during the day and ate a light dinner at night. My situps with my other little leg exercises take about 30-40 a pop. I put on some music, and use my fingers as an abacus to keep track. Each time I touch my toes, I touch a different finger from right to left and back again. That makes 20. Every 20 I move a ring over a finger, so after it’s been on all 10 fingers, that’s a set of 200 situps. If I had to count, I’d go buggy. I just wish that I could lose some weight doing it. It is making me feel physically stronger, and lessening the pain in my back, but not leading to even an ounce of weight loss.

Rosebud-I think the secret to sit-ups for me is that I am a complete pear, and if I had to do them shaped like an apple, like my husband, I’d never make it. I also just get into a rhythm, and I think the bed starts to act like a trampoline. I listen to my mp3 player, and if the music is faster I seem to go faster, and slower, etc. I just totally flow into the music, and like I said above since I don’t have to really count, I can zone out.

Erika-don’t feel bad about not doing personals. I didn’t for a long time. I did good to know how to turn the stupid computer on in the beginning. Take what you need, and leave what you’re able.

Ammi-Welcome back. After my father died, I fell into a depression that caused me to gain over a hundred pounds in 6 months. I nearly flunked out of school. I know that he would have hated that. I’m glad that you have been able to stay on the horse. I wish I could do something to ease your pain.

Lilion-Whenever I got close to my goal weight, I always had this mindset that I had “won” so I was free. Wrong. I’ve never actually gotten to a goal weight because of that. The minute that we think we are finished, we’re finished. Think of it as remodeling the Winchester House. She thought if she ever finished the house that she’d die because of all the ghosts of the people who had been killed by her husband’s rifles. Just think of yourself as the renovation project that will never end.

For me, I’m off to exercise and do house work before hitting the snow shovel.

Oh My Goodness Catherine! I laughed SO HARD when I read this! I am the Winchester Mystery House! I have always wanted to go there!

Happy Monday everyone,

Just wanted to write a short note to let y'all know how inspirational I find your posts (and your spirits).

I am struggling with staying focused and putting in my "me" time and the few moments I get to check in and read are helping me slow down a little and remember that I am worth this journey - and even though I may be starting off slow - it's all about re-focusing on what I want.

Now mind you I do hope the chaos that is going on for me subsides soon - but if I reframe that - it's just life - and my task is to just to keep focused and let go of this emotional overwhelm and find super healthy ways of coping.

Wishing you all a focused day.

Patti - I am glad that your leg is so much better, exercising when you are in pain isn't fun, and definitely not conducive to getting as much done as you would like. Now that you can work out hopefully pain free those lbs will really start shifting!

As for me getting to Onederland, I bet those last 20 lbs are going to drag by. But yes indeed I am looking forward to getting to that wonderful place. I still find it odd writing my weight as 2 something, I always go to write 3 something!

Heather - a spa day with a friend sounds wonderful. I hope you really enjoy your relaxation!

Sorry to hear about your hubby, I know you wanted him to spend more time at home, but I am sure this isn't what you had in mind! I hope he isn't in too much pain and is being a good patient.

Thanks for the welcome back, it's great to be back.

Annie - sorry you missed out on swimming, I am sure you burnt off some calories though from doing your housework. Did you get all the jobs done that you wanted to?

Carolyn - thank you for the welcome back. I am glad to hear you are doing well with the exercise, sometimes just keeping up with that compensates for the days when we aren't having a good week of constant dieting. Good luck with your WI tomorrow.

Karen - it's lovely to be back especially as I have had all the warm welcomes, yours included, thank you.

I am so pleased to hear that you think you have the stress eating under control. I used to comfort eat, it's one of the reasons I got as big as I did. Learning to get it under control and to truly believe that it's cold comfort to eat like a pig really has made dieting so much easier.

Good for you for doing 20 minutes of great exercise, hey it doesn't matter if you are doing less than others, the fact is you are getting active and as time goes on you will increase that time. Now though be proud of that 20 minutes.

