So nice to see more posts! Its encouraging to know that there are people that I can relate to!

Thanks for the welcome purpleorc! So far this is the only thread I have been posting on....but I am sure I will find others.

Still surprised that we not only have our weight issues in common, but it seems that many of us are animal lovers!

JRCATON- I am about 2 hours from Des Moines..but have hardly ever been there. I grew up about 10 miles from the Minnesota border...so usually when we would go to "the city" we went up to the Minneapolis area. Plus now I know that area better, so I am more comfortable driving there. One day though I will have to just go to Des Moines and get lost...HEHE.

That is a beautiful sunset Willow! Makes me really want winter in Iowa to get over!!!! We had gotten so much snow to start off, now last weekend we got some ice....so everything has a very thin glaze of ice on it. I can deal with the snow, but I hate ice! And being heavy all my life, I know that if I fall down, I am probably going to break something.....so you all should see me "scoot" across that ice!!!!

I did weigh myself last night....293. I was actually surprised I was not over 300, but close enough. I did another mile on my treadmill today, and I feel good about it. Also have not had ice cream at night like I always did!

Time for bed.....hope to hear from you all some more!!!

Carrie

Good to hear from you Carrie! I weighed in this morning & was down 2.8 pounds! I was shocked.

It's snowing here. Nothing to excited about, just a little bit of light snow. I love the snow, but like you - hate the ice. Scares me. My DF actually wrecked his car last month by sliding on some ice & hitting a telephone poll. We just got the estimate back & it was $3,300 in damage! Thank god for insurance.

Hope all is well, I was really busy w/ work all morning, but am now kind of burned out. Waiting for 4 pm........

Great job on the loss! Thats a great number.

I watched the Biggest Loser last night...its unreal how much weight they lose in a week! Wish i could drop like 25 pounds in MY first week...HA!

I did not do my treadmill today, but I made up for it at work. I am a Quality Assurance Technician at Armour-Eckrich Meats and I have to constatly walk all over the plant, and restrooms/breaks and the main office are up 3 huge flights of stairs. I made 6 trips up those stairs with 25+ pounds of ham/lunch meat samples each trip.....that was a killer. Thought I was going to die! But it was a good workout.

I see we have more "wintry mix" in the forecast for Friday...UGH! Will keep my fingers crossed that we don't get it.

Going to go find a snack and relax for a bit, then off to bed...have to get up early in the morning, I clean my mom's friend's house every Thursday morning for extra money.

Have a great day!

How's it going for you today Carrie?

I'm working from home tomorrow so bring on the wintery mix! I needed a day at home. I was getting nothing done in the office. People wouldn't leave me alone.

I fell of the wagon a bit yesterday, but today has been a great on plan day.

Hope all is well!

Hello Jill, nice to hear from you!

I have been doing well....with the eating part. But I only did treadmill Mon/Tues. But to me the eating is the most important to start with, so I feel good about that. I have had no ice cream all week, and hardly any chocolate! Just a few M&Ms here and there.

Got a few inches of snow up here today, so I had to shovel my driveway out...so I guess that was my workout for today.

Going to watch a few shows then off to bed.
Have a great weekend! The weekend will be my hardest test....we usually eat fast food at least one day...but will try to avoid it!

Carrie

Hi Carrie!

Holy snow! I went to bed Friday nite & it was lightly snowing & when I woke up on Saturday we had like 6 inches!

I love it tho. We just had a thaw & everything was looking dirty. I love the pretty wintery white right after a fresh snow.

I've been totally hibernating this weekend. We has some friends stop by for a few hours last night but I haven't even left the house since I came home from work on Thursday! It's been nice but I'm ready to see some other human beings at work tomorrow. I'm starting to have full on conversations w/ my dogs : )

I've been on plan all weekend, which is good but the scale hasn't been moving for me at all. If it's still not going anywhere tomorrow it's time for me to pop in that exercise DVD & try to get things movin' again.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Hello Jill!

