Hi gang!

I am SOOO glad to be home relaxing.

It was such a stressful day. First, I put wrong hair gel in my hair this morning and no time to rinse it out so my hair ended up looking flat and dirtyish. Great. On a day when we were meeting with at least 12 outside folks - most of which are Ivy League MBA types. Then, I wore the wrong socks for the shoes I had on - dress trouser socks which made my feet slip some in the shoes. That was not the most comfortable but the real issue was the noise that it made. I tried retying my shoes to see if that would help and broke the shoestring. I really didn't care to walk around all day sounding like I was farting. I raced over to DSW and bought a different pair of shoes. The presentation went okay except it was grueling for two hours and I ended up with more work out of it. And then to top it off, we were told we had to wait around until all discussions were finished in case they needed to talk to us. I didn't get out until after 6 pm.

Bummer because tonight was my night in the house without DH! I did get home in time to race around the neighborhood with the dog. I did some Tae Bo and will do pilates while I watch the National Body Challenge at 9 pm. Thank goodness DH made chili today.

I did finally watch Desperate Housewives last night. Okay, so who is Deidra and who did Mike kill for her? I missed a couple of shows around the holidays. It was a good show. I wasn't that impressed at first but its growing on me.

BarbPA - You're in my prayers that this cycle goes well and that you'll be adding to your family soon. We watched American Idol last night. Don't you wonder about the people who are just awful and they say that their family and friends tell them they are really good??? What kind of friends would do that?? That last gal was really kind of scary. She acted like she had some personality issues. Amazing Race is my favorite now. We still watch Survivor but its gotten kind of old to us. I almost have my special place together!

Thin - for having a good OP day.

Jana - back at ya way up there! How cold is it up there? Does your hubby go out for extended periods? I see that he is in the Coast Guard. Good job for getting back OP.

MaryB - Sorry about the puter. They suck - I had to replace the harddrive in my laptop this fall and it wasn't very old. Hope it gets back and running soon. I'm with you on the morning weigh-ins.

Iwillbe - Good job on doing the handweights.

Amanda - Welcome to the group! I've very sorry also about your daughter. I've tried to get DH to get me up in the mornings so I can exercise but he won't because he thinks I look too peaceful to wake up or else knows I didn't sleep well. That's great that your DH walks with you.

Qadira - How did the band exercises go? What kinds of exercises do you do for "lower body"? Hope you have a great UP day tomorrow too!!

Marcie - for you too! Lunch sounded yummy!

Mary.G - Congrats on your new position! How are you liking having the house to yourself and DH?

2Cute - You CAN do this! How was exercise today? Do you keep water in the pool over the winter?

I think that gets me caught up. How great to be doing so many congratulations for exercise and making good choices.

I need to get off my butt and go put some laundry in the dryer.

Goodnight!

I forgot to tell you. I finally tracked down Tina. She has been especially busy and told me to let you all know that she'll be back as soon as she gets a chance. She has found out she has some medical issues, so she's not sure just when that will be. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Well, ladies, been pretty OP today! I did sneak a couple tiny pieces of chocolate today and had a thin slice of cake with macerated fruit, which RULED. I tried asparagus and artichokes for the first time today, and let me tell you---I WILL NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN.

I thought I'd be brave and give it a shot to taste them at least just in case there was something there I was really missing out on, but NOPE! I was right, I hate it!

I still can't weight in at Curves! Grrrr... But I did lose 7 1/2 more inches for a total of 16! And I decided to weight today at work, and I've lost 18LBS!! I'm so psyched now! I've been realllly doing great! Boy did I need something to show for it. I was getting discouraged for awhile.

I am LOVING American Idol... I am so hooked on that show! I think the first few episodes are the best ones each season, where they weed through the crap to find some decent talent. Great show!

Amanda--welcome! I'm pretty new around here and I really love it! I'm so sorry about your daughter... my youngest brother died of SIDS as well when I was a young girl, and I think of him often, he was only 6wks old. How old was she? I know just what you mean about the computer. I am so able to do that wayyyyyyyyy too often! I try to avoid it on the weekends and use it to relax before bed during the week, which is why I post late usually.

determined-- I'm a Desperate HWives fan too. Love that show. If I am understanding what's going on correctly, I think Mike is there to investigate the widow man with the son--can't remember his name for that man's wife's murder. And apparently Deidra is the woman Mike was supposed to marry. But I haven't figured out why he killed her. I'm not really any help, am I? :LOL: Oooh, maybe he killed Mary Ellen for her??? Gahhh, I hate the guessing game!

