Rattkity I'm sorry you're having such a terrible time at work. I know first hand how that feels. It's good you went to the 2nd tier supervisor. I'm proud of the way you handled it. I also understand stress eating. Big time! I think going to employee assistance is a wonderful idea. It never hurts anyone to talk to a professional about emotions. I personally think it helps you grow as an individual. Hang in there! xxoo

Julee, Those parents are morons! I would seriously consider bring in child services. 600 is way to high. Sugars over 150, we were told, start doing damage to your
veins and arteries. Imagine what 600 does. My mom had diabetes, and she passed last August from complications to diabetes ....kidney failure. She died even though she was on dialysis and kept her sugars normal. But, she didn't always take her diet seriously. And she smoked. I certainly hope someone can get through to this family that 600 is not acceptable. I'm very upset about the parents not even going to the er. It's dumbfounding.

..Penny How cool about your daughter at state. That is so cool. Please pass my congratulations to her.

Val What an amazing experience. I can just see you and Gabe in the snow. I also know it's a huge, huge accomplishment from when I first "met" you. Keep up the good work. ....and I always do care to hear about Gabe.

Walrus, You're a riot! I was so glad to hear I'm not the only one with several
projects started at the same time in different stages. It's almost sad when they're done. But, I hope to have one of them finished by the end of April. The pathetic thing, is it would only take me one day if I could just do that. But, I have to get it done before my daughter's softball season starts. That's a must..... hey, it starts in April. And don't you dare do too much on that leg. I had knee surgery once. Believe me, you don't want to rush it.

I think I'm well enough to go to work tomorrow. I'm certainly gonna try. I actually miss my work and my friends there.
I think I'm gonna make chili for dinner tonight. It's a little chilly outside and it's damp. So chili will be a wonderful comfort food. .......and I don't have to feel guilty about eating it.

Hugs to all, I'll catch up with all y'all later.
Sandy

Carol, YAY!! You finally got to get your hands dirty. Didn't it feel great? I can't wait to get back out there but it's rain for the next few days with a cold front following. O well, I can at least get ready to start my garden veggies inside.

Debi, yes, rearranging is one of my fave things to do too but in this house it's hard. Not enough walls and too much open space. But I can move couches around and little things to make it look different. Painting the walls made a BIG difference too.
Hope you and your daughter get to feeling better soon.

Catherine, Yep, I think we will be on the thyroid meds forever but, getting off all the others will be great, which I'm doing now. I just dropped my last bp one. And I feel fine and my pressure has been great. I'm not taking my diabetes anymore as it seems to be staying in the normal range. It feels good to be off of all that and the big plus is saving the money I used to have to spend every month.

wyoming, where abouts in NY are you? My niece just moved there last year to Queens. She's trying to break into acting but right now she is doing medical billing. She used to be in alot of plays and from what I hear, was really good. I keep telling her to try out for "I Wanna Be A Soap Star". Here I thought you guys were getting all kinds of snow. At least that's what it looked like when they show the weather map here. I hope you get some soon.

Tina, congrats on the 1 lb loss!! It's great that you are showing your daughter how to eat like "normal" people. At least what we think they eat. LOL. I think your doing the right approach on not saying it's a diet so she doesn't end up having a bad relationship with food. Keep up the good work because you are seeing results!

Rainbowsmiles, I just love Paula Deen. She's a messy cook but has so much fun. Her shows are great. I bet it was fun going there and eating some of her great foods.

Annie, I'm so afraid by the time next winter gets here that my beautiful new jacket I just bought will be way too big! I'm going to wear it anyhow. even if the sleeves are dragging on the ground! I think the charm bracelet idea is great. I don't wear much jewelry though so I have to reward myself in different ways but that is awesome to buy a charm for each goal. A great way to look back at your journey.

Sandy, Wow! That's a great NSV to be down to 2-3x from a 5x. You're doing great!!

Julee, what a traumatic weekend, huh? I would of been there to ER in a flash too. I don't understand some parents. You're a great person to be working with those kids. They definitely need you and more people like you. So hard to deal with food issues when you're away like that but it sounds like you did ok. Sorry the mil is being like that. She'll regret it later.

