Heather - yep it’s not time to maintain yet. Thank you for your encouragement. I CAN do this, I can surely stick OP til October

I hope your first day back at school was great and that you didn’t feel to nauseas before hand. Wow why do you feel so dreadful the day before you start back? I hope you didn’t get rained on and that you arrived in school in your new outfit looking and feeling great!

Donna - lovely to see you posting, and congrats on your lovely new kitty. Do we get to see any pics?? I love how your Pitador wants to make friends, I hope she’s not got hurt feelings because Jack’s scared and isn’t keen on being friends yet Thank goodness you were home when he got caught up and that you saved the little guy’s life. Donna the heroine

Patti - you and I are two peas in a pod I think. We both said pretty much the same thing about it being another Monday and another fresh start. Come on do a deal with me. We’ll take this one day at a time and we’ll get back on track and stay there

BattleAx - I am so happy you reached your mini goal, well done I bet that set you up for a wonderful day today!

You are right I do need to keep strong so that I can ride those rides. I know I will be miserable if I can’t fit on them and I certainly don’t want to spoil Daren’s birthday celebrations by being a grump

Peggy - it’s crazy isn’t it how easily we can fall back into old ways despite doing so well losing weight over the months. It’s scary too, but we have to learn from these slip ups. I think we all need to check out the maintenance threads that Heather has mentioned. We definitely need all the help we can get to make sure we keep on losing the weight and keep it off.

Rat - wow you did great on that bike ride, and your mom, wow she’s brilliant. That’s cool that she goes to a spin class, do you go with her?

Meta - it’s my own fault that I am feeling pressured to shift some more lbs now. I had all this year to lose enough weight and so far I’ve lost just 21 lbs. I really should have done so much better by now. Oh well better late than never. I am sure you will fit on rides sooner rather than later and I know how proud you son will be of you and happy to share the experience with you!

Well done on getting rid of so many clothes, it must have felt great and even better to bin in a size 24 outfit today

Debbie - I am so sorry you had that awful moment when you tried to fit on that boat ride. Snap, I’ve had a similar humiliating experience. I tried to get on a roller coaster. I managed to wedge myself into the seat, got the bar down across my lap, but because I couldn’t do the seat belt up too I was made to get off. That’s the kind of thing I am dreading happening when we go to the theme park in October. OK it’s a different park but it will be the same humiliation

I’m glad TOM has arrived and it explains your being emotional. I know TOM sucks, but the sooner he comes the sooner he goes

Nancy - glad the attitude adjustment has been working for you Glad too that you are settling nicely into your apartment.

Taken is about to start so I have to run. Bye for now all,

Hugs,

Ammi

Val: Thanks for the good hunting wishes for Joel. Getting an elk out after hunting is very hard work and my Dad has excellent horses that are dolls and willing to pack out anything you put in the panyards! So happy that Max is doing better. Give him kiss for me on the nose. Oooo How exciting. What a great reason to stick to your program like GLUE! I can’t wait until you write us and tell us how it feels to be on such a wonderful guy like Gabe. Wow.

Debbie: Hugs to you hun. I hope that your son does the right thing and gives you a call at least. Happy birthday to you doll. Sorry my wishes are late. Good job sticking with it.

Catherine: Wowza. You guys sure sold the heck out of the snacky foods. I think if you want to get the Hot cocoa off your hubby it would be okay just this once for your diet.

Meta: Good job getting to the gym. You will get back into it after a couple of days. How exciting having a new freezer and getting ready for winter. We will be doing the same. Great job getting rid of the clothes. I am so proud of you. Your outfit sounds beautiful too.

Ammi: I will let it go that you didn’t put your feet up. No spankings today lol. I did get tired at the furniture store but managed to drag home a couple of things. Lol. I think Heather’s idea of just maintaining for a bit is excellent for you. Give it a thought. Hugs.


Battle: I can’t wait for you to hit that 10% mark. It felt so great for me and I’m sure it will be a great feeling for you as well. Hugs. Yea to reaching your goal and loosing another pound!

