WTG, Jenny!!! So proud of you you. Hope to be there soon enough myself!

La la la, Danielle (my charge) is fast asleep taking a nap, so I'm on here taking a break!! I've been OP for a week now and I feel great. I'm doing the WW core plan so I find that I always slack when it comes to documenting when I'm eating (since you only need to keep track of foods not on the core plan) Since I'm insulin resistant, a low/free refined sugar diet is the best way to go for me, but sometimes, as Thin says, you are on the road and you're hard pressed to find anything but a McDonalds. I ate there TWICE today, this morning I had a Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait with a breakfast burrito (seemed like the healthiest thing), and for lunch i had my favorite chicken caesar salad.

Thin: Seriously, don't worry about it I don't take it personally I read the little disclaimer at the top of the page. So how are those merchandising jobs treating you? Sounds like they're keeping you busy still.

esmaraude: I love how even exercising once a week boosts your energy in general. I find that i'm sluggish more often when i dont exercise, and then i get into a rut that i can't seem to get out of because i'm always "too tired." it's nuts. I do Walk Away the Pounds, those have been my steady workout for the past few years.

Keri: I am addicted to ebay! ;p

Scooter: have fun at your brother's house! It's nice to get away, i haven't been able to. i live in a town just big enough so it's totally un-necessary to ever leave (so i never do because all other cities are a substantial drive away), but small enough so i still go stir crazy!!

Hi! I want to try and get in a few replies. It is hard to keep up but I love it!!

Julie- First of all, congrats on your 50 pounds loss That is soooo awesome!! You inspire me to get there too!

J-ann- Hi! I hope everything is going great with you!

Mel- I am an older but newbie too. To tell you about me, I am a 30 year old wife and mother to 2 boys. Lee is 10 and Zach is 4. I need to lose about 160 pounds. I work with afterschoolers in a child development center. I recently sustained an injury to my knee and it has had me down for weeks. I will find out if I require surgery on Wednesday. I live in South Carolina and my hubby and my sister are my best friends. Hope that was enough. Nice to meet you!

Hippyvanlady- You should be soooo proud You have lost a huge amount of weight. Also, getting out of that wheelchair was awesome!! You are one inspirational lady!

Debi- My hubby is about 40 pounds overweight I guess and he is great. He actually has alot more willpower than I do. He does not mind at all when I change the way we eat. He has NEVER criticized my weight and just wants me to lose so I can be happier. He is great. That is what makes him my best friend!!

2cute- You are fast approaching the need for a 50 pound celebration yourself. Look how far you have come!! I love your posistive attitude and YOU NEVER GIVE UP which is great!!!

Thin- I say take the day and go on a little mini-vacation. Sometimes life gets so hectic that we dont have time for "me" time. It is very vital for us girls! You will wish you had if you dont.

Scooter- I am embarrassed but, where are you going? Wherever it is, I hope you have a safe trip and are back soon!

Synn- Dr Phil says to throw away all clothes that are too big for you. Or at least sale them really fast! I know that will be a motivation to me to keep going because I am soooo cheap

Esmaraude- I admire you for using your situation at work yesterday to motivate you into a good workout. I would have walked away with my tail between my legs I think. Word of advice, kill her with kindness!
Hilta- Glad you are feeling better!

Jenny- Congratulations! That is the first milestone that I want to meet. I got down to 299 while attending TOPS a couple of years ago and went overboard with the rewards Keep going!

Ok I think I got everyone. If i didnt, I still love ya. I will post later but gotta get my butt moving!

Hugs,
Tracy

Good Afternoon Ladies

Wow...everyone's been busy and doing so well! Loki's - thefictionalme - too! I'm sure I've missed someone else's milestone, so all you other ladies - give yourselves a round of applause!

I discovered I can make Zataran's Jumbalya low points! I'm quite excited and eating it now! DH and I are actually having a really good time figuring out how to take the foods we love - which is just about everything - and making it lower calories/lower fat!