Ratkity, it sounds like you need one. Take care of yourself.

worthapenny, whew! sounds like you are one busy lady. It's great that your whole family is eating healthier and better. It makes it easier for everyone when you're all on the same page.

Val, so glad to see you back and posting. What an awesome ride that must of been!!!! It sounds like he's come such a long way! That must of been a beautiful ride with all the snow. I'm so thrilled for you. What a motivator huh?

thewalrus, O I sure hope you get to start using your leg again. It's so hard to be trapped on the couch. Good luck at the docs on Friday.

Hope everyone is having a great day no matter what the weather. Keep OP, exercising and thinking happy thoughts to keep us all motivated. Hurray for the losers and hugs to the ones struggling.
Not much going on here so I think I'll find something to get into.
Debbie

Good afternoon all,

You miss a few days and wow, look at all the posts. I was busy this morning and see that this week's thread is off and running. I think I'll give up on trying to respond to last week's posts, and try and keep up this week.

I went out this morning and got my weights. I did manage to get the 72-lb box into the cart, and into the truck, but decided to open it in the driveway and bring the weights in separately. No point in killing myself on day one. It's a beautiful sunny day here today, although still pretty cold. The long term forecast shows some warming later in the week, but all that's likely going to bring in water in the crawl space. You just can't win.

Carol - I seem to have been running behind all day myself. I suspect that the time change will eventually work itself out, but I really had a tough time getting to sleep last night.

Debimitch - I think the problem is that we just have piles and piles of snow. If it rains I'm not sure where it will go. Hope that sore throat is just a morning thing. Everyone I know seems to be sick lately. It's made staying at home (being a hermit) not such a bad thing. That's so sad, about the girl you were babysitting. There has to be a better way to deal with changes. I've been skimming through this season of the Biggest Loser. There was one episode where they go home for a week, and one of the guys was trying to stop his kids from eating all the junk they were used to. I was thinking that his sudden stopping of foods they were used to was likely only going to want them more. I think the better the lifestyle of the parents - hopefully - the better adjusted the kids will be. I mean look at me - father sneaking food off his diabetic diet, and a mother who still sneaks candy into the house even though she's only a few pounds over where she should be.

Babybear - I was almost the same, although it was mother and father. My mother would try and control what I was eating, then my father would give me what I wanted. It was the same with other things as well (ie. my mother would ground me, and my father would let me do what I wasn't supposed to). I don't ever remember specifically being told to diet, but it felt like it. It probably didn't help that my father was diagnosed with diabetes while I was young. Because of that we changed our eating habits, but my father cheated from his new diet as well. So we did this together. Kind of a bonding thing.

rainbowsmiles - hello there. I've seen Paula's show, but not sure I'd trust myself in the restaurant, well not yet. It sounds like you had a good time, so that's great. I'm very jealous about the weather... really, really jealous!

Sandybar - I worry about the sagging skin from time to time, but I decided I'll live with it when the time comes. I've decided I'll wait until I'm under 300 to go through the closet. I know I have some things from when I got down to 280, so I won't need any new stuff for a while. I'll be cheap though and have some of my favourites altered. In fact, I think there are a few that I'd already had done, so it will be nice to wear them again.

Julee - it's always bad when someone else is providing the food. I spent last winter with someone cooking all the meals for us. It sounds good (and the food was reasonably good), but by the time I got home I missed just cooking something I wanted. I thought I'd done a pretty good job of maintaining the weight I was when I left, and even being a few down. If I'd been more careful I could have probably lost weight, but the past is past. I'm wondering if the pump itself failed, although it could be like my aunt. When she was younger there were periods where her pancreas would start creating insulin and she would spike her sugar. I'm pretty sure she spent almost a decade in and out of the hospital. She was too far away, and I was too young, to remember the details. I do know that once that phase passed she could control her sugar levels very well, although now that she's older her body is a bit of a wreck from those earlier problems.

