CJ - I LOVE LOVE your site. You are GORGEOUS! It doesn't look like you need SBD at all!

I'll be back to post to everyone soon, off to a meeting!

Lisa

Good morning everyone. Hope you all have your sunglasses on and sunscreen. It promises to be a great day at the beach.

Kryss - Good morning. I can never even dream of being the first to post. Your post shows up on my site as 4:00 am. I'm just not there at that time of the day. Some day, I may stay up late and post before I go to bed just to be the early bird. You did a great job.

Mama - WTG on the workouts. I haved to agree with you...stick with the higher weights. I remember when I kicked the weights up, I thought that working out meant that I would hurt all the time. It did eventually go away, though. Just stick with it.

Cottage - So proud of you for sticking with the program last night. It is really an eye opener when you realize that you can sit and enjoy a coffee while others are eating sweets and not miss the sweets. Make sure that you remember that feeling and carry it with you to the next situation like that. WTG. The personal fitness trainer that I had set me up on a workout every other day, also. So I alternate upper and lower body workouts every other day. Seems to work for me.

Bamie - Get some rest. A day of leisure once in a while is great therapy.

Bups - Hope you are feeling better today. Just make sure that you don't let your blood sugar drop. If you feel light headed again, try having a snack of some kind. I decided to do phase 1 this week to detox from Christmas, but forgot about my blood sugar dropping when I went to exercise. The first day was torture, but I started to have a snack just before working out the rest of the week and it has really helped. Take care.

chipper - WTG on the workouts. Good luck on the weigh-in Saturday. My official weigh-in is tomorrow, so I am hoping to have lost the Christmas weight gain by tomorrow. We are going away for the weekend, so I don't want to be worrying about my weight all weekend. Must be good today

Ruth - You sound like you are feeling better today. Hopefully you are. And then there are people like me....yes, I still have my Christmas tree up. As a matter of fact, I still have 8 Christmas trees up. We are so busy over the next few weeks, though, that they are not scheduled to come down until Jan. 20. As you can see, I am not much for plans...

Nally - You are off to such a great start on the beach. You are so smart to incorporate this WOE into special occasions. I try to do that all the time for ourselves, but if we have company, I make off program choices for the company. Just make sure that there is plenty for me so that I don't feel deprived. You can do it.

lc - I can remember the days of mountains and mountains of laundry. I think we used to do about 27 loads of laundry each week when the kids were small. It does get better, though. Soon you will be wondering where it all went. Keep you chin up. Good luck with work tonight.

Seems like work is calling... must go. Have a great day on the beach. Take care.

Good Morning Everyone!

Tilley-Thanks for the compliments. Keep in mind that was 2 1/2 years ago at a weight of around 138-140. I would kill to get back to that weight again! I'm going to do it this year......and hopefully by April 7th (at least somewhere near 140 would be ideal). That's when I go to Laughlin for a 4 day Jimmy Buffett festival called Phins to the West. He doesn't play there but there are tons of bands and fun. Last year was the first year and I wasn't prepared for it. I had to wear a bathing suit and made sure my shorts never came off. This year will be different (I hope ).

I got some amazing news yesterday about my Mom's cat. The cat suddenly went blind this past weekend. She was taken to the vet where they said the retinas had detached and there was nothing you could do about it. They said it was most likely a spike in blood pressure that caused it. All of her blood tests came back normal. Mom went ahead and took her to a vet optimalogist yesterday. They told her that there was no bleeding behind the eyes which was a good sign. They took her blood pressure 3 times and it was high compared to a few days ago. They also told her that the cat has a slight heart murmer BUT she's seen cats that their eyesights are worse and as long as you get them started on a blood pressure medication, more than likely the retinas will reattach and she will get full vision back! I thought that was absolutely amazing! She started her pills last night so hopefully we'll see an improvement soon. My mom has been so upset about the whole thing. We've had the cat for 15 years. I'm so happy to see my mom in a good mood today. She's definitely going to a new vet though....those guys were full of doodie! Now we just need to focus on what's making her blood pressure spike which could be heart disease or something like that. I think this proves that miracles do happen (especially after what that idiot first vet said).

So that's my story this morning. There are so many people to respond to this morning that I'll just say to everyone to have a great day!

northrancher - I have been on SBD for 6 days now, and have lost a whopping 5 pounds. So don't give up! Do you have the book? What does our typical day menu look like? Are you eating every three hours? (i.e. breakfast (veggie quiche)... snack cheese stick.... lunch chicken ceaser..... snack carb friendly yougurt.... dinner spice rubbed chicken, green beans and a salad... snack / dessert... cashews ) I had that happen to me when I tried Atkins a few years back, I literally didn't loose a THING for the first few days.. what I started doing then was simply weighing in BI-weekly, therefore I was getting "all the weightloss" as we fluxuate with our water weight from day to day as much as a pound to two pounds and that can be discouraging. *Just my thoughts*

Good going, Ravensgirl.

Great news about the cat, Kissyjoy. When you find a good vet, stick with him/her.

Northrancher, remember you have been on this plan just since Sunday. Some folks lose a lot at the beginning and some folks have a whoosh towards the end of Phase I. It depends on your metabolism and other things such as water retention and whether you have been yo-yo dieting.

We are in the middle of a major snowstorm so Jane cancelled out and I certainly agreed. There's no way I'm going out there unless we run out of dogfood! We had our electricity out for two hours this morning which was kind of good as I got started on knotting a scarf out of red "Fur Out" yarn. See what happens when you can't get on the PC!

A nap is on the schedule for this afternoon and then, if the storm has abated a bit, I'll venture out to get the mail. Otherwise, to heck with it!

I think I'll leave our tree (artificial ) until the weekend or later as I notice I'm not alone in having Christmas stuff still around. A nap sounds better!