BarbP--Good luck with the IVF! Hope everything really works out for you. My DH and I have been trying for 3 years to get preggo and nothing yet. He has one, I have one, and we want one together... but we've decided if it happens, wonderful, if not, we aren't going to worry about it. Unless one day we can afford to do something about it. I wish you the best of luck!

Thin-- I know what you mean about taking the daily plunge on making the right choices for food for the day. Sometimes I really have to push myself, but I'm happier in the end. Like today, started out great--had a half a glass of protein shake and my new concoction--a lowfat tortilla, TBSP of fat free jalapeno cream cheese, and a couple tomato slices. Hits the spot for breakfast for some reason. And lunch was chosen for me==had to be at a seminar for Medicare today--they do well on healthy, though. Not a big fish fan, but I had 1/2 a piece of fish, rice, a couple bites of aspragus (Ptooey!), green salad with a bite of artichoke(blechhh) and a sliver of cake with macerated fruit. Pretty good! 'Cept for the yuck veggies... eating something you really don't care for cuts back on portion size, BIG TIME!! LOL

memoe--I'm there with you on the onions!! I can eat them in anything... yellow or red preferably... yellow grilled up in a little olive oil until they're nice and done.... perfect on top of chicken or pork or steak, etc... Mmmm.

Iwillbe-- I know what you mean about the sitting on the computer thing, too. I have done a lot of research on weight loss and my new favorite pastime is looking for new healthy recipes and ideas online... I spend a LOT of time doing that and then working out my grocery list from the ones I want to try, copying and pasting them into files I can keep, etc.

HI Kerri. I am so very sorry that you lost your baby brother. It must have been horrifying and confusing for a little girl, I am sorry. Carlie was 11 weeks old. It makes me sick that a healthy baby girl just died for no reason, or at least no one knows a reason why yet. I was very depressed after her death, which is partially why I am so heavy now. I turned to food for comfort. Nowadays I do alot of volunteering with the North Texas SIDS Alliance. They have monthly support group meetings and charity golf tournaments and the like. I also belong to several support groups online. One being SIDSFamilies. They are great. Oh by the way, if you want to add your brother to Heaven's Nursery, you can do that at SIDSFamilies dot com. They have over 1500 babies in the nursery to date, My daughter and my aunt being 2 of them. Anyway you take care and thank you.

Sooo many posters tonight. YEA !!!
My replys will have to be short to hit everyone.

BarbPA... sooooo happy to see you popping in. Your perservernce is so inspirational. I admire you and your husband so much. I loved the story of green smiley faces on your BUTT.
You forgot to add "Desperate Housewives" to your tv "must see".

Mary... We old folks do need shaken now and then. LOL We get set in our ways.

Terri.. what a day you had. I feel for you.

Jana ... welcome back. I was thinking of you while working on the Feb Challenge. It deals with where we all live ... and you are our token Alaskan.

Kerri.. I had to laugh at your reaction to asparagus and artichokes.
If you come to the Spring Fling I will fix you some artichoke hearts you will LOVE.
CONGRATULATIONS on your weight and inches lost .!!!!

Amanda... glad to see you peeking in again. Support groups are so helpful in all areas of our lives. It is nice to be with people who understand what you are going through.

Thin... thanks for the update on Tina. I have been thinking of her.
I liked Terri's idea of a demo. Except I would let Terri demonstrate it.

MaryB... I am an avid onion fan. I love them raw or cooked. We eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also eat garlic on everything. Hmmm... maybe that's why I don't have many colds.

Iwillbe.. I followed directions for the tracker ... and still only got a red x. LOL
I was in a hurry .. so maybe I missed something . I will try again soon.

Now for a short post about me.
I am very proud of myself. Tonight DH and I went out for dinner. They serve these AWESOME hot rolls to eat while waiting for your meal. I told them to NOT BRING US ANY BREAD !!!! For those of you who don't know me.... HOT BREAD is my biggest weakness. They asked me several times if I wanted bread throughout the meal. I held my ground. I even drank water too. YEA ME !!!
I really like this staying ON PROGRAM. It feels GOOD.

Hello everyone...

My name is Sue. I've been on this board for a while, mostly posting in the weight loss and depression daily chat thread. I've been lurking around and wandered into this thread and I thought I would jump in to say hello.

