Hi everyone.

Pat - I think its a great idea to start focusing in on the positives. I need to do that too. And staying out of that cookie jar is a great positive. I know how those cookies call to you. I hope that Darrell and Laura are feeling better and that you're able to avoid whatever it is that they had.

Judy - Good for you for getting those walks in in the morning. We have soup in our house too. John's been a soup making fool. He made two different kinds over the weekend and then yesterday Ana asked him to make chicken soup, so we have that too. And all of them are point friendly, so I'm set for dinners for awhile! I used to get alcohol baths too. I seem to remember reading that it's not recommended, but we all lived. I put her in a tepid bath and sponged her down. I had known to do that from reading various child care books and while we were waiting for the doctor to call back, we called my sister, who's a nurse, and the first words out of her mouth were "get her in a tepid bath, now." Intellectually, I knew everything to do, but emotionally I was a basket case.

Karen C - Good for you for thinking of yourself. You're right, walking around on eggshells isn't good for you. Whatever Garrot may be going through, your feelings count too. Congratulations on the maintain. Clearly, you did more things right than wrong last week.

My weigh-in has me up by 8/10s. It's a real bummer because my sneak peek on Monday had me down by 4 pounds. I know I wasn't good with water on Monday and I had salty food yesterday. My goal for this week is to drink eight glasses of water a day, no matter what. I have to be really diligent today as I'm home again. Ana developed another fever this morning and she's got a hacking cough. Luckily she's napping right now. That's how I know she's really feeling sick. She hasn't ever taken a morning nap for us.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
269.7/268.2/140 (243 - 1st 10%)

Hi Everyone!

Carla, don't you wish you could afford to throw the scale at the wall?! I know that if you can get your 8 glasses a day in, it'll make a big difference. I refill a water bottle and drink 4 a day, somehow it fools me into thinking I have to drink less. Sorry to hear that Ana is so unwell; fevers can be scary things. It must be strange to be home and and have her sleeping and not racing around.

Karen, congrats on the maintain; it's a great accomplishment. Good for you for getting your feelings off your chest last night. Being assertive is empowering. I can't say enough about my treadmill; I know it's the big reason the weight is coming off.

Judy, your sneak peak will prove wrong! With all that water, that sodium will be history. Too bad you can't close the kitchen with your DH snacking!

Pat, hope you're feeling better. It's that time of year isn't it? Good for you for foregoing the cookies at your sister's. I like Carla's "if you bite it, write it" I know that recording everything keeps the lid on for me. I was never good at written journalling, but I don't mind doing it at all with the computer program I'm using.

Michele, hope the work thing sorts itself out. Are you eating enough now?

Eating on track today, it's going to be tough to motivate myself to exercise, though. It pouring rain; I just want to curl up with a book by the fireplace.

Have a great day...

Karen B

It's awful quiet in here today. Hope everyone is doing okay and the weather isn't too bad.

Karen B - I got a kick out of throwing the scale! I have come close, but usually just give it a good shaking. Hope you got motivated to exercise yesterday.

Carla, sorry about the weigh in, like Karen B said, just keep up the water and it will show up next week.

Everything is okay here, it's a gray rainy day. Went shopping and noticed all the Easter candy is out along with the Valentine's candy. Just got me a little pack of Peeps, my favorite non-chocolate treat, which I will save for an after dinner snack, actually 3 after dinner snacks. I gotta watch those portions!

Good Morning!

Had trouble getting to this site, guess that's why it's been so quiet...well, I did find the energy to do 45 minutes on the treadmill yesterday; good thing too, as two of my friends came over last night and we got into chocolate martinis! I ended up a little over for the day, but can remedy that by behaving today. This morning I took the dogs for a run by the river (they ran, I walked). I'm home today because this morning after I had my shower, I came downstairs to find water coming through the ceiling in the family room . Then I wondered why the house was so chilly, and discovered the furnace isn't working. So I'm hanging around waiting for the insurance guy and the furnace guy to turn up.

Karen C - that's great that you can make Peeps last for 3 snacks! What will power. I'm more of a chocolate fan...but I can never just eat some and save the rest till later; it's now or never for me! Your weather sound like ours, only it actually stopped raining for a while this morning.

Hope everyone is doing great.

Karen B

Good Morning! Sorry I was MIA.

Karen-I hope things are not too bad with the furnace, thank goodness for insurance! You walk/run with the dogs sounds wonderful. Chocolate Martini? That sounds wonderful too Great job on treadmill!!