Alrighty guys! There are so many posts already and I have to go shopping so will read all when I get home from work tonight.

Everybody have a good day.

Well I have had a nap and a shower and I am almost feeling human again! lol I am hoping to get to the grocery this afternoon. DS told me yesterday if I would take him I could sit in the van and he would only get what was on the list if I would just go to the store! Pickins are very slim around here! lol It's so good to see so many chicks postin in the daily. Thanks for all the well wishes. It has been in the 70's all week so DH had turned the heat off well it has dropped to the 50's today and I kept thinkin man it is so cold in here and then it hit me like an ice block that the heat was off! I wish I would have figured that out before I took my nap and shower.
Anchor... I did drink some kind of flavored tea my sis gave me for christmas. I'm not much of a hot tea drinker but I'm tryin.
Tilley... I am in Huntsville.

Well I hope you all have a great rest of the week and for all you newbies make sure you are ready for the weekend. It can sometimes be harder to stay OP. It's all about being prepared! I know we can all make it!

Bups, chickpeas have lots of carbs...they should help! Or try taking Beano with the beans...really does work! Make sure you're getting enough water, too. If it continues, see your doc, okay?

Chipper, I can't believe all that exercise...wow!!! Make sure you are getting lots of veggies...I know you don't like them much, but you do need to eat them with every meal and snack to get the best results. Don't worry about the weight for now...Ruth is right, you never know what will happen! Plus, if you are lifting weights, you may be replacing fat with muscle, so see if either gym will do a fat analysis for you once in a while to see how you are doing.

Everyone, check out the Exercise and the Ladies Who Lift forums...they both are full of very smart women (and some men, I think?) who are very knowledgeable about exercise. I have learned so much from them! Try searching the posts before you post a new thread, as your question may have been answered.

Me:
Sorry not to post to everyone...had to drive to another city in yucky weather today and didn't get to work until late, so I'm behind here. I do read every post in the daily, though, and am thrilled to see all the posts! :

I'm so behind on exercising. I just need to get my butt out of bed tomorrow. Can everyone send an extra kick in the fanny my way at 5:45 a.m. EST tomorrow? I really miss exercising but hate waking up...doing it at night is really hard with classes, so I just need to bite the bullet and get going! You are all so inspiring with all your workouts!

Had a really yummy spicy chicken chowder last night for dinner from Cooking Light called Chupe de Pollo Yum! I'll have to post it in Phase 2 soups (it has carrots). Tonight we're having a pork roast simmered with apples, cabbage, turnips, onions, and a slice of bacon along with some wine, cider vinegar, and SF maple syrup. I hope it turns out! I've never had turnips before, but they are legal even on Phase 1, so I really hope I like them! I might be able to mash them or something to simulate potatos...has anyone tried that?

Still have the muchies. I think I need to do Phase 1 again next week...the weight hasn't moved in over a month and I need to get rid of these cravings!

Have a great evening, chickies! Stay at home and stay warm!

Laurie,

If it makes you feel any better - I'll be getting out of bed at 4:45 in order to exercise. So when you wake up - I'll already be 45 minutes into my exercise. So I'll be sending vibes your way.

Northrancher - don't despair. If you really want some advice the best thing to do is to post your menu and let some of the pro's around here take a look at it. Make sure you're getting enough water too. Hang in there!

Bami - you are sounding much better. You can try celestial seasonings red rooibos tea. They have spice and pomgrante (sp?) the spice is much better than the pom thingie. I'll trade sons with you. My 7 year old had a snow day today and after I left for work he turned the heat up to 85 because he was cold cut his birthday cake into a million pieces (after I told him not to) and then decided to do some wash (he's never gone near the washer) Grandma was ready to string him up by his toes when she called me.

kissyjoy - good news about the kitty. Never knew that could happen - it is totally bizarre.

I hope everyone did well today! I'm still at work. See ya!

Anchor...Well I hate to break it to ya but my DS is like a bull in a china shop! lol Although he does know how to run a washer & dishwasher! DS has jacked with the heat/air before. He went to school today and I am feeling better! LOL! My ds is ADHD who refuses to take meds anymore so there are a lot of challenging days around here. But he has a good heart. (somewhere under all that meaness!) LOL
I have some of that brand of tea I think it's raspberry.

Ravensgirl, thank you for the words of encouragement. I have the book and I'm great at breakfast -- usually eggs. This morning I had a small can of V-8 juice, low fat cheese 2-egg omelet with Canadian bacon. Coffee. Skipped a snack because I was racing around with my son today...lunch was very bad -- eight chick-fil-e nuggets with a diet coke -- 3 bottles of water -- snack of celery stick w/peanut butter, 15 pistachios and dinner (because I hadn't planned it) was tuna salad with lettuce and tomato, water and a NS pop. I'm sipping green tea now...This is the first day I ate a prohibited food -- fast food (Chick fil -e)because we were in a rush and my DS needed to eat. But, since Sunday I hadn't cheated at all...And, tonight I resisted an Entenmann's chocolate donut (last one left...all the other "sweets" are gone).

I haven't been on any other diets before this...just tried to cut out sugar and bread and exercise, but that wasn't enough. I'm hanging in there because I am determined and I have to get my cholesterol down. So, I'll plan my menus for next week, so I'm not "caught" without a plan. I also think I need to up the water intake...that might help too.

We'll do this...it just takes good buddy support and staying the course

Hey, Grace, I'm glad you're not giving up. When I started SBD last Jan. my mother started on it, too, and she didn't lose weight til the end of her 2nd week on Phase 1, when she had a 7lb loss. Some people just lose weight differently. Next time you find yourself at Chick-fil-a, try one of the salads, they are pretty good, and much better for you than the nuggets.