I'm currently on a roller coaster ride with my weight loss. I started at 378lbs and had lost about 30lbs, but then I got sick. I reached my 350lbs mini goal on my birthday, June 30th. Then I had a rash of sickness. I gained most of it back. I currently weigh about 364lbs...

Looking back, I think it's possible that I may have lost the weight to fast. I have a program called Diet Power, and it showed that to maintain my weight I was taking in about 3200 calories, although I think it was a bit more. So I cut my calories down to 1600-1800 calories. I wasn't having to much of a problem with that and was doing goodwith loosing the weight and exercising at that calorie rate.

So now I'm starting my goals over and am using a 2500 calorie diet. So far... well as mentioned before... it's a rollercoaster hehehe, it's been a bit discouraging, but I'm staying positive. I just need to get off this roller coaster ride.

Looking forward to chatting with all of you...

Take care...
Sue...

Good morning!

Welcome Sue!

2Cute - Hot rolls are heavenly. Good job for turning them away!!!!

Kerri - about the veggies. on trying them!

I've done my 30 minutes of pilates. I always do the back flexibility exercises and have been trying the harder ones - abs and upper body - this week in my effort to push myself. I can't do all the moves but I can tell that I am making progress. Winsor Pilates is now my favorite exercise. My biggest problem with it is my lower back is goofy because of the way I sleep. Maybe i need to go to a chiro and have them pop it.

Okay, off to work now. I'm hoping for a less difficult day!

We've got such a great momentum going and great motivated attitudes. Let's be thankful for each other and the inspiration we get here. Have a great day!

Hey everyone, I'm just doing a fly by. I'm so sorry I haven't been around quite so much. I'm just trying to hard to manage my physical and emotional health. Still dealing with school issues, dealign with significant other issues, and now my apartment complex is making me get rid of my kitty (we're not supposed to have cats).. so I'm just on a whirlwind here.

I've been managing decently with my health though. Not doing perfectly but doing a little bit each day.

I just used my stairs as a form of exercise, and jeez did it WEAR me out! I did it for 5 minutes just going up and down (about 18-20 times each way).. so thats about 18-20 "flights" of stairs I went up right? I could barely get past the first minute.. but I did it and I'm proud. This is especially hard with my bad knee. I'm so exhausted but I feel great. My new goal in my group of goals is to be able to this with ease some day

I want to welcome all of the new comers to the group, congratulate on everyone who is succeeding and losing, and give all those who are slacking a little kick in the booty!

I will be around more often when I manage to get my emotions and life under control. If you're interested in what I'm doing now and then I still post quite frequently in my journal (link below) since I feel more comfy rambling there.

I love all of you and I wish you all the best on staying on track!

- CD

We CAN do this

I woke up at about 7:30 am to my husband not home yet. That kinda freaks me out, him being a cop. Turns out he stayed late to chat with his Sgt. after the crazy night they had. Phew.

Kerri: Good for you trying the Asparagus. I myself love it and could really go for some asparagus casserole right about now.

2cute: That's kinda rude of them to keep asking you if you wanted bread throughout your meal after you told them no. The way my personality is, by about the 3rd time they asked again, I would have told them I would stick the hot rolls up their bums if they didn't BACK OFF! But that's me.

Sue: I am proud of you. Depression sucks. After my daughter died, I can only describe how I was feeling as being shoved into a small hole you can't get out of. I feel pretty good nowadays. I still have some anxiety and check my other 2 munchkins about 2 times a night, but other then that, I think my open wounds have pretty much healed. I will pray for you and hope that you continue to progress.

CD: Congrats on the Flights of steps taken. Good job. The link for your journal did not come up, but if you could pm me, I would like to read it.

I had a pretty good day yesterday. I am not going in the mind set that I want to diet. I am trying to change the way I eat in a slow manner that I can adapt to it, get used to it and then continue it for life.

I jumped on the trampoline with the kids and walked yesterday and then my mom and I took the kids to go run some errands. But, as usual, their behaviour got the best of me. At our first stop, they were messing with the candy machines and after I told them several times to stop, they still were doing it so I got the keys and we went and sat in the car.

At Walmart, Jordan threw the most hellacious fit. I was so embarresed. I stopped the cart in the dog food aisle and I didn't move it until she calmed down and decided to be a good girl. Then I plopped her hiney in the basket and made her lay down and she went to sleep.

