Hey, y'all!

It's March. There's still snow on the ground, but the daytime temps are above freezing, so here's hoping the snow is not long for this world!

Fingers crossed because, if all goes well, by the end of March I should be out of the 300s! (Can I still hang out with y'all though?)

I'm ready for spring. Summer, less so, but spring sounds great.

Fi: It's okay to vent. I'd be feeling bad if I fell down, was in pain and couldn't exercise the way that I want to. I hope that you heal quickly.

Fi....it must be so frustrating for you....sorry that you are in pain. Hope it passes soon.
Time....sorry for your loss and being so far away from close friends. I am sure that they know you are with them in spirit.

Hi to everybody else....and Ubee.......a BIKINI??? I have NEVER worn one even when I was younger and slimmer as I didn't have the confidence.

Food choices are good at the moment , although I had a slight wobble last night, I kept under my calories, just didn't eat as healthily as I could have done. I have been exhausted the last couple of days. I am still coughing up revolting sputum (sorry if you are having breakfast!) and yesterday was a particularly bad day as I coughed ALOT!
With all that is going on , I am trying to be understanding towards myself and not ask too much.......if my body tells me to sit down and read a book for a while then that is what I am doing. The stress of the last 4 years is not going to vanish in a matter of a couple of weeks. I have absolutely no doubt I did the right thing which helps.
I have a Therapy session today which helps and am hoping to feel OK to hit the gym tomorrow (gently!) Have a great day friends.
Donna

Fi I hope your knees heal soon and your spirits lift. I think it's great you continue to do what you can with your exercises considering the pain you must be in.

magpie Hello, we still have plenty of snow on the ground and more to come this afternoon. It has been such a cold and snowy winter here in Toronto. We are still below freezing and will be for some time I think. Someone told me we will have snow until mid to the end of April.

Donna Good Morning and I hope you find therapy helpful, therapy has really helped me to move forward.

Well it is latte time again. I am sure someone will be in the office soon and then I will skedaddle from here. But in the meantime I am trying to get motivated. I feel down as I made poor food choices on the weekend and I feel so flabby as I am not exercising at all. I walked from the subway to work rather then hop (or rather clamber) on the streetcar, that gives me 15 minutes of walking. It is a start. I will walk to the subway after work and that would give me 30 minutes of walking, I should just do this daily. Other people can walk the distance in 10 minutes or less I am sure but it takes me approximately 15 minutes each way. I just have to minimize carrying.

I have my lunches for a few days already prepared. For dinner tonight I am having brown rice, shrimp with ginger and scallions. I may serve this on top of raw baby kale to up the veggie quotient. I had shreddies with a banana and almond milk for breakfast. For lunch I have cabbage casserole and a tofurkey sausage. My snacks include celery, hummus, an apple and a non fat blueberry yogurt.

I try to save enough points to have a sweet with plain white tea after dinner. I have some dark chocolate or ww bars.

Have a good day everyone.

Now that I've given y'all a vague summary of where I'm at, I hope y'all won't mind if I get less vague and go down into details.

Last night before I went to bed I did a serious meditation on two things: (1) the collage I have all mapped out but haven't made yet, because it hurts too much to climb the stairs up to my collage studio; (2) NOT indulging in a bowl of muesli in the morning —> coffee with cream & stevia is my on-plan breakfast, and one small bowl of muesli is my bedtime snack.

This morning I was so strongly tempted to have a bowl of muesli, I just about tore myself in two, struggling with my impulse control while standing in the kitchen on painful knees. What finally happened to keep me on plan was remembering how Kathryn Hansen's Brain Over Binge suggests you think of yourself as having a "higher" brain and a "lower" brain. The lower brain generates the urges for food we're not supposed to have, but the higher brain can easily override it by taking even just thirty seconds to remind yourself of what you're really desirous of doing—what you want for the long term, as opposed to what you feel like doing right now. Praise the Goddess, it worked! I have had my coffee with cream & stevia, and the butter fat (where would I be without butter fat?) is telling my stomach I've eaten, so it has stopped craving carbos already.

