Tashabel and Angie, congrats on your losses girlies! Keep up the good work!

Well, just after singing all sorts of praises for my Eric and his support, why did he have an ABSOLUTE MELT DOWN! yesterday when I was catching up on posts and sending in my reply because HE WANTED TO PLAY GRAND THEFT AUTO and fiddle around with his computer!???? I mean, I know I married a computer geek, but I just feel like Give. Me. A. Break. Are you serious?! He says, 'I mean are you just writing to people right now? I want to go on the computer.' I was like YES. I'm writing to people about my diet and exercise. Something that is very important to me right now. You spend a lot of time on the computer. I'm really sorry if you think my 30 minutes is just tooo much!'

And then he took his sorry butt for a nap but continued to sulk when he got up. I was mad for about 5 minutes and then, I thought, Why am I mad? He'll realise how stupid that was and get his act together. Ladies, this man is on the PC from 6 am until he starts getting ready for work just before 8, then around 6:30 after work when I know not to even say anything to him until about 7:15 and then he might even go on for at least another 2 hrs in the evening! and let's not discuss weekends! Is he mad?????

OK, thanks for the vent. I think I'm done now.

Right. Well, this morning I was determined to be in a good mood , so I read a few posts (while the monster was still asleep), did my breakfast thing, got ready for work, strapped on that pedometer and darn near DANCED to work! Everyone was driving by in their cars like 'Look at that crazy lady...!' I truly didn't care, I was an 80s movie about to happen! I was bursting with joy! I realise this is due to my manic TOM status, but I don't care! Also, I am in the beginning stages of giving up smoking . cigs are like $7 here. So, I said after my duty free cigs are over, I'm not buying any more and will ween myself off the tobacco with natural rollups. so, Sunday was my first day. I had about 5 roll ups - and didn't really enjoy them. Today I've had 2 so far. I've only brought 5 with me to work. but, if I can just smoke 5 for a while I will be a happy camper as I have been smoking 20 a day for like 5 years now. anyway, wish me luck! I'll need it, my 'smoke buddy' at work is not amused. She's a licensed chain smoker who gets attitude when I mention quitting. Eek! Any other (ex)smokers here?

About weigh-in. Right well, I've been hiding from the scale, but she does call my name. Yesterday afternoon I stepped on and apparently was weighing about 5 lbs more than my last weigh in. Granted I usually weigh first thing and TOM just started today. *sigh* I think I might skip weigh in tomorrow as I don't want to go on a rampage. I'm thinking about changing my weigh in day to Saturdays anyway so I will stop 'splurging' on the weekend. Hm. that should work. I guess I should also think of a new short term goal as I am unlikely to lose 7 lbs in one week (especially since that might actually be 12 lbs that I need to lose!) Arggghhhh!!! Calgon, take me away... Ok, I've officially gone mad. Enter the labrynth and carry me home

Good Morning!!!

lelesmom-I have thought about using WW points, but I am so unorganized

brandnewme- I am glad that you can feel the difference. You really can see a difference between the new pics and the ones from back in April. Your hips and stomach are looking slimmer = )

shadiepurple-I sure needed to take time for a deep breath and a happy thought...thank you for reminding me

Biggirl27-all in all I don't think that there was too much damage...and you always come through with the exercise to offset the treats...and good luck with the smoking...I don't, but it has to be tough dealing with 2 addictions at the same time...but I know you are tough and can handle = )

DoxieMom-oooh I have been thinking about getting a badmitton set...I used to play all the time and I loved it.

hippievanlady (and everyone that shared)-I have been lucky not to really do anything that bad in public. I did, however, break the plastic bathtub in our mobile home. Now that was embarassing..."honey, I broke the bathtub"...

futurediva-you aren't repeating yourself darling... I think the same thing everytime I get on here and read...even though I haven't been on here long, its like we have our own little family here (that actually like each other) = )

SueMarie301-after all the exercise and yardwork and cleaning...I think that you deserved those shooters and I don't think that they will hurt you too bad = )

AngieB- WoOhOo...keep it up girl!!!!

Tashabella-Congrats on the 3 pounds!!! Good luck with the new doctor...I think that he sounds very promising...like one of the ones that actually treat the issue and not just the symptoms.

eeyordja-with chasing a 3 year old around...I think you will make that goal. I worked in preschools and always seemed to work with that age group and they are always the most fun

as for me...it was a pretty rough weekend...I got back on BC and I feel like I have PMS from you know where...I had to stop taking the phentermine cuz my BP got really scarily high and the DH and me decided that we should fight this weekend...bleh...but I believe that most of that has blown over...it wasn't a good weekend for eating or water or exercise...but it wasn't as bad as it could have been or used to be...hope everyone has a good and OP week

Good morning everyone!