Karen-Peeps? That is one snack I can avoid, but great job on making it last 3 snacks. I have to buy Bobby all the candy I do not like for Easter and Valentines so I am not tempted, Chocolate is also my downfall. Dark Chocolate is killer for me. The town we live in is very small and there are not really any afterschool activities that he could get too. There is no busing and walking would be too far. THe town I am in does not even have a stop light in it. I was really looking to being home with him and spending that quality time with him. By the time I get home I am cooking supper and running him to some sort of sporting event, or I am going to Jazzercise. The extra couple of hours was sounding really good to me. I am not giving up, just giving it a rest until his personal life evens out.


Carla-Glad you had an uneventful trip, sorry your daughter was not feeling good. That temp. would have scared me too!! I love soup, I have a great point friendly recipe for chicken tortilla soup if you are interested.

Judy-Thanks for the support about job, I have a lot of thinking to do about a lot of things with this job. We are very slow right now and I have a LOT of down time.

Things are ok here, bored to tears at work but it is Friday so I will bite the bullet as they say. Going out to dinner on Sunday for BIL birthday, don't like the rest. so should be easy to eat OP. Weigh in on Monday NO matter what. Hoping for a loss, but will take a maintain with a smile. We have decided on going on a family vacation next year so that is giving me something to look forward to and occupy my time at work surfing looking for a good place. I did find a place in Aruba that kids under 18 are FREE and all inclusive so I will keep that in mind. April 2003 though, LONG time to wait. Should be no problem making goal by then


Well I hope you all have a great weekend.

Oh, have on a pair of old goal jeans today and they are actually comfortable Its a great feeling.

Good Morning!

Friday at last! Have to watch the points today as we're going to a Mardi Gras party for a couple of hours tonight. I could live without going, but it's a fundraiser that a friend is doing. The furnace is back up and running, the shower is out of commission for a few more days, they're going to have to cut a hole in the family room ceiling and find out where the water was coming from, but that's not until sometime next week. Luckily it isn't the only shower!

Michele - congratulations on the jeans! That must make you feel great. It's exciting enough to be able to squeeze into a pair that used to fit, but to have them comfy...

Hi Karen, Judy, Carla, & Pat. Hope you're all having a good one! Have a great weekend.

Karen B

Karen C - Congratulations on the maintain after a rough week. I'm sorry to hear that your back is still acting up. I glad you are feeling better about yourself and were able to talk to Garrott - that's really necessary for a relationship.

Carla - Sorry to hear about that little gain but you know it's water and it will be gone soon with the water you'll be drinking. That's great about John making all that soup - good food, good with points and quick to warm up for dinner. Hmmm, a tepid bath. I'll have to remember that if Anthony ever runs a high fever while we are babysitting him. I would be a basket case too - it's great that your sister is a nurse - so is Krista! I'm sorry to hear Ana is sick again - I hope she's feeling better today.

Karen B - sorry to hear about your rainy weather - it does make it harder to get out and exercise. Good for you for getting on the treadmill. Sorry to hear about the house problems. Good luck at the party - do you have a strategy (like having 2 club sodas for each drink. etc)?

Michelle - congrats on those old jeans feeling comfortable - that's a sure sign of your progress and I'm sure it feels great! Aruba is lovely - not in the path of hurricanes, hardly rains but pretty windy. The people are very friendly - of course, I was there 10 years ago but I loved it.

Sorry I was MIA yesterday. It was busy at work & then we had a wake to go to in the evening (actually Imet Tony there - he went from work). The wake was for Tony's aunt who died at 90 and had been sick for a while. Still, my father-in-law was pretty upset. We met right after the afternoon session and ended up going out to an Italien restaurant with some of Tony's cousins (very unplanned as far as my week went) but I did pretty well. I had just a very small taste of the hot & cold antipasti and had a fish dish oregonata (sp?) which didn't seem to laden with anything "bad". Sneak peek was still OK this morning (same as last week) so I hope that with lots of water today and good point management I can see a loss tomorrow.

I hope to get back here later but I have an appt with my orthopedist this afternoon (monthly follow up visit), so just in case I don't get back on, have a great weekend.

Judy

Hi everybody!

Looks like everybody is staying OP, plugging away at getting thinner.

Thanks all for your welcome here. I am on this ER4YT plan and it seems to be working pretty well. I kind of have that detox feeling - a little achy, a little headachy, lots of trips to the bathroom, etc. but the sluggishness is gone and I feel more myself. I miss chocolate the most! I've found that dried bing cherries are awfully close, though, and nice and chewy. I've lost about 9 pounds this week but I know a lot of it is water weight. I just hope the scale keeps going down, down, down.

Hmm.. Aruba sounds pretty good right now! Except I would just about puke to put on a bathing suit at this weight!!

Karen, sounds like your house is giving you fits. Hope it gets fixed soon!