Ratkitten - I've had insurance plans in the past that will pay for counselling, but never taken advantage of it when needed. Issues with supervisors are so hard to deal with, or even overall company issues. I was working in a company many years ago and our fill-in HR guy took myself and another employee aside. He said that as much as he was friends with the current Plant Manager, he was telling us to get out, for our own sakes. He was right, the company didn't promote women, and there were big changes in the wind. The very good plant manager was leaving (which I suspect the HR guy knew), and he was replaced by someone horrible. There was no future for either of us there. I left, going to a better job. My friend stayed and had an idiot promoted to be her boss. Things did not go well, since he was a serious problem. It's so hard when you're doing your best, but others are impeding your progress. I hope you get the help you need (from either the people higher up, or some outside help).

Penny - I keep thinking about how well your whole family is doing with having a better lifestyle. I think it's wonderful. Helping your kids gain good habits while they're young is the best gift you can give them.

Val - I commented on your ride in the other thread, but just adding another 'way to go' here.

TheWalrus - I'm betting that just about the time you get back into your knitting it will be time to get up and moving around. That seems to be the way it always goes.


Well, I started this before my afternoon exercising, and had to take a break to finish it up. All I can say is that I'm not sure my strength training before this prepared me. To some extent I did okay until the last exercise set. It's to be done on an exercise ball, which I've never used. Without going into too much detail, you're supposed to start with your shins on the ball (supporting your body with your hands). Then you are supposed to tuck in, ending up with your feet on the ball. This is the point where I usually fall off the freakin' ball! Oh well, this just leaves me looking forward to Wednesday's crunches using the ball. I better clear the room of anything I could crack my head on...

Rat: I actually was not involved at all. I didn't find out what was going on until after the fact. My job at that moment was to keep the kids in the room where I was from going into the lobby so they could treat her without too many onlookers. The parents argued with the 2 physicians who were there about her needing to go to the ER (2 volunteer parents who are both licensed MDs). If that's the first time it happened..hello...time to see what's what. I know that when DH's sugars go abover 120 I panic (even though he tells me not to). I have seen my share of hyper-reactive parents as well...but these parents lived not too far from where we were and not out of state...I can't see the logic.

DH has been having a rough time at work with his supervisor as well. he finally got fed up and wrote up his grievances and asked the next higher up for a transfer. She asked if he had addressed the problem directly and bumped it back down...argh. Things haven't really gotten better or worse...the supervisor seems to have back off a little bit but in a weird way.

I wish I were still in bed. Really I do.

Oh dear, I seem to be getting behind in the reading. And of course, I'm MILES behind with the posting.

I noticed that some people have been mentioning charm bracelets and I just wanted to say that I picked up my second charm on the weekend. I am getting myself a charm for every year of maintaining my weight loss. I reached my 'goal' (adjusted, because my original goal was a little low) around the middle of March 2006, so the purchase was a week early, but I figured that I would pick up the charm I wanted when I found it, and I also figured that I wouldn't gain my weight back in the next week. Actually I'm down 2lbs to 170lbs, which is VERY nice.

My first charm was a heart locket, which I had to change over the weekend for a normal heart charm, still very pretty, but the locket kept getting wet when I washed my hands, and just wasn't working, so I will put it onto a necklace at some time. I got the heart because I had lost the weight to improve my health/heart and because I was learning to love myself again. I also lost the weight for love in a way, because I wanted to live longer to be with my husband longer.

My second charm is a butterfly, because I have certainly come out of my coccoon and am ready to FLY! Actually I've been flying for a while now, so the butterfly was SO appropriate.

Catch you all soon.

Zelma

I spent 90 minutes in the pool today. I stayed after class for 500 extra crunches, and when that didn't get my heart rate up high enough, I just started doing laps. The lifeguards are looking at me very strangely. Women my size are not supposed to be able to keep up with the instructors, and then doing laps and crunches was just beyond their ability to understand. It's a small enough pool that they know all the regulars. He didn't come with me today because of meetings, and I warned him that there might be some cute guys at the pool, and this one lifeguard is young and cute. So I told himself when I got home that I had a long conversation with him. Any incentive it takes to get santa into the pool with me, I'm capable of pulling. The lifeguard may be cute, but I've got honest to God underwear that is older than he is. I think he was talking to me just to make sure I was actually still breathing.