My MIL went in today to have an angiogram (sp?) on her arteries in her neck. This is a woman who weighs 140 lbs probably and she and my FIL eat really healthy. Amazes me she's got artery clogging problems. She's had a catheter and stent put in once already. DH says she and his Dad (who's now diabetic) are paying the price for 50 years of eating badly. Makes me more motivated than ever to stay OP. I just get my blood work back and my cholesterol was 161! Granted I take Lipitor - but I'm still really pleased. Now to get to the point where I don't need the Lipitor!

Well time is short, so I'll get back later tonight. If I don't...

Have a Good Weekend Ladies

Lilion

I'mmmmm baaaaaaaaaackk!! I can't believe how many threads have passed since I last posted!!

Anyways, I hope to be back posting regularly again! I rejoined WW again for the umpteenth time and I surely hope to be sticking with it through the year! I know it works I did it once before! Besides, we are getting a pool and I know we will be having alot of company and I don't want to look totally hideous in a bathing suit! The exercise will be great too and there will be NO excuse because Andrew LOVES to swim so he will be in there with me!!

Did I tell you all I started scrapbooking? Does anyone else?

I am going to cut this short because I want to get the house in order so I won't have to do it this weekend. We are going to a roller skating event that Andrew's school is sponsoring tomorrow. I haven't been on roller skates in like um...well...30 years?? It should be good exercise though huh?

Ok I'll be back...I promise!

Michelle

My fun today was to rent a new storage building. I have cleaned enough cob webs to go from a 10X10 to a 5X10. That's an extra $25 dollars a month of mad money.

mamamoo- I also homeschooled for two years. I was mostly responsible for my roommate's two sons. The younger one lived with his dad and stepmom until he was 8. When we got him, he was underweight, addicted to sugar, had never been to dentist, etc. The worst part was that he had just completed 1st grade and couldn't read. His stepmother told him that reading was for chumps. Don't get me started on inbred hicks. I mean that litterally, she had a child with her uncle. I felt like putting him directly into second would leave him behind for the rest of his school years. Because of his birthday, he was already one of the oldest in the class, and I didn't want to hold him back. The older boy was in fourth, and was having bully trouble. We used the Calvert program, which I really liked. It included things like poetry and art history. I would have done it indefinitely, but after two years, it was obvious they loved the home part much more than the school part. When tested for placement, the older boy skipped a grade, and could have skipped two, and the younger one was more than caught up. If you can do it, it is one of the most gratifying things you can do. I also applaud your efforts to go natural. I am a rabid environmentalist. The boys used to joke that if they sat still too long they were afraid I would recycle them too.

Thinthinker- I agree with you about stretch pants. My take on my ability to sew is that it allowed me to avoid a major consequence of being overweight. If I had had to deal with trying to find and pay for clothes with a 60"waist and 80" hips, maybe I would have been forced to address my issues much earlier. As for my wheelchair, I actually carry scars from it. I out grew it so much at one point that the arms bent out rubbing on and stopping the wheels. I was clever enough to avoid this consequence by rigging clamps to the back to force the arms back in place. This forced them to cut into my thighs. I still have a divot in the fat on the outside of my leg. I guess it will stay as a reminder until I lose all the fat on my legs. It may be there for the rest of my life. As for lawyering, I hated it. I was good at it, but truly hated it. I only went to lawschool when I became too overweight to work in the woods anymore. My bachelors is in forestry. I used to be involved in tree impovement research, breeding programs to make a particular strain more insect or disease resistence. I got so heavy that I felt like at best I could no longer pull my own weight, and at worst I would be a danger to myself or other people with me. My real goal is to get fit enough to spend the rest of my life doing Peace
Corps work. There is so much deforestation worldwide, They would take me in a minute if I could pass a physical, eventhough my compass has been replaced by gps, and my punchcards have been replaced by pda's. I don't know if I will ever get there. I may have to settle for helping boyscouts get their merit badges, and writing letters for Amnesty International, but I have to have that big dream to hang on to for now.