But all is not well: while my coffee was dripping I went to my usual spot (actual open wooden floor without rugs, which did not exist before the BERP!)(Big Entropy Reduction Project, a huge house-decluttering endeavor that I carried out last year from early April to early August ) and started on my Qigong exercises. I made it through all of about six repetitions before I pitched forward and had to use the purple futon to keep from falling. My balance, which has improved so much in the last few months, is shot to heck by my unstable knees! Arrrrgh!

So I'm sitting here thinking that at least today I get to see Mike, my Qigong instructor. i missed two weeks in a row due to depression pain and my fall, and I have been acheing for Mike's wise and exquisitely gentle counsel. Mike is not a therapist of any stripe, so the important thing when I am with him is to talk as little as possible and listen well to his suggestions.

Well, I've gotten in my morning writing (this posting, mostly), so it's time to lie on the green futon and get myself mentally ready to climb those stairs. I need to take a shower before going to see Mike, and then work on this collage that's been in my head and not in my hands for way too long.

And now both kittens are begging for attention... Here's something funny to finish off this posting: Oscar has learned how to talk. What I mean is that he's learned how to make noises of varying pitch & length that sound like human speech. So far it's mostly whiny diatribes about how Bob and I don't spend enough time playing with him (it's true: we don't), but we can hope, at least, that he'll learn how to "say" other things. I had a cocker spaniel once who could talk: I used to have long conversations with her after I came home from school.

Good morning everyone!
Andrea remember it is not how fast you walk but how far. I love hearing about your meals it just may motivate me to do better.
Donna I am so excited for you to be living a life with a lot less stress and mental anguish. You deserve a good life. We all do! Please share anything from therapy that may be of help to the group if it is not too difficult for you. I learn so much from others experiences.
Magpie Welcome! of course you can hang out with us when you drop below 300. Feel free to share more about yourself when you are ready.
Fi it is interesting that you brought up impulse control. That is the first thing to go when life gets hectic. I see it, I eat it. I am glad you are getting back on track. It gives me hope.
Scoble we are in the same boat, not doing so hot BUT not giving up!
Melissa isn't that life. Good news/bad news just part of the balance in life. Your plans for London sound perfect!
Silent I understand the mood to maintain. My problem is when I get content then a few pounds here and there start to not matter. After a while it spirals out of control...
tootsie we do have some men pop in from time to time. You've brought up a good point, they need support too. My husband says we women think too much.
Betsy I give you permission to throw out perfectly good food that will make you unhealthy. Just so I've got this straight 2 donuts would have been your allotted points for the day? My goodness no wonder we got to be 300+!!!
I am doing better. Thanks to Donna sharing her life/therapy with me I am realizing there are still some ghosts hanging around in my life. I need to slow down, think and feel my emotions.
I am starting to feel really uncomfortable with my weigh in on Thursday which is a good thing. I was going to back out but that will only get me back to being over 300+ again. Time to put on my big girl panties and be accountable every week.
Have a peaceful day and thanks for being here.

Good morning everyone.

Sitting down with my slightly sweetened cup o' Joe fuming at my doctor. I haven't seen him for a while, but I'm not happy. After I had my last child, my health went down hill a bit. I found out that I have PCOS, hypothyroidism, vitamin B-12 deficiency, a little bit of anemia here and there, and sleep hypopnea. I vaguely recall, a few years before this, my doc mentioning me having pre-diabetes sugar levels. Back to the after child doc visits... I started having chest pain and a cough that wouldn't go away. The doc listened and heard weirdness, so he requested a PET scan. There is something on my lung, nodules, that they are keeping an eye on. They don't think that they are cancerous, at least not 5 years ago, anyway. During that PET scan, they noticed that I had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. My doctor acted like it was no big deal. There were no, "You need to change your diet and lose weight, or die speeches". Well my spouse is starting to have some of the symptoms of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, so I look it up. The symptoms of PCOS, the insulin resistence and higher blood sugar level can be explained by NAFLD. I've always doubted that I have PCOS, because I'm fertile, don't have weird hair growth, and I have a normal period... The reason that I'm ticked at my doctor: One, the PCOS diagnosis may not be PCOS at all. Two, The NAFLD, can cause NASH and cirrhosis of the liver, which eventually leads to liver failure and death. I know that maybe he was afraid of ticking me off and losing me as a patient, but good God, I can take it straight. I prefer that. Glad that I've decided to do something about my weight, because weight loss can reverse some of the affects of NAFLD, but if I have cirrhosis, that can't be reversed.