Have you checked the forecast for tomorrow? Not sure what is coming down there for you, but we are supposed to get 3-5 inches by noon Monday, and then the wind is coming and we are under a Blizzard Watch! Yikes! I only live 2 miles from work...but my husband drives over an hour each way...so that should be interesting.

We must be a lot alike....when I was reading your post it sounds like me. I had just told my husband last night that I am kind of glad we got a little snow, because the snow we had was looking "dirty". And he thought I was nuts. Well, I am a bit of a clean freak...and I am always organized..but that isnt what I meant about the snow being dirty....I was just glad to see a nice fresh white coat of snow. So I am glad I am not the only one that was thinking that!

Sorry to hear the scale isnt moving for you...but dont let that discourage you! I have not even weighed myself, I probably will later on tonight. We had steak last night which was my treat for the week. I also had a little ice cream. I think I need to have a treat once a week or so. Tonight we are going to have fish and baked potatoes. The fish is only 98 calories for each piece. So I hope its good!

Just hanging out at home today...watching some of my Oprah's that I recorded during the week. I like to stay in on Sundays, it helps me get ready for a new week.

Hope you had a great weekend as well....and good luck with your excercise tomorrow! I will be back on my treadmill tomorrow, and hopefully more than just twice this week!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Carrie

Holy crap! Just looked at the forecast, snow every other day all week! Crazy. They finally cleaned off our road today. I swear we are the last in town to get plowed. It's ridiculous.

Hee hee.......like the little snowball fight? I just discovered those little thingies tonight & I can't stop using them now.

Fortunately we both live close to work & I have the option to work from home. I am planning on going to the office all week tho, it's been a really long time since I spent the entire week in the office & I'll only be there 3 days next week. Hopefully the roads won't be too bad.

Sounds like your husband is supportive of your eating changes. I noticed you said "we" alot when talking about your food plans. That's really nice. My DF is the same way. We're lucky. He'll even prepare my food for me sometimes when I get tired or burned out on dieting. I'll just hand him my meals plans and he gets everything ready for me!

I can't wait to see tomorrow's Oprah. I think she is so brave for confronting people about her weight gain. When I saw it was titled "falling off the wagon" I immediately set up our DVR. Looking forward to watching that tomorrow nite after work. AFTER I do my exercise DVD.

Hey gals!
Another Iowan here to say hello and it sounds like you are all on the right path! Keep plugging away and drink your water! Penny

Hi worthapenny! Another Iowan!! I just drank 32oz of water....thats one thing I try to do while watching TV instead of eat.

Jill- I love the snowball fight! Thats cute. Yes, my husband is very supportive of my new lifestyle. He eventually is going to go along with me on this, he is just starting slow. He quit smoking last year, which was huge!

I am going to search the web tonight before bed to try to find some new meal ideas. One of my major downfalls is that I dont like alot of the things that are the most healthy! I do have salads quite often....I try to put a lot of lettuce in and not so much of the other things that arent so healthy. I still want to have the things I love, but I just have to learn the true portion sizes.

Sounds like your DF is very supportive as well!! That helps a lot.

I am looking forward to Oprah tomorrow as well. Last year I had a subscription to her magazine...and I got my last issue this month. The one with her on the cover next to her skinny self. I think its awesome how she talks so freely about it.

Anyway, I am going to search the web for a few things, then I had better get to bed.

I look forward to getting on this forum every night after work!

Have a great week, and lets hope the snow misses us...but I doubt it!

Carrie

Carrie- Kinda funny to think that the snow would miss us huh! I think every time the word is thought of it happens! lol I am hoping for a good day today. I have to get to town this morning before it begins, or at least I am going to try. I need to do some house cleaning as well. Which will win? time to get kids up for school. Have a great day!