Lindsey: Good for you doing such great shopping. Sounds like you are busy with your school. Have fun with it.

Heather: Have fun at school. I’m sure they will love you!

Donna: Wow, you have been busy. Hugs on the foot pain. I hope they can fix you up real soon. I am smiling at the prospect of you posting more. I miss you.

Patty: Hugs and glad to see you.

Peggy: It’s okay doll. You can loose that 3 in no time. Now Walk, walk, walk.

Ratkitten: Good for you. I am so impressed that you road your bike so much and lots of it uphill! Wow girl. You are sure an inspiration to me.

Nancy: Sounds like your climate is similar to here. Although our leaves are not turning yet, it is feeling brisk and fall like. I hear ya on Summer being over. I do love each and every season though. Glad your apartment is getting in shape.

Well, I have been busy just doing stuff. Nothing strenuous or exciting just busy work. Hope you are all doing well. I am donig great now that I am done "drinking" my meals for the day ick. I can't wait to stop drinking protein shakes. I hope I make it.

Blessings all,
Annie

Happy Monday everyone!

Ammi, I have faith that you can stay OP and have a great time at that amusement park in October!

Wyllenn, I always wondered why students were so reluctant to sit in the first row on the first day of classes ... haha. Does the nervous feeling go away by the TuTh classes or is tomorrow like another "first day"? Either way, best of luck. I'm sure your classes will love you.

Donna, you'll have to post pictures of the new kitten. I find myself adopting all of the unforunate animals I come across, so count me in as another crazy cat lady! Right now I only have one (Muffin, 6) as my ex wanted the other two and I didn't want to argue considering that would have been more cats to drive with up to Maryland, but I'm sure that before it's done with I'll have more.

Toofatforu, that's the spirit! Pick yourself up and dust yourself off because today's a new day!

BattleAx, congrats on meeting your mini goal! Are you treating yourself to anything special to celebrate, like a manicure or new pair of shoes?

Peggy, I hear you. It *is* scary when we catch a glimpse of how easy it would be to fall into old habits. I experienced that twice this summer when out of town. Eating out for all of your meals is a lot of temptation.

Ratkity, here in Salisbury they have a charity bike ride/race thing called the Seagull Century. It's for 100 miles... I can't even IMAGINE doing that all at once, and to hear that you did 61.5 for the weekend still blows my mind! I can't wait until I can start riding again.

Meta, that's fantastic that you got rid of all of those excess clothes and fit into one of your pairs of pants in the "too small" box. I need to remember to pull out some of my fall/winter stuff to see what I can fit into this year.

Debbie, sounds like you had quite the outdoors adventure today in your own backyard! Do you ever pick the blackberries on your land? If so, feel free to send any extras my way.

Nancy, glad to hear that the attitude experiment has worked out well for you thus far. I'm ready for Autumn, personally. I've never experienced a real fall, being from Texas, so I'm looking forward to it. Of course, I'm sure that once it gets here I'll be wishing it was spring!

Valerie, I have whole flax seeds that I sprinkle into my oatmeal and yogurts, but the Omega 3 in there is all ALA, I believe. This supplement is mostly DHA (for nerve and eye health), the harder to find form of Omega 3 that your body can supposedly make out of ALA if forced, but it's not a very efficient process, from what I've read... so I'm trying to cover all of my bases.

Annie, after being on that liquid diet for so long, I have great faith that you can make it through the protein shakes! Do they at least taste okay, or are they chalky and fake tasting?

Today I met with my Calculus classmates to go over the lab and we ended up staying from 3:30 until around 5:45. Another guy from another section with the same prof. as us joined in, and we're all meeting again tomorrow in the library to work on the homework! One of the girls made it clear that she wanted to do this every week, which is great because it gives me some social time out of the house and also will help me learn the material better. My prof. isn't exactly the best at explaining things and is very very quiet. It's a good thing that I already have a fuzzy memory of the material from high school, or else I would be totally lost.