Ubee ~ Yeah my peer support group is a really fun group.

The_magpie ~ Hi, Welcome to the Chat Thread and Forum, I dont think I've met you before so I wanted to Welcome you. I hope you enjoy posting on here.

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I woke up at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Its now 10:05 a.m. right now. In an hour I'm gonna do my 40 min. Chair Exercises, Then at 1 p.m. I'll do my 30 min. 2 mile walking dvd and then at 6 or 6:30 tonight I'll do my 20 min. 1 mile walking dvd. At 2:30 today We're gonna go pull out money for the mortgage and then we're gonna go do our monthly shopping and then we're gonna figure out what we want for dinner tonight.

Tootsie- just a quick note sorry you are going through this hope everything turns out okay.

Thanks, silent. I'm mostly worried about my spouse. He's a bit older than I am, and frankly doesn't look so well. He has the same doc that I do. I think that I'll be okay, so long as I keep up the weight loss efforts.

Good morning all. My exercise will be coming in the form of getting the grass cut today. Yes, I know it's only March 3 and it's below freezing out there this morning, but our whacko winter (much warmer than normal for us) has caused the grass to start growing. Oh well, just gathering up all the stuff Toby and Becky have carried around the yard so that I can then cut will give me exercise!

SilentArctic -- Sounds like one of those weekends where staying inside was definitely the way to go. Sounds like you're getting back into things even if it didn't feel like it this weekend. Think back just a few weeks -- definitely a change in how you're thinking about losing.

Melissa -- So sorry about your friend, but know you are thrilled with your Mom's diagnosis. Life's ups and downs! Your trip sounds wonderful.....I still think Ubee and I should come and chaperone (that would probably end up with you chaperoning us!).

Scoble517 -- That's right -- just keep coming back here as it's the one thing that has kept me from my old pattern of losing and then gaining everything back plus some more. I'm an Illinois girl, too -- from Decatur so I guess I'm in the Central Central??? Left Illinois in 1981. Miss the people. Don't miss the climate.

Andrea -- I read your posts and wonder why I'm not more enthused with WW. I'm really struggling with their point system, as I would (just did!) gain weight when I eat all my points. I'm finding that I can have about half of what they are telling me in order to lose weight. Of course, I'm also struggling with just eating what's on plan still. It sounds like you are doing so well with it and I probably just need an attitude adjustment.

Fi -- Achy knees are the pits. After falling on them, I don't really consider that as a rant at all. Loved the fact that Oscar is learning to talk. I have some of my most intelligent conversations with Toby. He is a very good listener!

The Magpie -- Getting out of the 300s! You will give me great hope that it can actually be accomplished instead of being a pipe dream.

Donna -- Any lambs yet? You sound like--other than the ongoing creeping crud in your chest--you are doing so well with adjusting to a very large change in your life. You seem to also have a wonderful therapist, and Ubee is right that if you're comfortable with sharing it seems to help all of us.

Ubee -- On the donut front.....when I entered in WW, the closest they had was a Dunkin' Donut glazed cake donut and for 2 of them it came to 21 points. Since I've found that if I eat the 47 points they've allocated for me for the day I actually gain weight, I shoot for about half of the points. So, yes, basically I should have pretty much called it a day. Now I just checked on MFP for actual calories because I also enter everything into that most days. The aforementioned Dunkin Donut cake donut was listed at 360 calories while a plain glazed donut (generic) was listed at 180. So, it probably was more accurate to list it at a total of 360 instead of 720. But either way........not a good idea! And you will not back out of that weigh in. Knowing I have to report in is what little motivation is available.

