Marcie did you see it on the news? It was awful! One of the girls I work with had to walk 10 miles to get her 5 yr old daughter at school! She had to leave her car in a parking lot. It was a mess! This weekend its suppose to be freezing rain! I'm hoping into monday so I won't have to go to work! The doctor still pays us! He's really good to us that way! Even he said one day, it would be fine if it snowed after 1 on wednesday, we had off thursday and friday and started back to work fresh on monday! My kind of boss!!

I haven't gotten much done today..so I'm outta here for now! Though you know I will be back!!

TTFN Michelle

hi ladies,

I can't believe I have not been here since September.

I'm not going to lie and say the computer died or anything. I just slipped (make that fell) off program and got out of the habit of visiting. It's happened to me before and it may happen again but I really want to get back in control and this is the place I need to be to get and give the encouragement I need to get my lifestyle on a healthy track. So here I'll be. I've got a lot of catching up to do so I'm going to be reading posts for a while tonight.

Hey gang, Well, I haven't managed to stay completely OP since making my renewed resolution, so no cufflinks for me this week... but I'll keep them as my reward for next week if I can meet all my goals. Making the new resolution did help, though: I've done better with water, exercise, and sleep, and I've ALMOST met my calorie goals.

Sue, Amanda--Welcome!!!!

2cute--What do you do for exercise in the winter? I wish there were something you could enjoy more...

Barb--Good job staying OP despite the stress. You're my idol!!

Judy--Welcome back! I've been "maintaining" for quite a while myself, and I know I need to get back OP in order to make that "losing." Have you looked at the "Make a commitment in 2005" thread? The contract idea is great, I think.

Hello Everyone…

Terri – I’ll definitely have to check out my pilates video then.

Iwillbe – Hello Hey, there’s a thread somewhere (I can’t for the life of me remember where I saw it) but it’s about dark chocolate and how there are some properties in dark chocolate that can be good for you (of course in moderation ) If you get a chance, try doing a search on it… I’ll see if I can locate it as well. Nice to meet you

Angela – thanks for the welcome

Today was an interesting day. It was minimum day at work, and I come in at 11:30 (the day ends at 12:55). So my boss just tossed me in wherever students needed me (or instructors needed me). However, I got a chance to talk with one of the ladies at work who had bariatric surgery. I’ve thought about it for the longest time… scared like **** about it… but I’ve thought about it. I really really really want to avoid doing anything that requires taking medication or any type or surgical procedure. However, I know that if I can’t loose the weight myself, I have got to do something. I’m much to heavy for this and it’s so unhealthy. I know that if I stick to it, I can do it… especially since this whole counting calories thing seems to be working for me. I’m just concerned that I can’t maintain it. UGH! I really commend this lady at work… she’s looking great everyday I see her… If I had half the courage she appears to have, I would have done the surgery a long time ago… unfortunately I have this great big yellow line that runs down my back… and if you listen closely, I sometimes go *BWAK BWAK* but only if my feathers get ruffled!

I really hope that I’ll be able to learn from this whole calorie counting tid bit, ad eventually be able to maintain my eating without having to count calories.

Ahh..one day… til then I’ll keep counting!

I’ve gotta run… need to get ready for my bowling league tonight.

Take care everyone!
Sue…

Hi Sue Marie
Calorie Counting is important. I have found the fat content to be more important. I try to have under 40 grams per day. I am losing that way. When I ate healthily but did not take into account the fat in everything, I satyed pretty much the same. It was devastating. As I suffer from PCOS my metabolic rate is below ground. I have found success with keeping my sugar level stable throughout the day. I achieve this through having many small meals and having rye bread instead of white.

I wish you every success

I have to rant about something now. A business competitor confronted me the other day and told me she thought I was basically the scum of the earth. Lovely I know. I was haken by this and I broke a promise to myself. I promised I would not have champagne until I reached 225 pounds. I was at 235. I drank some that evening. Needless to say I had some lemonade the next day(Calories+) and today I weighed 237. I feel guilty and I hope this doesnt knock me sideways too much as I have been doing so well. I just hate that feeling when I have gained weight. My jeans are tighter again. The weirdest thing is she is very slim. I always thought if you get skinny you feel good and look nice. It doesnt matter that she has a physical build I would like to have, her inner pain (fear) makes her unattractive. I do not mean to badmouth anyone but I have had enough of this person trying to ruin my life. Saying things about me and she has only seen me 3 or 4 times in her whole life. Anyhow...Stay OP people!!!!!

BARBg ... I am sorry your week has been so stressful. I am really PROUD of you for keeping on your program. Did today go any better.?

Michelle ... WELCOME BACK HOME !!! I am so glad you did not get into any of those accidents. I cannot imagine taking 6 hours to go 10 miles. I would have ran out of gas. LOL Congrats on losing while gone.. and 8 for a total. That is awesome !!!!

Steph... I hope I welcomed you back. I can't remember and I don't want to go back .. so WELCOME BACK !!! LOL

J-ann/Judy... WELCOME BACK to you too. I was just going over my old mailing list and figured I should remove your name.... but I am HAPPY you returned so I will put it back in INK

Ocean girl ... have I welcomed you here too ??? My memory is having a hard time keeping up with soooo many new people. WELCOME !!!