Michael Jackson's pjs aren't the only unmentionables I've seen in court. My most humiliating moment came during opening statements. I used to be a pacer. I walked back and forth in front of the jury rail. I guess on one lap I lost track of which side I was on, and turned the wrong way towards the jury and promptly fell over the rail into the box. My opponent jumped up screaming for a mistrial that I was trying to intimidate the jury. I was thinking to myself that I was glad I had worn my nice blummers. The judge said whatever intimidation they felt was more than made up for by my looking like an idiot. I did win, and always made sure I had nice frillies on from then on, and would flash opponents an inch of slip before the judge came in as a signature. In addition to being large, I'm also 5'9" with a Kate Smith type voice, so a very imposing presence. They used to call me the barracuda, and I guess everyone felt like I wasn't beneath pulling such a stunt.

If that story doesn't make you all laugh, loosen your drawstrings. Catherine

Catherine - boy am I going to love picking your brain!!! Your story made me laugh - you sound like you've got some interesting tales to tell. I know I've already mentioned it but it's very inspiring hearing you tell about your sucess, about how you overcame the wheelchair, even though you still have permanent reminders of it. If you don't mind me asking, how many years did you work in forestry before you moved on to being a lawyer? Why did you choose law over other indoor sort of stuff?

Just me being nosey If i followed my heart i'd move to england and study medieval history. i want to be one of those people they interview on history shows and have it say my name along with "historian" next to it. I'm a nut.

So whatz happenin? Ok, I must confess, I've been bad I gained a whole bunch like 10 pounds since December, I am so behind in my school studies, my kids miss me since I work too. Well, it's not too bad, but I think, no, pretty sure that some of my weight gain was due to the diabetes medication change, at least thats what my doctor told me. The good thing about the change in meds is that my blood sugar levels are way down. Ok about the my other bads, well I have this next week to catch up on my school stuff, and I will have three days off in a row so I can have some time with my kids but that won't be until next Friday.

For now I am here at work just trying to pass the time until 7:00 PM MST, so I thought I would stop by to let you all know how I am doing, sorry it's not good news but I see that you all are doing fabulous keep up the good work and I'll see you all lighter

Okay, that's an overstatment, but I feel so fat and miserable now! I got home from work and I REALLY wanted Fajitas. I was sitting there with DH trying so hard to come up with a way to turn our left over steak and chicken from this week into fajitas that would stay under 15 points, which was what I had left...and he suggests we just go to our favorite mexican restaurant and split one order of fajitas...just getting double tortillas. So of course I jumped at the chance for restaurant food and even splitting it we ended up eating FOUR each! I'm so stuffed and yucky feeling now! I even ate the sour cream! What a PIG!

Okay...now I've confessed and at least I feel better about that, but I swear I'm going to remember this day and NEVER do this again. This was the first time in 3 weeks I've gone off program and I just feel soooo guilty! (Okay, maybe confession didn't make me feel better.)

I really can't believe that three weeks ago we'd have each ordered a whole plate and not had any more of the take home than we brought home tonight! We still brought home enough for at least two each...this place has HUGE servings. We aren't going to eat it any time soon though. I'm going to freeze it with our left over steak and chicken and in a few weeks, we can thaw it and eat a REASONABLE amount of it. At least we got it without chorizo sausage. I'm just so mad at myself! Why did I do that?


Sigh...well, what's done is done. I guess tomorrow is another day and I'll have to be EXTRA good to keep losing.

And Catherine: Loved your story! I can just picture it! Souns like something I would have done.

Later, Ladies.

Lilion

I'm going to try to play catch up here...