Eating today thus far has been strange. I ate a slice of pumpkin bread and a banana at around 10:30 before school and then nothing until around 6:30 when I got home. I was afraid that if I came home that hungry I would be bad, but I wasn't! I ate a normal sized "lunch".

Well, I'm off to skim through my soaps and then do tonights homework. Ugh. Work work work... haha.

Talk to everyone later!

Nancy, Doesn't it just feel great when you know just a few short months ago you were huffin' and puffin' doing something and now you can do the same thing faster and not be out of breath!! Good for you and also good that your getting your apartment decorated.

Annie, nope, I didn't hear a word from him. And to be honest, I don't think I will for some time. I guess there is a lesson in here somewhere that I have to learn as well as my son.
I'm sure you will be able to get thru this stage of the lapband process. Look how far you've come and all the obstacles you've overcome. Heck...a few 'ol protein shakes, you can do it!! We're all so proud of you!

Lindsay, nope, we don't pick the blackberries. When we first moved here we did but they just seem to have a "wild" taste to them. I tried to make a cobbler out of them and it just tasted weird. If you want some, I sure can send em your way! I'm glad you got to meet with your fellow students. It will be a great way to make some new friends. Don't starve yourself...that's just a set up to binge big time....remember, small meals 5 times a day.

Debbie

Thanks for your well wishes everyone. The first class went great.

I get nervous because I'm excited and just want to START already. And yes, the class tomorrow will be almost as bad as the class today!

Lindsey -- I knew there had to be a reason no one sits at the front! Never thought of that!

Good job on organized studying. I think it really helps in so many ways!

Annie -- What kind of protein shake are you eating? I love love love the ones I make after my workout. It's whey protein powder, and then some OJ and frozen fruit. They are yummy... but I'm betting you're on a different kind, huh??? good luck hun!

Hi again all!

Wow Meta, 5 bags of clothes? That's phenomental. I always need a sidekick, even a virtual one who will ride with me. Pump some tires up and let's go!

Battle, Mom made lifetime at WW this past week. She looks good. Had to lose 18 lbs, I think. She's been great at encouraging me. In the past, I would take it as being judgemental. As I grow older, I see where she has really tried to help without really understanding the issues that morbidly obese have. I guess as I get older, I understand her more (maybe it works both ways! hehe).

Debbie, gratz on getting outside and walking!! I wonder where the horse barn and shed are? They'd probably be near a road or cutaway, right? I wonder why the blackberries taste different. I have a recipe for Blackberry Buckle, it's like a low sugar coffee cake. Let me know if you want it sent.

Nancy, I am going to try your attitude experiment. I was sooo negative before the bike ride because of TOM and feeling fat in general. Good job feeling that NSV!!

Hi NLWOHorses, kiss those hay burners for me!!

Ammi, Mom (aka BikerMa) lives 5.5 hrs away in another city. She goes to spin class with an old boss of hers (who is my age, btw and has lost 150 lbs and is strong too!). Guess I'm needing to find me a spin class for this winter, huh?? Mom TORE up the hills. What a cool lady.

Annie, when I had my partial gastrectomy (to remove ulcers and polyp/scar tissue), I also had to do the liquids, then baby food, then mushed, etc. I remember those days (it was in 2004). I hated every one of those protein shakes! lol. Keep up the great work. This phase will be over soon.

Lindsey, coolness about finding a calculus group! I did poorly in Calc I, but better in the later classes (II and III). I guess I could deal with imaginary numbers easier hehe.

I took today off and just caught up on sleep. It's hard for me to sleep in a hotel room (even though it was a nice room). When I'm overtired, I sleep with my mouth open and do my Darth Vader impression with my cpap going. That means the air is going out of my mouth inside of inside me. Makes for waking up with a very very dried out mouth. Bleh!

My weekend NSV was that I was able to wear the XXL shirt that was given out at the bicycle ride (haven't been able in the past).

Hugs and Love to all!
Ratkity

Ammi its a deal... from now on when i am on the road i will eat the veggies instead of the carbs!

hi Annie and Lindsey !