Catherine, you are so funny. That lifeguard was probably thinking he was clever by talking to you to see if you were still among the living. You knew better!! hehe. When I was bicycle riding at my highest weight, I would shock other cyclists by zooming by at a decent pace. Who'd have thunk that a fat woman could be strong or stronger then they were?? When someone would say something about my strength, it just proved to me one more time that discrimination (the fat/lazy stereotype) was alive and well. I try not to see the insult in the comments or curiosity, but am very sensitive at the same time.

Julee, I have gone through the chain of command with my concerns and I have not started any grievance processes or threatened to start them. Those are formal procedures in the gov't (I work for the feds). I made it clear to the 2nd tier boss that I wanted the least confrontational solutions available so there is room for change. My boss is a nice lady, just clueless and a micromanager.

I wanted to update ya'll that I made a call to employee assistance (EAP) and have started the process to get an appointment. I even took a one hour online course about tips for stress management. It was a little hokey (sp), but not too bad. Even little things are side-tracking me and my productivity has declined. I'm lucky the gov't provides EAP services.

Hugs and Luv and thank you for the support! You ladies and gents ROCK!
Ratkitten

Hi everyone,

I am still struggling. Today is going ok so far, but I have a banquet dinner coming up tonight and not too many calories left to use. I think I'll do ok, as I'm not terribly hungry and not feeling in a danger zone.

I keep falling down but I keep picking myself back up. I can tell that I gained weight, but am not ready to face the scale. Today I am feeling a renewed sense of commitment, and hopefully will continue with more focus through the rest of the week.

I think I need to get rid of the popcorn in my office. I'm finding this to be a binge food no matter how I work it out. I went for many months being able to eat it, but I think it needs to stay out of my life for a while.

Sandy: I hope you feel healthy and ready for the day tomorrow. I hear what you're saying about the saggy skin. Imagine on top of your own feelings about it, being single and worrying about how the next Mr. Possibly Right might react. I was recently talking to a male friend who shared with me that his girlfriend, who lost 88 lbs before they met, has a terrible, deflated, saggy body that he does not find enticing (although he cares deeply for her and still is attracted to her). I don't know why he shared this with me (or anyone, but especially me) given my circumstances.

There really is no choice but to live with the saggy skin--that or continue the death march that we were all on. For most of us, there is no modeling contract in our future, but at least we'll be healthy and able to join in on all life offers.

Anne: I have thought about an exercise ball, but am afraid I will kill myself on the thing. Grace is not my middle name. How'd it go?

Rainbow: Oh, my, gosh, I would have stuffed myself silly at Paula Deen's restaurant. In a way I'm glad that her restaurant is thousands of miles away from me. I love her soooo much but man is she the Queen of Heart Attacks on a Plate! Friends of mine went on a Paula Deen tour last year.

Rat: I have availed myself of the EAP counselors from time to time, with mixed results. It can't hurt to try to get some support, and to set aside some time where you are working on figuring out how to find your peace again.

Sorry to hear the job is stressful. I hope something is done about your supervisor.

Zelma: charms are a great way to celebrate continued success. To be reminded every time you look down what you did for yourself

Catherine - some of my best male friends when I was in highschool were lifeguards at the pool we swam at. I hung out most of the day and eventually just hung out with some of them. I think to some extent it's something people do who are people person. Enjoy.

BattleAx - it was not pretty. I understand that if I take a little air out of it I could have less stability problems. My little (117) mother doesn't understand why I'm having such problems. Sometimes she doesn't get that simple exercises can be difficult for me. She sees me on the treadmill or lifting things, but doesn't understand that I'm not the most flexible person in the world. I'll be trying the crunches on Wed. And for the next 8 weeks, I'll be using it three days a week. Thankfully, only for one set of exercises.