Mini-bio...Julee...32...born in Buffalo, NY, raised in Jacksonville, FL, did my BA and my MEd in Special Education at the University of Florida (Go Gators!), taught high school Special Ed in Jacksonville for 4 years, moved to Birmingham, AL for three years where I was working as a Youth Director at a synagogue...currently residing in Los Angeles...Director of Youth Activities at a large synagogue in "the Valley." I love theatre, comedy, improv, karaoke (I sing at least once a week), good sushi, movies, books (can't get enough), being crafty, learning to cook and my boyfriend...3/28 will be 2 years...hopefuly we are getting a place together soon. My father raised my brother and I from the timet hat I was 8...he is very heavy, and although he was always active, he was still heavy. Same with my brother. I was always active growing up and was pretty muscular...but short. I was also really chesty. In high school I was about a size 10 and was convinced I was massive...because all my friends were size 4/6 and I couldn't wear their clothes. I stopped taking dance classes my Junior year, and my activity level went down. That summer I was date raped by a guy my best friend set me up with. I started gaining pretty consistently after that. Part of me felt that if I wasn't attractive then it wouldn't happen again. Maybe that was an excuse. I've since dealt with that. But meanwhile the pounds kept coming, I kept eating, making excuses to not exercise and so on. I got grief from my grandmothers and my dad...all a little hypocritical. I met Jason and he has always accepted me for me..no questions asked. He is diabetic and when he was diagnosed and gave up junk food and sweets he dropped 30 punds really quickly. He has put some of it back on and also does not exercise, but thankfully maintains his blood sugar levels through diet alone. We always talked about helping each other lose weight but it was all talk...one day he asked me if I'd join WW with him...I was thrilled that he had brought it up. So here I am now. According to my last WI I am at 290...I have lost the weight that I have gained in the last 3 years in 5 weeks...and I am realy feeling the difference.

Thin...opening night was great! The kids were wonderful..I had my cameo which was fun, and except for running into something backstage and getting a HUGE knot on my shin...it was a great night. I was supposed to go out with the cast after the show for a late-night bite..and the longer we waited for a table the less I felt like eating..so I went home and got some much needed sleeeeeeep.

I bought a dress today for the wedding!!! it is actually a top and skirt that go together but they are so cool...it's black in that sort of slinky-like material that travels well. The top has a wide scoop neck and the skirt is straight and ankle length and doesnt make me look like I have so much tummy. There are tiers if wide fringe on the shirt and the skirt and it creates a nice long line. I will try to post pictures after the wedding. The shop owner gave me 25% off...so in the end it was the same price as the two dresses I had seen onlien that I was considering..and this one I was able to try on! I'll paid it up with some pretty heels and some sparkly jewelry and go from there. I tried on a few other things but they just weren't right. I was slightly appalled at what some of the women picked out for me to wear...bah.

OOh..and I got super cute new shoes too...suede floral Vans slip ons in pretty spring colors...40% off!! I love a sale.

I'm torn between having my size 26 pants taken in or getting rid of them. I love some of my pants and they are so cute and I really cannot afford a whole new wardobe now....I also have 2 pairs of pants I ordered from LB before I went overseas in January that for sure need altering but don't know what to do...decisions decisions. But I am starting to notice how big some of my pants are...which on the one hand is great but I don't like it when my clothes look so baggy on me.

Happy Friday...off to do more laundry...first time I have had time to do it in 2 weeks...ack!!!

MissMeless-I didn't want to get stuck behind a desk in the lab I guess for the same reason that a cop hurt in the line of duty doesn't want to get stuck just doing anti-drug lectures at schools. I'd miss the field work too much seeing other people coming in from the woods. There is also a major prejudice in forestry against professors or managers who hadn't been in the field enough. Being a woman already gave me one strike against me. I basically decided that I could handle working for a forestry company's corporate law division. That's not where I ended up thought. This may not make any sense, but I hated law school, but hated myself more. What better way to punish myself than to stay in a school I hated, surrounded by the most shallow, materialistic people I have ever met. That's not all law schools, but it certainly applied to OU during the 80's. I worked as a forester for 4 years, but part of that time was part time. Forestry is a very cooperative education. You often go to school one semester and work the next. It is very on the job, and inter-disciplinary. I only spent one summer at home the entire time, and that was because I was having knee surgery. You have to have 144 hours just for a bachelors, and I had to take classes in every college on campus except education.