JRCATON-I heard of the Oprah show but never saw it. You must be a fan to set the DVR! good for you on the exercise BEFORE sitting down to watch it! keep it up! I am proud of you.
Penny

Hey Penny! Whereabouts are you? Hope you got dug out today!

It didn’t start snowing hard until I was on my way to work. That was a fun commute. NOT!

Carrie – tell your DH props from me for quitting smoking. We just quit too on my DF’s birthday…..12/14. I don’t feel like we’re quite out of the woods yet, but it’s been almost a month!

I think we might be long lost relatives. One of the hardest things for me when I started dieting was I am such a picky eater. I have slowly integrated vegetables into my life & now I love a good salad. About 2 years ago I was the girl who ordered all of her food “no veggies” so this is a major change for me. I try a new fruit or vegetable every week. Last night I tried grape tomatoes for the 1st time. BLECH! I spit it out in the sink.

I don’t think I’ll ever like tomatoes, no matter how healthy they are. The newest & most surprising thing (to me) I’ve added is fresh peppers. I include them in almost every meal! We even planted peppers in our very 1st garden this summer. They didn’t turn out so well. Kind of tasted like crap.

As far as portion control….do you have an electronic scale?

Is that Oprah issue still on the stands? If so I’ll most def have DF pick it up for me tonite – he works at Hy-Vee. Sounds inspiring.

Hello,
What a blizzzzzzzzzzard outside!

Jill- I am over by Muscatine, my Hubby is up by a little town of Cresco! So snowy both, I don't think we will be going up that way for a few days!! We are hoping to move this summer! I know I love snow, but hate the cold. Scary as we are moving north! I know we are crazy. But that is where the job has taken him.

Kids just came home from school and are excited. Well,. . . . at least the younger one is! The older one isn't as she has to go and shovel for an elderly man too. She doesn't think she should have too work. But she does like the money!! Teenagers!!!!! Grrrrrr

Well just got home from the store. Wow, I think everyone was planning for the cold. Temperatures are really supposed to drop and the wind increase. It just sounds wrong! I know . . . .we continue to live here so don't complain, right.

Well, I better get moving. Penny

Holy wind! It is just howling here.....it's creepy.

Looks like our starting weights are very close Penny. How'd you lose that nice chunk of weight? Good work!

I was SO mad when I got home. My stupid DVR didn't record Oprah today. Instead I got a bunch of reruns of Jon & Kate +8, which I love but have seen most of them. I really wanted to watch that Oprah.

Did anyone else see it?

Hi girls! What wonderful weather we are having here in Iowa!!! HA
I just looked at the forecast and it looks like another round is coming Tuesday night into Wednesday. YUCK!

Penny- You are moving to Cresco? It sounds familiar to me, but I am not sure where it is. I am in north central Iowa. Pretty far north but its not so bad up here!

Jill-That is so awesome that you both quit smoking! Just keep thinking if you have made it a month, the worst has to be over! I never smoked, so I can only imagine what its like to try to quit. My husband actually just stopped....no patch, nothing. I believe he quit about 8 months ago, and it just keeps getting easier. He says he still thinks about it every now and then, but not too bad.

I do think we may be long lost relatives!!! I do love salad...but not with all the carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes....I just like lettuce, a little cheese, a few sunflower seeds, a couple croutons and low fat french dressing. Whenever we go to a restraunt and get a salad, I always have to take stuff off it.

I do not have a scale....although I was thinking about getting one. And I do believe that Oprah issue is on newstands, its the January issue, so it should be out for awhile yet. I recorded todays show but have not watched it yet. I have so much crap to watch when I get home. My first priority on Monday nights is The Bachelor.....I know it might sound lame, but I love it. Especially the guy that is on there now.

I weighed myself tonight, I am down 5.8 lbs. So that was really encouraging. But I am mad at myself for not excercising today. But tomorrow I plan to make up for it. Going to shovel out the driveway before the next round of snow comes, and ALSO do my treadmill. I promise!!!!!

Hope your week is starting off great!
Carrie