I am not able to get online during the weekends at home, so it was SO nice to get back to work today and log on and read how everyone is doing! Of course, there is a THUMP of work sitting right here, so I will HAVE to go and do it and just catch back up at lunch. But I DID want to say g'mornin'.

I had a good weekend. Took my measurements on Saturday as I had committed to myself to do. Ugh...those are not pretty numbers. But it's important to KNOW them, right? I am actually excited about being OP this week. I'm excited about FEELING better, which, in the end, is what it is all about.

Congrats to EVERYONE who has been losing!! Can I rub ya'lls heads for LUCK???? :-)

Good morning ladies! I hope that this post finds you all well! Sorry I won’t be able to reply to individual posts today. I have a doctor’s appointment, and I have to leave work at around 12:45 to get there.

Thanks so much for all the congrats on my 5 lb loss. I am still very excited, and ready to keep on going! I am happy to hear about everyone else’s successes too!

So how was everyone’s weekend???

Saturday morning I woke up early and went to the Eastern Market in Detroit with my father. I got a ton of fruits and veggies. I was surprised at what good deals they had on fruits. I even bought some nice plants for the front of the house. Later in the evening, Ricardo and I took the Mustang out for the 'Downriver Cruise' that was going on. It was SO hot that we couldn't stay very long.

Sunday I went to the gym at 8 a.m. and worked out for about an hour. I wanted to go a little longer, but I somehow injured my tailbone (not sure how or when) but the pain was, and still is hard to deal with when sitting. (Good thing that I am going to the doctors office today!)

My food intake was okay over the weekend. I was so happy about the 5 lb loss that I wanted to stay OP. I wasn’t 100% the entire weekend, but I did not do too bad at all!

I haven’t really planned out today’s meals too much because of my Dr. visit. For breakfast I had a piece of watermelon, a yogurt, and a Slim Fast bar. Lunch & dinner is undecided as of yet, though I have a feeling that it will be chicken or tuna.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning and got to the gym at 5 a.m. I know some people have a hard time waking up in the morning to do stuff like this, but for me it seems so much easier. (If I go in the morning, I can’t talk myself out of it on my way home from work! LOL) It’s hard the first five minutes after I wake up. I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep for two more hours, but once I get past the first five minutes or so, I am perfectly fine, and ready to go. Today I did about ten minutes on the treadmill, and ten minutes on the elliptical. Then I did a mix of the various machines that they had. I really didn’t use any weight today since my tailbone is hurting, and I tried not to do a lot of the ‘sit down’ machines as it made the pain worse. After the machines, I did another ten minutes on the elliptical.

Well – I have to get going. I have some work to finish up before I get out of here. Have a wonderful day ladies! Keep up the great work!

Later!
- Kari

STARTING OVER - Bless your...er....heart! Baby your tailbone. I've cracked mine before...never even knew how I did it, but it seems like it hurt for WEEKS!!!!!!!!

(wish I had some of that watermelon)

BamaMom - thanks I sure hope that I didn't crack my tail bone...but from the feeling of it...there's something going on. I'll keep ya posted when I find something out!

Have a great day!
- Kari

Good Morning Ladies!

Well, after much hard work, my Renaissance Festival is over and was a BIG success. We work so hard to get ready for this little festival. It's really amazing how much goes into putting it on and it's only for 5 hours! But last year we got around 8000 people in that 5 hours and this year we did very well too. We'll have an estimate later today of the count.

It was probably less this year, because of the heat. It wasn't just hot - it was HOT! It was 97 degrees in the shade, I've been told one of the bank's digital thermometers said 101 and the heat index was 112! I was dressed relatively cool in a t-shirt and cutoffs, since I was staff, rather than performer this year...but we had actors dropping like flies! (Duh! Put a woman in a corset, cover her with a chemise, bloomers, three petticoats and a long-sleeved, floor-length velvet and brocade gown, stand her in the sun for an hour and she overheats...go figure!) The Kansas City Renaissance Festival actors are troopers though, even though we lost 1/4 to the heat (had to be sent home early) the rest stayed and played to the crowd. I only wish I could have enjoyed the day instead of running around organizing things!

Still, I noticed a number of things...Even though it was unbearably HOT and I ran around in it from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. - I COULD DO THAT! Oh, I sweated like a racehorse, no doubt, but so was everyone else. But I wasn't winded, my heart didn't flutter, my chest didn't hurt, my back didn't give out and I didn't suffer any worse than anyone else!