I saw that BlueHairFawn also posted an "I'm back" thread.
Like I said... so many new... and missing a lot of the old. Come out , come out, wherever you are.

Morning ladies!

Yikes, the winds are blowing in gale force this morning and zero temps. Time to hunker down and stay warm. I have to go work this morning for a few hours. DH is dropping me off while he takes his mom to see DH's middle brother who is in the hospital. He had vein replacements done in his legs yesterday. If that doesn't work, probably amputation. All due to smoking. Then it will be back home and staying inside. Lots of housecleaning and financial stuff to do plus I want to get in two 30 minute sessions on the spinner this weekend. Time to start thinking of outdoor biking. So I am going to give myself a break from the computer (other than the financial stuff) this week. I'll be back on Monday morning!

Just a reminder that this is the first weekend of the new challenge. Weekends are usually our downfalls. I'm bringing the rollcall forward as a reminder to keep on track.

2X2 list
Terri
AngelaBarbg
2cute
Blissful
ThinThinker
Jibbelle
Mary
Iwillbe

Welcome back J-Ann and Blue!

Gotta run now!

I just got back from a very depressing weigh in! They got a new scale *sigh* and it said I was up 0.6 lbs. Thankfully she said that happened to almost everyone. Now I have to wait another week to see a drop. BOOOHOOOOOOO

Ohhhkay, I've weighed in, set up my ticker, and am all set to restart again.
Amazingly I maintained while I was gone. I even journaled my breakfast!

Has anyone used WW Online? Meetings here, with a decent leader, are getting fewer and fewer, and I can't find one at a time I can commit to. I have the new program material. Got it on Ebay in the Fall. Is there more to it than reporting my weight once a week? I can do that here for free! If they offer weekly reading material I would consider joining.

Gonna' hole up in the house and wait for the snow. It's still below zero here in central NY.

Good morning to all. Woke up this morning to freezing rain against the
window, now it is snowing outside like a blizzard. Were supposed to get
8-12 inches. I stocked up on supplies yesterday after my TOPS meeting
so I am in for the duration.
Speaking of my TOPS meeting, I was hoping the scale would slide______
it did but .75 in the wrong direction.
It is so discouranging after you stick to your meal plan and then gain!!
Oh well, today is a new day and stick to it I will!
Drink water,water,water and exercise, exercise, exercise. If I was
younger I'd be outside sledriding. When I was a kid I used to love
the snow. :sball2:
To all who lost the battle this week, CHIN'S UP and stay steady towards
your goal. To those who lost - CONGRATULATIONS and full speed ahead.
Check in later Hilta

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

I am so sorry for being gone so long. What kinda support club member am I? Not a great one, I'll tell you that much. I have had such a hard time losing weight. We all have, otherwise we wouldn't weigh over three hundred pounds. You don't get where I am by having an extra slice of cake only every now and then. The good news is my Dad has moved me up to his house in Chicago, to give a go at jump starting my weight loss. I don't have a scale here yet that can weigh me so I don't know where I am at this point. I will weigh in and get my plans together soon. I am currently reading Dr. Phil's 7 keys to weightloss success. Great book! Love it! It's going to take a long time but Mom and I are feeling good about getting our stuff together and working it out.

You girls (and guys ...in case we got any new male members while I was gone), are in my thoughts. Stay strong, keep your chin up...because I might have to use you as a leaning post before too long.

Best Wishes,
Blue
__________________
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you too, can become great.
--Mark Twain

Highest Weight: 464
Current Weight: 430
Total Lost: 34
Goal Weight: 200-250

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to jump right in to get my feet wet. My name is Carla and I'm 29 and I don't know what I weigh . All the scales I've ever encountered (including all the Dr's scales) only go to 350 and I passed that long ago! I'm the fattest person I've ever met and boy is that depressing. I'm making a goal of losing 200 pounds onmy ticker, but that is going to be starting at 350 when I get there as 150 is what I "should" weight (heck, I'd be happy to be 300 right now!!). Right now, I am trying to settle on what my plan of action is. I'm breastfeeding two little ones so I hate to do anything too dramatic at this point (I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't lose weight while nursing ; oh they're not twins, BTW ).

I need to do something. I know people who are having heart attacks at 30 who were healthy and I'm getting scared. I have a lot to live for and I want the quality of my life to improve so I can live long.

I've lost and gained a lot of weight over the years so I know how to do it, I just don't know how to maintain very well. Oh and I need a bit of energy to get going, lol! I've done very well on low carb diets but I'm not ready to do that right now. It sucks because I need to eat and I'm so hungry from the nursing, so I think it's just a matter of eating wisely for now and cutting the junk out.

Ok, this has been rambly, but I'm so excited to discover this!! I do so much better when I have something/somewhere to be accountable to.

I'm baaaaccckk again! I'm suppose to be cleaning this pig sty but I can't seem to stay away from the computer today! It started to do the freezing rain thing here and John is working and they are out on the road with 3 more deliveries to do. Makes me nervous!! He is going to bring home a couple bundles of firewood in case we lose electricity tonight. Its awfully cold out there!!