Anne, I'm sorta leary of those balls. I loose my balance to easily. I even have to hold on to the treadmill at times because I loose balance. I don't know if that is due to my weight or what.
When you get a chance, could you tell me the workouts you do with your weights. I've got 8 pounders to start with and don't have a large amount of moves to do with them. Brain dead, I guess.

Ratkity, so glad to hear you're in the process of getting help. There's nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it!

Battle, YaY! for getting back on track. Anything we can do to help? I know it can be so hard to stay motivated. Sometimes something clicks and you can get back OP so I'm glad to hear you heard a loud click!!

Last night I was in the shower and I feel......squishy. Before all my fat held my skin firm, but now it's like jello. Ick. I have to keep thinking that I'm getting healthier, which I am, but icky squishy skin....ew. Just one more thing we all have to deal with. I wish I had of done this years ago to where it might have gone back better, but, live and learn.
Ok, gonna get back on the treadmill. Did 24 min. @ 2.7mph, earlier. Wanna at least get to 30 or 40 with some jogging.
toodles,
Debbie

Sandy: congrats on getting all those clothes out of your closet. You won't need them again! Ya, the skin thing is a bummer. I am already planning to have surgery on my tummy. My tummy skin is sooo huge right now. I can't even imagine what it will look like in another 122 pound loss. I have a plan for tummy tuck hopefully next year at this time. Hugs to you. I hope that when you do your family thing on April 18th it goes well and you feel proud of yourself. June 21st is a ways away but it will come upon us quickly. I am rooting for you sweetie to get to the goal weights you want by those dates. You can do it Sandy. Hugs.

Julee: wow. What a weekend you had. I hope you can rest today at some point and feel better.

Ratkitten: so glad that you got an appointment. I hope you get some answers and help. Hugs.

Worthapenny: You need to schedule it in. That is the only way I can fit exercise in daily. I schedule it in like it is an appointment and it actually is, an appointment with me.

VAl: I am soooooo happy for you to ride Gabe and have such a wonderful experience. I sure miss you around here girl. Sorry you are struggling. How is work going? How is Bill and the evil SD? I hope you are doing wonderful my friend.

Walrus: good luck on your leg results.

Debbie: I hear ya on the jacket thing. I wore my two new big heavy jackets this year but they absolutely don't fit me at all anymore and they look rediculous. I have two more that look just as bad but I am keeping one until the weather gets a bit better and the other one too just for a bit. Hopefully by the time I have my yard sale I will be able to put them in it too.

Anne: How do you feel after the weights? I use my ball pretty much daily. I do situps/crunches with it and I also do push ups with my shins on it. I still get the work out but not as much work as if I were doing it with no ball.

Zelma: Your charms sound lovely and well desearved. Hugs.

Catherine: I'm so proud of you for the pool today. You are doing so wonderful.

Battle: Hugs and hi. I hope you manage well tonight at the banquet.

My day was so peacful today as my supervisor from H#ll was gone. She will be back tomorrow though UGH! I am really picking up on the clients lately. It is kind of sad. I did all the intakes today and well, there were only 2 but the other two voc consultants didn't even try to help so that made me feel okay at least I am doing my share and then some. Tomorrow I have 3 new clients scheduled plus another intake day. We have 32 intakes scheduled for tomorrow. Usually not all of them show up probably like 50 percent so if 16 show up we can divide that by 3 vocs and it won't be too bad. No new news about our company but supposedly we have some for tomorrow. Usually they don't say too much. I wish it was just over or not already. lol. I have applied for about 8 jobs since last Friday so I hope someone calls. I'm sure someone will eventually. It seems that lots of companies take apps and resumes for quite a while then start deciding. I have a job for now and I am thankful for the income that is much needed.