JuleeCees- I also have pants issue. I get the too big stuff, but my pants are also too long now. I put bungee cord drawstrings in all my pants. The thin stuff that used to be in all cool kids pants a few years ago, not the tie down size stuff. I get it at a sailboat place for pennies a foot. I just keep cinching. There was a research project done a few years ago in Europe with two groups of weight losers to see who could maintain. Half wore tight elastic bands around their waist, the other half didn't. The band people maintained the weight loss 2-3 times as often as the non-banders. They think it was a combination of a constant reminder, and it got uncomfortable if they gained weight. I figure I will use whatever tricks I can. As I lose, I pull more of the bungee through the toggle, and tie it off and cut it shorter. My pants are taking on a clown clothes look. I have only made one pair of new pants since losing the weight. I never had trouble adding to my patterns over the years, but I had a **** of a time cutting it down. It reminded me of the time I was sewing a set of clerical vestments out of a particularly expensive piece of fabric, and I was scared to make the first cut. The new pair of pants were cut down fine in the leg and waist, and back crotch, but the front crotch is bagging like I was planning to smuggle a kilo of something on a plane. It's a good thing that I am not a paying customer, or I would have gotten no money for these. If all else fails, put your pants on inside out, have someone pin the inside leg area to take up the pants (that way you don't have to mess with the pocket side), and the back from crotch to waist band. If you can't sew yourself, take that down to the drycleaners and ask them to stitch on the pin line. If you're scared you might need to let it out again, you can just leave that simply stitched, if not, they can run it through a serger. It won't be as perfect as having it altered by a tailor, but it will be cheaper. I don't want this to come off racist, but the best work I've seen locally was done by little Korean ladies working in a back room at the drycleaners for pennies. Hope that helps.

Catherine

I do!!!! I love to scrapbook, although lately I haven't had a chance to do much. Actually that's what first got me kickstarted to start losing weight and trying to focus more on myself... I made a scrapbook called "The Beauty of Me." I was in a 'circle journal' group (a group of about a dozen all over the country). You made your scrapbook, designed your layout and then sent it off to the next person to add their pages in your book using your theme. I just got it back after a year of it being sent around and it is so great! All of the women though said that it was the hardest one they've ever had to do because none of them ever took the time to appreciate themselves either. It was very healing for me.

Anyways, today is ok I guess. I feel kinda crappy (just tired), but I did make a 95 on my final exam.

The bad news is there's one girl in the class who isn't getting her way (She's used to being pampered.... I've been in two other classes with her) and she's screwing it up for all of us. We have a really awesome teacher now who is great and knows her stuff.... and this girl has complained about her (and made stuff up I might add) and now we don't know if the teacher will be back to finish the last two parts to the class. *sigh* I'm so sick of some whiny person messing it up for everyone else simply b/c society has handed them everything and they think they deserve it. What's worse is that she isn't even paying for the class, she's getting it free while those of us who ARE paying for it are the ones who are going to get shafted. BLEAH!!!!

It's too windy to go walking today like I had planned, so I guess I might just take a nap and hang out inside today. Thanks everyone who sent out the congrats!

OH, we also decided to split our TOPS group after the SRD this April. Well, there are 5 of us leaving the group. The rest are mad at us, but it's just so depressing to stay in the group we're in. The people are good and all and I will miss them, but they have no motivation and don't have any desire to find any. What's worse is that they are attempting to drag the 5 of us down with them. And well, I hate to say it, but the 5 of us are the only ones who do anything in the group (we make the newsletters, scrapbook, take pictures, do charms, do awards, do 50/50, do the programs, do the contests, do the fundraisers, are the SRD board and are the only ones who send out cards, etc.) So I hope when we leave they at least appreciated all that we did for the group. We've tried and tried for months now to get things going good again but it's like walking into a hurricane. I'm just so excited and ready for us to get to our new meeting and really start pumping. This year we're hoping that we'll have 3 new KOPS (we already have one who's a KOPS) and that I will be at least halfway to goal by next SRD (2006). It will be great fun though!!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!! And yep, I'm another ebay addict too. heh.
Julie

OK i have to add here, Catherine - you are a trip! I am thoroughly enjoying reading all your posts. hehehe. Thanks for the humor, I needed it!!!