Judy, good luck with the ortho today.

Oops, gotta run. Work is really keeping me busy lately.

Jennifa

Hi everyone.

Sorry I was MIA yesterday. I was home again yesterday with Ana. She was feeling better, but had decided to share whatever she had with me. But I'm back at work today and she's back in daycare. Hopefully, John will stay healthy.

Karen B - Yep, sometimes I just want to pitch that scale out the window. Of course, it's not the scale's fault, but, the "kill the messenger" impulse does take over. Yikes, what a day with the roof leaking and the furnace out. Have fun at your Mardi Gras party tonight!

Karen C - I like Peeps too, but don't think I could make them last for three servings. My favorites, though, are the Robin Eggs (the candy-coated malt balls) and some things I don't know the name of but they're big and kind of marshmellowy, but not as sticky, inside and covered with a candy coating.

Michele - I'd love the recipe for Chicken Tortilla soup. Hope that the day doesn't pass too slowly for you. It's far worse, IMO, to not have enough to do than to be busy.

Judy - Sorry to hear about Tony's aunt. Sounds like you did really well at the restaurant last night. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the scale cooperates with you.

Jennifa - Glad to see you and to hear that your new plan is working for you.

The scale was kinder to me yesterday and showed me a loss, so now I'll work on making that permanent. Nothing much planned this weekend other than a party to go to on Saturday night. I don't plan on staying too terribly long since I'm still not feeling 100%, so I shouldn't be able to do too much damage there. Other than that, we'll probably spend a good portion of the time watching the Olympics and trying to finish all that soup that John made.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Carla

Hi Everyone, Couldn't get into the sight all day, so I know you've all gone home and turned off the computers for the weekend! Oh well, just wanted to say hi!

Judy, so sorry about the aunt, you handled it well. It is depressing no matter how little you knew her, and that's always a sure way for me to overindulge. Glad you didn't have a problem at the restaurant.

Michele, I hope you can work out something with the boss soon. It's a drag having things unsettled.

Carla, glad you and Ana are feeling better. Sounds like a great plan for the weekend, wish I could come over!

Karen B, YIKES! Why is it always that bad things come in multiples? Glad the furnace is fixed anyway. Have fun at the party. Hey, I can make Peeps last, but I have no willpower with chocolate either!

Jennifa, HI! So glad you stopped by, tell me more about the blood type diet. I'm glad it's working! I know WW isn't for everyone, my husband does well on low carb, and has been doing it for years.

Had marriage counseling this morning, got a lot off my chest with the counselor so that was good. Then over to the mall! Got a new purse and 4 new blouses! Fun, fun, fun! More shopping tomorrow, but like Carla, I'll spend most of my time this weekend watching the Olympics. The opening ceremony should be outstanding tonight. Have a great weekend everyone.

Who says we're all gone for the w/e? I'm still here, Karen C!
Sounds like you had a great shopping trip, and I'll bet you feel lighter just from unburdening at the MC.

Carla, sorry you're feeling under the weather. I'm an absolute Olympic junky, I'll be joining you in being glued to the TV. Glad to hear that the scale showed you a loss today (obviously it's living in fear of getting thrown!)

Judy, sorry about Tony's dear old aunt. You did well at the restaurant. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for your fifth consectuive loss!!

Jennifa, glad you decided to stick around!! Tell us about ER4YT, and what type you are! Nice loss, too!!!

Have a great weekend,

Karen B

Hi everybody,

Karen B, Cece, Phoinix, I hope the Olympics inspire you to be exercise goddesses!

Pat, Cece, hope you and yours are feeling better soon. Nothing sabotages weight loss efforts like "I'm sick, I need it" thinking.

Judy, sorry to hear about your loss. But way to go at the restaurant. Sounds like a good example you have set for yourself.

The ER4YT plan is rather difficult as I'm a vegetarian O and Os are supposed to eat meat. Well, there's ways
around it. So it's been hard but here I am a whole week later and I am still here so it can't be that bad. I am really hoping
that this plan works. The WW "you can eat anything as long as you count it" cheer worked wonders in the opposite
way on my waistline. So here I am eating nothing that is bad for me and journalling like mad. I'm frustrated at gaining 20 pounds in one month without trying and this WOE is an attempt to get my body back into some kind of reasonable control. I don't know how much I weigh now but I'm weighing in on the 18th, I'll post it then.

Meanwhile hope you all have a great OP weekend. And you had better stay OP - if I can go without wheat, dairy and
sugar for a whole week, you had better not be cheating on your plans!! I even went out to a bar this weekend and had cranberry juice! It's doable, and here's a pretty harsh mantra: Excuses are all you will be left with if you make them.

Jennifa