Wyllenn, you'll be just as great tomorrow in your class! hehe about the empty front row. As a kid, I used to sit on the right side in the front. It took until I went music lessons in 6th grade that I found out my right eye was nearly blind without correction and I was very near-sighted in general! No wonder I did poorly on the left side or in the back.

Annie, I remember after my tummy surgery in 2004 that I wasn't supposed to have citrus for the first few months. I was taking ground up prevacid too. Things might have changed since then, and since it's a different type of surgery as well. I hated all those protein drinks! hehe. I think I have a $30 tub of whey powder left. I'll eventually throw it away.. hehe.

Luv,
Ratkity

Hi guys - Sorry I'm so bad at the back and forth thing... I am reading/lurking though everyone seems to be doing very well. You all rock.

Hello All,

Well I made it through my first 24 hours back on track and I had 1.5 points spare I did 130 mins of exercise too. So far today all is going well. I’ve done 80 mins of exercise already, had my breakfast and am feeling very optimistic about losing some more lbs. I have often read about if you visualise the ‘new’ you that you are aiming for that it really helps with exercise. I tried it today and I am happy to say it really works. There I was cycling away, feeling a bit bored. I had my MP3 player on, and when a particularly feel good song came on I close my eyes and pictured me easily getting on a roller coaster, pulling the bar down, strapping the belt and then having a great ride. In reality two things happened, I started cycling faster, feeling really happy and no longer bored, but on the down side, when I had my eyes shut a wasp flew in the window and I only opened my eyes just in time when it headed straight for me So note to self, by all means picture the new me, but do it with the windows shut

Annie - phew, glad I got out of my spanking I got your email, I’ll answer it after my next lot of exercising. Hope you are feeling well today

Lindsey - for having faith in me that I will stay OP and have a brill time at the amusement park. I must admit that with yours and everybody else’s encouragement and support I do feel like I CAN do it

I hope you got all your homework done and didn’t get too caught up in your soaps Which ones do you like to watch?

Debbie - I know this is a cliché but absence does make the heart grow fonder. Maybe your son will realise what a great mom you are once he’s away from you and realises just how much he relied on you in the past etc. Of course I don’t know the whole story about what happened, but I like to be optimistic so I hope that it will all come good between you both

Heather - so glad that your first day back was so great. There I was thinking you felt sick with nerves at meeting new students, but nope, you just felt sick with excitement. That’s a much better reason to feel sick It must be great to be in a profession that you love so much.

Rat - did your mom and you start your weight loss journey’s together? Either way you are both doing fabulously, and your mum must feel so fantastic at her age to have so much strength and stamina. She’s definitely an inspiration to you I should imagine

on being able to wear the shirt they gave out for the bike ride. Hope you got a photo taken of you wearing it and that you post it on the pic page !!

Patti - glad we’ve got a deal, mind you I won’t hold you to not eating any carbs while you are on the road. It will be hard to make sure you get to eat lots of vegetables instead. Just try your best. When are you heading off again, and where to?

Muse - thanks for saying hi Lurking is just fine especially if what you read helps to keep you on track. But it’s always nice to pop on and say hi too

Ok emailing time, I’ll try to post again later when I come back on to post my exercise minutes tonight

Hugs,

Ammi

Thanks everyone for the support!! You all are awesome!

I stayed completely OP yesterday and even got in 30 mins of walking (thats all I have for a lunch break, but its something!!). I have a cleaning at the dentist this AM, so I have more time and will take two of the dogs and head into the woods for a hike soon. I know exercise is my key to success. I do better and feel better when doing something regularly.

Have a great day everyone!

Ammi -- I was about the wasp!!! You GO!!!!

Good Morning!

Just a quickie to let you know I posted pics of Jack and the before and after of our house.

I will be back later after PT, because I have to leave early due to the fact that I have to get to the vet's and pick up medicine for roundworm . And so it begins!!

Have a great OP day!

Ammie not sure where or when i will go again.. it depends on where Jim goes. i will try harder to eat better on the road.. there is really o excuse not too.i think i am finally getting my determination back
!