Lee Ann - hello and a belated from me. I love your great attitude about your WI results today. You are so right that no gain is brilliant!

It's good that you have realised that one of your reasons to eat is from boredom. It's figuring out things like that which really help us make the life style changes we need to. I find I want to eat when I am bored too, so on days when I get a bad case of the munchies I make sure I keep busy either with housework, emailing, exercising, or if I am really lazy, sleeping! Sounds like you made a great choice today working out on the treadmill rather than eating. It's great that having worked out you decided you really didn't want to waste all that effort by eating something you shouldn't, and so haven't. Well done!

I hope you love going to the gym tomorrow. I recently started going to one and really love it.

Catherine - I started suffering depression after my ostomy surgery, along with comfort eating, long recoveries from the surgery and just being totally inactive for so long it's one of the reasons I gained so much weight. I am not surprised at all to hear that your depression after losing your dad saw you gain 100 lbs in such a short space of time. It's not fair is it that some people like us eat when we are depressed, why can't we be the people that can't eat when depressed?

Any news on your citizenship, or more to the point do you know if your MIL has caused any major problems with it?

Anne - I can't remember if I have said hi yet, but just in case I haven't, hi and

I am sorry that you are facing some kind of chaos right now, whatever it is I hope you can deal with it and like you said, find a super healthy way of doing just that.

Hugs,

Ammi

Ammi – All I have been able to think of all day is the fact of how incredible you are and how you kept going with your weight loss even dealing with your grief over your mother. Honestly, I feel kind of ashamed of myself for all the silly excuses I use for why I can’t stay on plan. And that’s the thing I realized, is that I have been using emotional turmoil as an excuse to go off plan – not because I can’t handle things, but because it is a convenient excuse. Sometimes there are times when you really can’t handle everything and you need to back off of really going at things, but I know now that this hasn’t been the case for me. I know this sounds like I am being pretty hard on myself, but it was really a light bulb moment for me.

Carolyn: Good luck at your Weigh in tomorrow!

Patti: Sweet girl. Have fun with your sister too.

Karen: Yea! Good Bye to stress eating forever!

LeeAnn: Hey, no gain is excellent. Hugs.

Cathererine: You are so right. I do know exactly what you are going through with not loosing and doing everything you know how to do. I can only say just try not to give up. That is the only thing. It kind of felt like banging my head against a wall but, I kept doing all the things I knew how to do and finally, finally it moved. The only thing different I did was pretend I had the lap band surgery which just meant I drink more water and didn't drink anything with meals and chewed my food sooooo much that by the time I had not very many bites I was satisfied in my belly and put the rest of the food away for later. Other than that everything was the same last week. I am trying to do the pretend thing today too. I am also changing my exercise from 40 minutes on the bike a day to 30 minutes in the a.m. then do my chores and other exercises around the house then do another 30 minutes in the afternoon. I'll see if that makes any difference at all next Saturday or if I'm even able to do it during the week. lol. I sure do love the feeling I have in my body when I get off the bike and I'm all tired and hot from exercise. LOL. I can't believe I just said I like exercise. Hugs to you and hang in there my friend.

Ammi: I did manage to get the work done that I wanted to for today. I cleaned the Bathroom in the master bedroom sooooo good. I haven't cleaned the shower myself in months. Joel usually cleans it and today for the first time in months, I had the stamina to clean the shower, I did the window and the front of all the cabinets and the floor on my hands and knees plus cleaned the master bedroom spring cleaning kind of. I love a clean house. I am going room by room and doing it. Tomorrow I will tackle the spare rooms and their windows etc. and the other bathroom. Fun fun fun stuff. lol. So happy you are back. It feels so much nicer when our Ammi is here. Hugs to you.