Has anyone ever thought about doing a clothing swap on here? I haven't been here long so I thought I'd ask. I mean, I still haven't lost enough to be out of my pants as of yet... but hopefully I will be soon and I would love to be able to share them with someone who needs some in that size. Just a thought though.
Julie

Just wanted to check in. I made it to my brothers in one piece. Just wanted to say hello to everyone.

Loki: I am sorry to hear you TOPS group is splitting but it sounds like it willl be good for you guys. I am trying to think of how I can get our TOPS group motivated. We have what my friend calls "Professional TOPS". They come to the meeting but that is about as much effort that they put into losing weight Which I hate. But I am going to try to get us up and running. I am hoping I can talk them into doing Relay For Life because two of our TOPS members are battling cancer and I think it would mean the world to them.

Miss: I am 25. I am an office manager. I am single and loving it. I have no kids except my 2 dogs Abby and Winston. I am a member of TOPS. And starting in April I will be the new leader. I have currently lost about 26lb so far this year. I am hoping to hike the Appalachian Trail though the the Great Smoky Mountains that is my biggest goal. I am hoping to be under 300 by Easter. Well that's me. Any questions? LMAO

Later daze!

Scooter: Relay for Life is one of the most amazing things I have ever participated in. When I was living in Birmingham, one of my students was diagnosed with Leukemia in January and died 6 weeks later. It was a horribly tragic thing, made more tragic by the number of other family embers who were battling cancer. I got my high school youth group together to do Relay that year...we were one of 6 teams walking specifically for this girl. The ceremony at the beginning when they lit the lumiarias was beautiful, and you could drive through the community and see countless houses with RFL signs in the front lawn. Good Luck to you!!!

I don't remember who brought up the idea of a clothing swap, but that might be interesting. I actually have a congregant who recently lost about 90 lbs and is giving me her hand-me-downs. Last time I didn't keep much, but I did kep this paid of black leather pants. I knew I couldn't fit into them at the time, but that is actually one of my mini-goals..to get into the pants and not look like they were sprayed on. I rememebr having a leather (ok pleather) mini-skirt when I was about 11 and thinking how cool it was. Or maybe it's that secret untapped desire to dress up like Olivia Newton-John at the end of "Grease"...who knows!

The weather here is finally back to "LA standards" again. It's almost 80 today but there is a nice breeze. It's supposed to drop about 10 degrees tomorrow, but the skies are blue, the sun is out and the rain is gone...for now. It would have ben a nice day to go to the park and have a nice walk and a picnic....but BF is busy all day and I decided to sleep in and go grocery shopping. Of course I left my points slider at home so I had to keep caling him to ask him to check things for me...

The knot on my leg continues to grow and is threatening to darken to a lovelt blue-black-green-yellow color. Ahhh the joys of being an "actor". If I idn't mention it before, I actually have a teeny cameo in the show, in addition to all of my behind the scenes work. I am on stage for about 20 seconds (if that) but it requires quite a bit of makeup and attention to my hair (I am supposed to look like I was blown up by some random dynamite...it makes sense in context). I have to confess...prior to Thursday night I had never been on stage (exclusing the 4th grade operetta) in a live theatre setting. When I came on stage and heard both the applause and the laughs...it was all I could do to not break character and just smile adn wave at the audience. I 'perform' regularly..as I sing karaoke at least once a week..but that's 50 people at most. This was almost 300 people the other night...and it was quite a rush. I will be sad when the show is over...but also relieved that the pressure is off and that I have that much of my time back to myself. Not that my job takes up any less time once the play is over, but it means that I have more time to do the other parts of my job and not rush things so much.

I ramble...I apologize.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend..as you all are fantastic women and deserve it!!!

Arrivaderci!