Food this past week and weekend hasn't been good. On Friday I worked at the festival site from 5 to 9 and so had to eat what I was given, burgers and fries. On Saturday, who had time to eat? Skipped breakfast and finally had a turkey sandwich about 2 p.m....skipped the cookie, but ate the chips, really needed the salt. I drank a LOT. I stopped really counting at 12 bottles of water...I think I probably drank 15 or so, and a couple of sodas, and went to the bathroom *1* time in 13 hours...so I really was sweating it out. At closing time, they were giving away homemade ice cream. Didn't turn that down. After it was all over, about 8:30, I ate at a friends, ribs and hot dogs...but was too tired to care. Even yesterday we (DH does this too) were just exhausted. Went to the in-laws and just ate whatever they had on hand, including cake and ice cream. Then on the way home we stopped at Burger King-solely to get kid's meals so we could get Star Wars toys...We got a Darth Vader! (Yeah - real nerds, that's us.)

So now it's back to being OP...no more stressful activities to keep me off track.

Weight has been all over the place. Last Tuesday I weighed and was at 283 on the Dr. scale. Saturday night, at bedtime, was 285.5 on the home scale, which weighs about a lb heavier than the Dr. This morning was at 289 on the home scale. I know I'm retaining water like crazy, both from heat and PMS. Since water's not been good (other than Friday) I don't know what to think, but I think I'll leave the slider as-is and get back on track before I do an "offical" WI.

Wow! Just re-read that and I rambled on.... I read everyone's post, but there's WAY too many for me to respond to them all...hope everyone understands. Still, a few stuck in my head...

Catherine: I love that story! As you know, I'm an attorney too and although I no longer do trial practice I had a few before going to work for the state. I can just picture the scene. You had to be winning for the other guy to attempt to get a mistrial for that though. I'd say rather than intimidating the jury, you might have elicited some sympathy though!

BigGirl: My DH is a computer geek too! We are on-line so much we got DSL - $40 a month and worth every penny. We also fought over the computer so much we now own 4! Three of which are internet. And there's only three in the household - including my 10 yr old son! (Who has the non-internet computer-to his disgust! ) Okay, maybe we're all computer geeks!

Tashabella: I'm so glad for your loss! (Only here does that sound normal!) Same to you Lelesmom, Startingover and everyone else that had losses! Extrinsic Rapture congrats on those smaller jeans! Feels good doesn't it?

There are so many new folks...Welcome! I'm just going to pretend I welcomed you all individually. I know you'll find a home here and have plenty to offer, as well as receive!

Well ladies, I wasted my morning and still haven't done any actual WORK at work...so best get a move on! Have a happy, healthy OP day!!!

Motivational Monday, eh? Well, my motivation is certainly to lose the 4 pounds I gained back over my vacation! I know, I know, it's not really 4 pounds of fat. Some of it will melt away just by my drinking enough water again (I drank a lot of soda and pretty much NO water during vacation) to flush out the garbage and allow me to STOP retaining water. Some of it is also because I find it difficult to go "#2" when out of my normal routine. This is true even on weekends...I normally "go" in the mornings shortly after I get to the office, but rarely on weekends when I am out of my routine. Well anyway, that means I went 5 days without "going" and getting all that junk out of me! Between that and the water, I'm sure I didn't actually do too badly on my vacation

Alright, enough about crap (literally)--congrats to Lilion for surviving a looooong day in the heat! It's accomplishments like that that just prove to us that even if the scale is moving super-slowly (or not at all!), we are doing great things for our bodies on the inside.

As for my trip, Georgia was HOT (in the 90s every day we were there), but it wasn't nearly as humid as it is here, so it didn't feel as gross. Here, I get sweaty just walking from my car to my office because it's just so sticky outside, ya know? But down there, we went to the zoo, walked around Atlanta a bit, and went to Callaway Gardens (plenty of walking there), and I didn't feel nearly as disgusting because it was so much drier.

Well, I have read many of the posts I missed while I was gone--congrats to those with losses and turtles, hugs to those who need them (don't we all?!), and thanks to those who have shared humiliating stories--even if we have gone through worse, they are at least good for a smile and a chuckle during the day! Love you all, and make it a great Monday!

Well thanks to everyone that congratulated me on my size 24 skirt. It was fun wearing it.

I apologize as I'm not going to write much. I'm just in a very sulken mood.

I thought the sorority girls were very nice. Well until I was interviewed. Whoa I felt like I entered another dimension. Anyways details on that later (while withholding information as to who they are of course).

Also I'm having trouble in school. shouldve graduated in may traditionally. thought i'd graduate this summer hopefully. might have to still take a class this fall. i dont know how to really explain why this all has happened. i'll have to think of words to express it. i can say that i've been depressed and i sometimes get so conscious i dont want to go out.

well that's all for now girls...sorry for my abruptness.

bless,

Rosie

Hi everyone,

A quick lunchtime hello and I hope everyone's day is going well.