At the grocery store today I found the two new Nabisco 100 calorie packs...they have the cinnamon graham crackers and the ritz snack mix...you know...like the chex mix. It has the little pretzels, chex and crackers in it. It is sooo good. Tastes just like the real thing and only 2 pts per pack. I take them all to work so when I need something to munch on, even if I eat 2 bags its still only a 4 pt snack! I need the premeasured stuff to keep me honest!! plus its easier!!

Well, Andrew is all set up with the new daycare mom. He went for a couple of hours yesterday and he didn't want to leave when I picked him up! I love it! He goes back to school starting monday, he can't wait. He misses Miss Wilson and her class. The bus is all set to pick him up at Miss Mary's house and its his old bus driver too so he is a happy camper!! Maybe now we can get back into a routine and I can keep on track. I did drop my classes for this semester. I really need a break! Besides, I'm thinking of changing my major anyway...again!! Most of my classes are general core classes anyway so I won't be losing credits if I do change. I'm just getting old and tired now! Plus my hours are ideal but I haven't quite adjusted to the long days and getting organized! So hopefully I will be able to do that now!

I'm so excited we have a bunch of new people posting now! I sure hope some more of the oldies come back though! I miss everyone! I get so much support and valuable information from each and every one of you! We all are on the same journey and have some of the same struggles! Its nice to know we aren't alone!!


It seems like alot of you are expecting or experiencing the bad weather! It was quite a nightmare here on wednesday. Hopefully it won't be so bad. My parents are expecting 14-25 inches of snow in Rhode Island...(grin)....maybe now they will move down south here sooner...they won't have to be shoveling...and if they are smart..(grin)...they will buy the house on the next street over from us and John will do any shoveling...if we ever do need any...for them.

Sue...I have thought about the surgery myself...but have heard too many horror stories. Since I had my son I won't take any chances of anything happening to me to take me away from him. I am a bigger baby than he is! I lost 97 lbs on weight watchers before I got pregnant with him so I know I can lose the weight if I work the program. Drinking the water and exercising were a big part of that loss. On the weeks where I didnt' drink as much or didn't exercise as much due to work I lost slower than the weeks I did do all that stuff. So find what works for you and work the program..you can definately do it with the support of this group!!

Hilta we use to be outside in the snow for hours using pizza pans and cardboard boxes as sleds! I wish I had that kind of energy again! I could take my son out if we had enough snow. He keeps wanting to build a snowman but we haven't even gotten an inch of snow since we moved to North Carolina!

Marcie don't get discouraged. That was always my downfall. Just remember everyone experienced what you did and if you stay the course you will have a loss for sure next week! Don't give up!! Might just make you work a little harder to make sure you show a loss eh? That always motivated me!!

Terri if you are doing financial stuff this weekend...I have a few checks you can write out? I'll send them your way!!

2cute...I'm a New Englander...I learned to drive on snow and ice a LONG time ago!! I tried to tell some of those people to slow down its slippery ice under that snow but they didn't listen! Or maybe it was they didn't hear me since their windows weren't down and neither was mine! In Rhode Island nothing shut down when the weather was bad. THe only time in my 38 years they shut down the state was the Blizzard of '78. We got 3 feet of snow and they shut the whole state down for 1 week. Only emergency vehicles, people with snowmobiles were allowed out so they could pick up medical personnel and take them to work, it was a mess!

J-Ann...I am following the WW diet without going to meetings. I know the diet inside and out and have lost 8 lbs in the past 2 1/2 weeks. I work for a doctor and I am using the scale there to weigh in each monday. I get plenty of support here which is better because whenever I feel like eating and I know I shouldn't I sit down here and read the posts and post some more to keep my fingers busy. You will notice that I am a posting queen sometimes and those are the times I try to busy myself to keep out of the kitchen!

Ocean Girl...could that competitor be jealous? She must have low self-esteem to degrade you like that? As far as the champagne and lemonade...count the calories to fit into your program and go forward. An occasional indulgence will NOT sabotage your weight loss. When I lost the 97 lbs the first time I allowed myself whatever I wanted after I weighed in that week. Sometimes it was mcdonalds, sometimes Ice Cream but most times I ended up at the chinese restaurant next to my meeting and ordered the steamed shrimp with vegetables. It was sooo good and so lowfat! So don't look back....just keep trudging forward with the rest of us!

Qadira...don't you hate when that happens with vehicles. I know I sure do! Now for the scale, at least you have something to gauge your weightloss with! Sometimes the numbers are brutal but they are only numbers. As long as you are eating healthy and taking care of yourself the numbers will eventually change. Sometimes not as fast as we like but they will change!!

Angela sometimes it takes a bit of time to get all the goals back in order, but you will do it. Sometimes working on one thing at a time then adding the next helps! I know I have to start working on the water again then I will start the exercise thing again.

Well I think I wrote a book already! So I better get off of here so someone else can have some space to post!

Lucky where are you at girl?? Did you get snowed in?? Gail is still missing! Tina...Jen...Susie...there are more! Come out and post and let us know you are all ok!

TTFN Michelle