Blessings all,
Annie

Nancy - I am a firm believer of every cloud having a silver lining. I lost my mum, but knowing how much she wanted me to get healthy and lose the weight has given me the strength to carry on dieting despite my grief. My determination has made you think too, and to have your light bulb moment, so you see, there's the silver lining. I am sorry that you are being hard on yourself, comfort eating, or thinking you need it is all part and parcel of getting to the size we are. It's just habit that we turn to food for supposed comfort, so it's not a surprise that we use comfort eating as a reason to go off plan sometimes. I hope now that you have had your light bulb moment you will be able to act on it, and stay OP

Annie - well done on getting some chores done, and big congrats on managing the shower yourself. I bet Joel will have a nice surprise at that news! I love a clean house too, and love that keeping it clean keeps me active. With the size of your house you are sure getting a great work out with all the rooms you have to clean. My house is so tiny I can get everyroom clean in just 2 and a half to 3 hours.

Hugs,

Ammi

yaaaay ammi's back!!!! la la la laaa!!!! Welcome back ammi!!

sandybar- yeah totally agree with you about water... i think it keeps us occupied and fills the stomach too. I think I have gained as well but we just have to keep on truckin, make sure we compensate for the weight we regained and then some. Hows about you and me make a deal to WI in two weeks when we will have worked off the damage we have done!!

Catherine- wow you are doing full sit-ups from laying down to touching the toes?? That's amazingly hard!! Apparently that is no longer good for your back from what my trainer told me, so be careful!!! She might just be full of it though. LOL appalachian trail. I swear that's what it is. How long does the appalachian trail take to complete? I might do that- it seems less of a torture than this agonizingly slow weight loss and seeing burger king commercials

Catherine, Thank you for the comments. I had not thought about the spa menu. I will check it out as soon as we get on the ship. If I do breakfast and lunch in the spa maybe I can safely eat dinner with my friends. I love this site, if I post a question or a concern someone responds.

Cassie

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in ages. No particular reason other than I haven't felt like being on the computer in the evenings. They have started monitoring our internet usage at work so I have cut out all personal stuff on the internet during work hours.

I've been struggling a bit to stay on track and although my ticker says I am down 11 pounds as of last week's weighin it was back to 9 pounds down.

Since I last posted I have taken another calculus test. I feel I did well but we were off for spring break last week. I have class tomorrow evening and I hope to get the results. I had last week off work and I spent the first part of it on a long weekend trip to KC to visit my friend who had a baby back in October. She is a blonde blue eyed chubby-cheeked little cherub and I was smitten!!! After getting back home I spent time planting flowers for spring and getting my house organized. I have been fighting disarray for so long and I finally have started to tackle it. Today my cleaning lady came. I finally decided to go for it and hire someone to help me. She is only charging me $40 and will come every other week. It was such a relief to walk into a spic and span house today.

That's it for me....just more of the usual mundane life. HO HUM!

I am so far behind that I can't possibly catch up but wanted to comment on a few things I did pick up on:

Ammi - Dear, I am so sorry to hear about your mum's passing. How distressing it must be to be far away and not getting the information you want. Hugs to you. I am most impressed that you have not let this time of grief derail your progress. That is amazing.


Lillion - I noticed on your ticker that you have broken that 100 pound mark!!!! Wowza!!!! Way to go!!!!! Did you do anything special to celebrate?


Heather - Size 10!!!! Now THAT is an accomplishment. You are teeny tiny, girl!!!

That's it for me. I hope you are all doing well.

Take care!

Catherine - i dont drink like i used to thats for sure.

Ammi- you have been in my prayers, please know that.

thats all for today, except the show asked me to stay another 2 weeks. i was talking last night with another friend who works in television and we were laughing because there is no other job in the world where you get excited over daily work... lol

Lillion-I’ve always wanted to see the mystery house too. I’m visualizing the stairway that goes to the ceiling and dead ends there. Having a head injury makes you feel that way sometimes, my stairway goes to the top, but no one is home, well, except the ghosts.

Anne-When I first started, I didn’t know what to do. All I did at first is stop eating out. I had to relearn how to shop and how to cook. It took over a year, and it was time well spent. We all want that quick start and quicker finish. We want to get done so we can start our lives. What you need to realize is that there are no quick endings, and our lives are going on with or without us whether we realize it or not. By the way, doing nothing but cutting out fast food led to 80 pounds lost in a year.