Jillybean, I just LOVE Calloway Gardens. We are just a couple of hours away and try to go every year. When my youngun is old enough, I want to get the bikes again and just spend the day biking. The best time to go for me is in Spring when the Azaleas are in full bloom. Ahhhh....it's heavenly.

Lelesmom - I am having a major M.S. moment. I think that you asked me in an earlier post where in Alabama I am. If you didn't, just smile and pat me on the head and talk about me when I leave...lol. I live in Birmingham....over in Trussville actually. I lived in Tuscaloosa for 18 years until I got pregnant. I had moved there for college and fell in love with it and just stayed. Before that, I grew up in a teeny tiny little Payton Place of a town called Tallassee in L.A. (lower Alabama).

Okay.....gotta go finish my lunch. BAAAAAD choice today. McDonald's. Monday stress food. However, the rest of the week will be better because I have no more money for eating out. Yay!!!! (er.....yeah)

I have a lot of health news set up on my home page, and Reuters had an interesting story. 15 years ago Obesity health care costs in America were 3.6 billion dollars, about 2% of the total spent on health care. Today we are spending 36.5 a year on obesity related costs, or about 11.6% of the total amount that Americans spend on health care. Insurance companies are blaming the huge increase in the number of obese individuals with the double digit increase in insurance premiums. My water aerobics instructor's insurance recently went from $500 to $800 a month. She has diabetes. I guess if I was skinny, and my insurance doubled because of fat co-workers, that I would be really peeved. I also read that being overweight changes your body chemistry so drastically that losing weight becomes increasingly more difficult. I try to remind myself that when I am having plateau problems, that it is just that my fat knows that I am trying to kill it, and it is fighting back. The skin on my legs has loosened up so much that during water aerobics they drag through the water like trying to pull a bucket through the water. I'm going to try some new lotion with tee tree oil in it to see if that helps. If I have to, I'll get one of those tight dive skins to hold it all together. I can't have normal trouble. No broken shoe laces, or run in panty hose, oh no, I have to have skin that flaps like elephant ears.

Well, for motivation Monday I have motivated myself like crazy. This morning my son and I went swimming for the first time at a public pool. I haven't been for years. I use a wheel chair every where except home, so me swimming and walking in the pool for 2 hours got blood in to places it hasn't been for a while. My feet were such a dark purple when I got out it almost scared me until i saw that it was because they were awake for a change. Now i have tired places I forgot I owned. But I can't wait till we go again tomarrow at 6 am. It was great

Today was weigh in for us and..... .....I'm down 5 more lbs. That puts me over my first short term goal...YYEEAAHHHH. My son lost 7 lbs this week. He had a gain last week that I know was water because he ate pizza. So he was quit happy with himself too.

Dogpal: I did it!!! I'm under the 400 mark. You were right. It feels terrific. Come on. Get down here with me. I can't wait for you to feel it too. I must say how much I admire you for your swimming. It is tough to motivate myself to go and be with people I know will be looking hard at me. But today was great. Just a few older guys swimming laps and few old ladies working slow, so we did ggoooddd. Thanks for the insiration.

Well, brag brag thats enough. I hope the same great feeling to all of us. Enjoy your hard work and remember how worth it you are. Give some one a smile today.

Way to go Shadie!!!

Shadiepurple,

I am SO proud of you!!!
Doesn't it just feel SO good to be changing your life that way??!!!! You just go right ahead and BRAG BRAG BRAG!!!! You surely deserve it and are an inspiration to ME.

Thank you!

Why don't you use 2 tracker one from mini goal to mini goal. one from starting weight to long term goal. I like the short term goal b/c my long term goal seems huge and un-managable but if I concentrate on small goals they will eventually add up. JMHO.

AngieB

Shady- Congrates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know you feel wonderful!!

Rosie- Don't let the sorority girls get you down! I had bad experiences in school my self being "bookish" and overweight. It is YOU appreciating your own inner qualities that is most important. Not the attitude of insensitive stuck up girls who will one day be faced with the fact that perfection does not exist in anyone, not even in them. Take a look at yourself find those things you are proud of- I know they are there, focus on them. Those things you don't love work to change or accept. As long as YOU love YOU, they don't matter. I know this easy for me to say, but believe me I have been where you are. As I learned to love myself I made more friends based on my confidence in myself- without loosing weight are changing my basic nature, people who love me for ME. Just look around and you may be suprised to find there are out there people who already love Rosie because she is Rosie. As for your delay in graduating, hang in there, it is frustrating but you WILL eventually graduate. Ask yourself if in 10 years this delay will matter to you. If the answer is no relax and try to let it go. Remember we are here for you.


AngieB