UGH! I am not sure why stuff like that bothers me so much. I see other people at the store with screaming kids and they don't look stressed. Why does it stress me out so much. I start gritting my teeth and I get a headache. Plus I think I have high blood pressure. Ugh. Anyone know any stress relieving techniques? Or meditation type activities. The kids get to me so much, I just need to relax and not let them being normal kids get to me.

Anyway, you all take care and have a great OP day.

DId anyone see the reunion of the biggest loser. I have been watching it faitfully and I missed the last show... Im pissed but Iwanted to ask anyone who saw it to tell me who was the other person who won 100,000. I know that the guy won the big money but who won on the reunion show. I was going to try out for the show but I got really really sick the day of the casting call...

5 lbs lost this week... Im so happy...

Sue... Welcome to our group !! What a lovely photo in your avatar. I always love seeing the faces to match the posters. And your progress photos are awesome.

Terri... Those Winsor Pilates will make you skinny girl. Keep up the great work.
I hope your day at work goes better today... and your shoes.

CD ... always good to see you posting again. We miss you when gone.
Please ask your doctor about doing stairs as main exercise routine with that bad knee.
I would hate for you to do permanant damage. Your knees need to last you a life time.
There are so many other exercises that does not put all that stress on your knees.
(Can you tell I have permanent damage ..)

Amanda... our waiter did not continually ask us about the rolls. At this restaurant all the employees help take care of you. Even the manager. When a new one came by to fill tea glasses... they would ask if we would like more rolls. No intent to force us... just the routine question... "Would you like more rolls or anything?"

Thankful Thursday... I am thankful for my husband today.
I wrote a long post why... then deleted it. LOL
Thought I would spare you the longggggg explaination. LOL

Okay... I am off to do my exercise. Going to try a new video this morning.

Skinny Memorie... we were posting at the same time.
Good to see you again.
My daughter is a major fan of that show.
If no one answers your question I will give her a call.
Hope you post more often.

Hi folks - doing well with exercise, rotten lousy with eating. I posted a few days ago saying if I couldn't lose one pound per week than I should re-evaluate my plan. My plan is fine, it's me that is wrecking it. I need to get on the ball here, the clock is ticking.

amandamomof3 - the best technique I know of to relax while raising children is to have them go away to college. But seriously, the thing that helped me the most was for me, myself, to take a nap or have time out in the afternoon. My daughter was such a high strung spaz that I couldn't get thirty seconds away from the noise and confusion. When she wouldn't nap herself, I would go into her room with her and close the door, tell her she could play with anything she wanted, but it was mom's nap time, so leave mommy alone. Then I would lie down in front of the door so she couldn't get out and I could fall asleep without worry, because everything in her room was extra-childproofed. For some reason she did not bother me, I guess she felt secure enough that I was in the room even though I wasn't paying attention to her. I needed this short time so badly, and it helped me deal with the normal kid behaviour both before and after my nap. I couldn't control what the kids did, but I was less cranky and could control myself, which kept them calmer, etc etc. By the way, it says you live in Texas, but are you from England or Australia? Your spelling and writing style doesn't look Texish.

Best of the day to everybody - Ruby

Hi I'm here. Wanted to say thanks to all for welcoming me to the site.

I'm still trying to get used to all the things that are here. I've been reading
all the posts and making myself at home.

I have to get weighed in tomorrow at my TOPS meeting. Wish me luck!

I too like the TV program Biggest Loser. I told my middle daughter we
should try out for it, but the excercise would probably kill me.

I also watch American Idol, like it a lot but never thought I'd be addicted
to reality shows, but I am.

Hope everybody has a good evening; drink all your water; and hopefully
my slider will move in the right direction tomorrow.
Hilta

Hello ladies, right about now I am thankful that Thursday is almost over! I haven't had a good on plan day. . I got into the bag of hersheys kisses. The plan was to have two and quit....oh yeah! I am not sure how many I inhaled before I got control, but this much I know, it made me feel terrible! That was the first sugar I had had since Dec. . Serves me right I am sure. Two steps forward and one back. That is not what I have in mind for myself. I will just start all over again. That sugar is going to mess with me big time.

The rest of you are doing well right? I sure hope so! That darn chocolate demon should not go and bother anyone else, it had me to pick on.

Gotta go, got interupted. Later, Iwillbe