Tootsie -- You have every reason to be worried about NAFLD. My sister had that and found The Liver Cleansing Diet to be a great help. It not only was good for her liver, but she lost quite a bit of weight on it. Have you talked to your doctor about your concerns? If you're worried about your DH as well, can you switch to a different doctor in whom you have more confidence?

Terra -- Sounds like a busy day doing lots of different things.

OK -- need to get it in gear. Hope everyone has a great day.

Thanks for mentioning the diet, Betsy. I will check it out. I haven't talked to my doc, yet. We are waiting for my spouse's test results to see what's going on with him. I am considering switching docs, though. I'll talk with my doc about it first. I don't need a fat hater, but I don't need someone who's afraid to tell me how serious a diagnosis is and what I need to do, either.

This is such a nice forum! Thanks for the welcome!

Betsy - It can totally be done! (That was the closest emoticon I could find to a high-5. )

Plucky - Oof, Toronto's a lovely city, but I bet the winter can be tough! I've got my fingers crossed for an early spring for you!

Ubee - Thanks! Maybe I'll put a bio in the bio thread.

Tootsie - I hope that neither you or your husband have NAFLD. But it makes sense to work on weight loss, just in case! My liver is part of why I want to lose weight, too: my mom and I both have elevated liver enzymes on some of our blood tests, AND I take medicine that endangers my liver further. (I have to. I have psoriatic arthritis and could lose function in multiple joints if I don't take the meds.) I figure I should ease up on it while I'm still young(ish ... in my 30s).

Terra - Hi there!

Not a good day.....I was diagnosed with COPD/emphysema on January 4th. So, on top of trying to lose weight, I am quitting smoking. Yesterday about kicked my butt.....having breathing problems, wanting to eat everything and on top of all that I wonder if I am going through menopause. All I seemed to do was cry all darn day. Today there are no tears, but, seems like I am messing up everything I try to do. I just want one normal day...is that too much to ask???

Hi all!

I'm still alive.. It has been a very rough couple weeks in every aspect. The bright spot in this time was being able to meet my niece a couple weekends ago. What a beautiful, precious little thing.. She is #4 but every bit as precious and dear to me as the first niece was. They are all their own individual selves and I love them each so much! 4 hours isn't really that far away to live, but it seems like it's always tough to get time off to visit.
As to the rough part of these last couple weeks.. well, lack of good sleep, kids I babysit still being sick, and then being so completely naughty I just wanted to quit babysitting right then and there... like, calling the parents to come pick them up.. The 2.5 yr old girl I babysit is being potty trained and has gone poo in the toilet without issue for quite some time. This last week she decided to not only poop in her pants, but to stick her hands in it and play with it and wipe it on my upholstered chair... Maybe it's funny or will be funny when it's your own kids, but I was so mad about it.. I couldn't believe what she did!!! She needed a bath after that and then I wanted to take one after that too. Ugh.. My hubby was here and it was so great because he kept an eye on the baby while I dealt with her. I mean.. wow. Still in disbelief!!!
So then, this week, my husband had to go back out of town for a job that was supposed to be done last week but thanks to mentally challenged sub-contractors, they dropped the ball and now he has to fix their mistake.. He was supposed to come home this evening.. but joy of joys, we are in the middle of a winter storm and the roads are all closed.. Can I just curl up in a ball and cry? Oh, and did I mention I'm PMSing? lol.. or maybe it was very obvious. Ugh. Sorry to be such an emotional mess and such a downer. I needed to get this off my chest.. it's eating at me and in turn, I'm eating.. lots of bread. I love/hate bread. I can't seem to stop eating it if it's in the house. I hadn't purchased bread for the past month but made the mistake of buying some a couple weeks ago.

Ok.. gotta cut this short.. little man pooped his pants and I need to change him before he decides to go digging for gold too..

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!