I hope you are all doing well and staying op.

blessings,
Annie

Hi all,

Well, I got my test results back. Good news and semi-not good news (but not unexpected). All blood work looked REALLY good...trigs, cholesterol, etc. All but one. It appears I may be pre-diabetic. My fasting blood sugar was 119. My Dr isn't too freaked at this point, because I have been on prednisone and antibiotics quite a bit within the last few months, and apparently that may cause an increase. But I need to be honest with myself. My grandmother had diabetes and died from it in her 40s and my dad has it pretty bad as well (although well into his 60s). I love sweets. I am morbidly obese. Why would I think it's a fluke? So I am taking this as a gracious warning, time to lose weight. And each less refined sugar.

I want to cut the issue off at the pass, and not be prescribed drugs for it. Ever. So, it's time to get busy.

Debbie, you are doing fabulously, and are off the meds. What kind of things do you eat? Any guidance (from anyone) would be greatly appreciated.

Take care and be well,
Angie

Rat-People are surprised by my strength. Have been my whole life. I was a shot putter, clean up hitter, and a weight lifter. I pushed 600 pounds around in a wheelchair for 8 years. Now that is weight training.

OK BOY you gals don't stop yaking do you??? LOL just like a bunch of women even though we use keyboards!!! hehehehe

I got up EXTREMELY late this am!!! we normally get up at 5am....woke up at 6:22!!! I had to shampoo my hair(didn't get it blown dry LOL) So needless to say I didn't get to post anything this am! I tried to login at work....I managed to read a few posts but that was about it!!! LOL

We had a wrestling banquet to go to tonight so I just got home posted all my food & Dh's food on TDP and just now finished reading posts but now its 11:23 & I have to get up early LOL so I will just post a short (ok short for me) LOL

with the banquet tonight (potluck except for the boosters bought Fried Chicken!) I made Ceviche (its a low fat Mexican seafood salad of sorts) I picked up whole wheat chips as well as regular (for others) I ate that as well as some broccolli & bacon salad, 1 deviled egg, and 1/2 slice of baked ham. for dessert I chose Ambrosia (except it had snickers cut up in it! I ate two bites of the candy & had to ask what it was! I couldn't believe I didn't recognize my favorite candy bar taste! Its been well over a month since I've had one!) I also had a small bit of Dirt pudding. I logged EVERYTHING I ate (over estimating some of it since I didn't know the exact recipe) I stayed within my calories as well as fat grams!!! woooohoo!

Oh now for my WI for today! I lost 1lb.........small loss but I did make my Easter Goal! 13 days early Too!!! So I took an additional 7lbs off my bday goal to give myself more of a challenge!

I think the time change hit me this morning! So I'd better get to bed!

Know that my thoughts are with you all!
Bernice

Angie, pretty much what I eat is chicken, turkey, fish and veggies. Once in a while a good cut of beef with all the fat cut off. I don't hardly EVER fry ANYTHING. I try not to eat bread, pasta unless it is whole wheat. I eat alot of salad with light or fat free dressing and TONS of water. I do love my 100 calorie packs though as I'm not too good at portion control. I might buy Skinny Cow goodies once in a while too. But while I was trying to get off of the meds for diabetes, I didn't even have those. It's hard but soooooo worth it not to have to take those darn pills, so yes, do all you can to make sure you don't have to be on meds or even worse, insulin. When I was diagnosed, I asked the doctor if I could try and control it thru diet and exercise. I was fooling myself because I wasn't ready to do that.
I didn't even start exercising til this year but it all helps. Use what the doctor told you as a wake up call and try and control it without the meds. Losing weight helped tremendously in controling it too.

Annie, at least you had one day with that mean supervisor gone! You sound so busy that I bet your days just fly by. Take care of yourself and I hope you hear back from one of the jobs you've applied for soon.

I'm thinking of starting up a little business of healthy goodies. I'm going to see if I can use the kitchen at our club as it has to be a commercial kitchen. I want to try and start selling at the farmer's markets and then move on to bigger shows. Food sells big time at these kind of events. Someday I would love to own a little shop and sell my healthy goodies. I've got to call the Health Dept. to see if what our club has would be ok. Anyhow, that is what I've been thinking lately since no one seems to want to hire me, might as well start my own business.
have a good night!
Debbie