Ammi-My immigration is still in a holding pattern. People who applied the same time as I did have been permanent residents for months now. We were finally able to get immigration to tell us that they lost my FBI fingerprint report in September. It is the one piece of paper that had to be an original. We spent another $100 getting re-printed and FedExing it to the FBI. I just got them back today, and we are Expressposting them to Immigration tomorrow. My next bring forward date isn’t until April 27th, so they don’t have to look at my file until then. We also included my landing fees of $490 so that won’t delay them waiting for our payment. Hopefully, they will look at it this time, and approve it. My MIL has backed off and now says that she didn’t threaten to interfere. She was behind our marriage blessing getting postponed, so I don’t believe anything she says. Thankfully, the way it is set up, even my husband can’t access my immigration without my client number, and we have no intention of letting MIL have that. The only thing she could do is call CSIS and say that I’m a terrorist or made terrorist threats. Hopefully she won’t realize that, and again, I’m not going to tell her that. I have made the decision, and informed my husband, that I have no intention of ever being in the same room as his mother. I’ve told him that I won’t interfere in his relationship with his folks, and he can talk to them or see them whenever he wants to, but I can opt out. He’s okay with that.

Annie-When I first started the diet, I also pretended like I had the surgery. I only ate a coffee cup full of food once and hour. It allowed my stomach to shrink up. I saw a show where a woman who had the surgery could only eat that much. It also trained me to eat more often. I’ve gotten away from that a bit, so I think I will try that again. I’m not going to give up. I may not succeed all the time, like I’d like to, but to give up is a death sentence for me, and I know it.

Chimmy-I don’t lay completely flat because of my back injury. I brace under my lower back with some pillows. From the waist up I’m probably at a 20 degree angle. I keep my elbows at about a 70 degree angle so that I don’t get tennis elbow. I use the whole arm because it gives my upper body some work just like an elliptical does. You can’t do them with your hands behind your neck, because that will damage your neck muscles. I’m not trying to isolate any stomach muscles, I’m doing it as an aerobic exercise. If someone with my back injury can do them this way, it can’t hurt too much. As for the Appalachian Trail, if you start at the Southern end in Georgia, and go all the way to Maine, it takes about 6 months. I read a story about a physician who had gotten to 500 pounds who just packed a bag and started hiking, and by the time he was done he’d lost his weight, but I don’t think that was the Appalachian. I did a small part in the North Carolina/Tennessee border area. It’s so quiet. It’s quiet in a way that we have no idea living in cities with cars and fridges and phones.

Cassie-AA says that to keep it you have to give it back. I think they are right.

I’m off to type a speech for himself. To show how selfish I am prepared to be, he’s been sick in bed today, but that didn’t keep me from bouncing him all over the bed while doing my sit-ups. Making your sick husband sea-sick in his own bed has got to be a sin of some kind. I think of myself as being in a fight for my life, and nothing can stand in my way.

Xena: so happy to see you posting I have missed you and was wondering where you are. congrats on the 9 pound loss.

Catherine: I hear ya. Nothing can stop us now. Good for you. Hope your dear hubby feels better soon. Mine is ill too. He has a bad cold but you'd think he is dying by the complaints. lol. I just coddle him and tuck him into bed and he goes nite nite. lol. Poor guys.

I WON the Virtual Bike race against my hubby. I finished my 480 miles tonight. I ended up with 481.6 miles after my second 30 minutes of the day on the bike. I ended up doing 60 minutes on the bike today. My hubby handed me the $20 and as nice as extra spending money is, the feeling I have is so much better. It has been so long since I stuck to something like this. I have given up so many times over the years since I have gained so much weight because I thought things were too hard for me. POOEY on that. It may take me longer but I can do it. I am feeling so proud of myself. Something I have rarely felt in my life and it feels really good. YEA me.

Blessings to you all,
Annie