Hi girls!

Sorry I don't have a chance for indiv. right now. I threw my back out an hour ago or so. Stupid back! Putting my pants on no less *L* And NO they were't tight ones *L* I guess that is what I get for having a "fat" day and wearing my stretch pants again *L*

Just popped on to say I am only down a lb this week. Kinda sucky but I am to blame as I didn't exercise at all since last Sunday I don't think... Next week I would lke to see down 3lbs! It has just been difficult getting into the "night" shift at work and I am pretty good at making excuses Enough already!

My Relay for Life meeting went extremely well yesterday. We have oodles of great fundraising ideas and I called my mom today to see if she would make us an afghan to sell tickets on. YEAH! I have lots of yarn that I bought one time to make one and never got around to it. She is retired and has lots more free time than I do right now.

Well I am starting to hurt, so will say bye for now and go bring the yarn to momma. I'll be back though and maybe get time to work on indiv.

Brenda

Today is my weigh-in and I lost 1 pound. Not too bad considering this wasn't one of my best food weeks and it's been so crazy that I only exercised twice. So I'm really happy to see a loss at all.

Hi ladies. I guess I need to reintroduce myself. I used to post on this board about 6 months ago but was struggling and gave it all up for awhile. But, I miss the support of others who have a significant amount of weight to lose, so I am back. Reading back through the posts I am moved by the honesty and support that is here. I hope you mind me rejoining your ranks.

I do see a few screen names I recognize, but lots and lots of new ones too. So, here is my quick intro. My name is Deb, I live in TX. I am 36, single (divorced for 6 years), no kids but do have a dog and a cat who I love like they were kids. I am an accountant and I volunteer as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. Like many of you, this is not my first battle against the scale. But I certainly hope it will be my last. I rejoined WW for the umpteenth time on 11/5/05 where I was at my highest recorded weight ever - 309.4. I say highest recorded weight because I am pretty sure I may have weighed more than that in high school looking back at pictures. But I never weighed myself then, so who knows?

Anyway, to date I have lost 22.2 pounds. I am happy and frustrated about that at the same time. For the past 11 weeks I have bounced back and forth with the same 2-3 pounds. I can blaim that on stress and a lack of focus. I switched to Core 2 weeks ago and am liking it. Just trying to get the scale moving back downward again. So that's my frustration. The parts I am happy about is yesterday I bought a new pair of size 22 jeans, down from the 24's I was wearing. And I bought a new bra size 42C, down from 44D. Also, my BMI has gone from 43.2 to 40.1. While I am still in the "morbidly obese" category, once I get under 40 I will be "severely obese". I guess that is better. Doesn't sound that much better though.

That's it for me. I look forward to getting to know all of you better.


Amy, I can very much empathize with your feeling of loneliness. I have felt the same way for the past several months. It can be tough being a single gal in a couples world, that is for sure. Plus, I don't know about you, but for me the weight issues isolate me more. I am not that interested in getting out and meeting people at this weight. I am sure I am wrong to feel that way, but I have a certain sense of shame for having done this to my body. I am so impressed at your openness. I am glad you have your sister close by to spend time with. Hang in there, girl. By the way, I used to live in Omaha. I am from Iowa originally and lived in Omaha for about 3 years.

Zelma - Your weightloss is amazing. You look absolutely beautiful. And beyond that, I can tell from your post that you really have your head together about it too. You are inspiring and I look forward to getting to know you.

thinthinker - Yours is one of the names I recognize from when I used to post. Glad to see you are still here.

NotTheCheat - I so know what you mean about getting your house cleaned up. It's so freeing somehow. And always makes me wonder why I don't maintain it all the time!

christineu - Congratulations on the inches lost. That is amazing! And a great reminder to all of us to celebrate not just pounds lost, but all those incredible NSV's too!

wylenn - I recognize your screen name from before too. I am sorry you feel like you are in a rut. It's so easy to get that way when we fall into our routines. I am glad you have some fun things planned to look forward too!

garnetfairy - No need to apologize the things you shared. One of the things that I like about this thread is that it in HONEST and REAL and it makes me feel not alone in the things I am going through. For alot of us there is a real emotional component to our eating habits and the states of our bodies. And to seek improvement in our bodies means addressing these issues head on. I really appreciate you being so open and honest.

MsCrockett - Love your sense of humor! And congrats on losing 25 pounds!!

kayleystar - Nice to meet you and look forward to getting to know you better!

Julee - I know it can be hard to hear the compliments sometimes. It's so easy to start taking them the wrong way. There's no question that sometimes a compliment can be given in a backhanded sort of way. Another thing I experienced a few years back when I was down close to my goal weight is that when I would get complimented I would feel uncomfortable becuase I thought, "Oh my gosh, if they are noticing the improvement then that means they also noticed when I was fat." I guess I was hoping no one had noticed!

Sherry - Hello there! I'm new here too (sorta). Look forward to more posts from you!

going to lose 200 - Hope your back is feeling better very soon!

teahoney - Congratulations on your loss. "Only a pound" is great! Just keep chipping away at it and you will get there.

Julee - It's sad that most people think that way...but yes, it means "thin is pretty"...which is completely ridiculous. Congrats on the dress! XL!

Sherry - Hello and to the forum!!!!

Brenda - 1 lb is 1 lb!!! Congrats!

Tracey -

Crock - YOU GO!!!! 25 lbs is spectacular!

Xena - Hello and welcome back! I wish you continued success!!!

Weighed this morning. Once it was 300, then 299, then 300, then 299, so I'm just going to keep it at 300! Today, Andrew and I are going bowling, out to lunch, and he told me he wants to buy me a promise ring, so we're getting that, too!

Hope you girls have a great and OP day!

Good morning gals!

I'm getting a waaaaay late start today. I woke up at 8:30 ish instead of my (now) regular 5 am. And, it's 9:48 and I'm still in bed. <Grin> I love lazy Sundays.

I am PMSing something fierce and last night I wanted to binge on lots of sugar and fat. I dropped off a friend and on my way to my apt. I drove by what seemed like a donut shop at every other block. I was tempted to stop by the market and buy bags of cookies and lots of soda. I kept pulling into the parking lot of the market, telling myself i was being stupid and that I didn't need the sugar/fat/empty calories and that I CERTAINLY didn't need to binge on them, driving out of the parking lot and around the lake by my home only to find myself in the parking lot of another establishment in my neighborhood where I could buy stuff to binge on. So, I finally parked my car in one of those parking lots and got on my cell phone. I called a few of my friends, leaving messages ("I'm really tempted to binge on sugar and fat...not sure that I can win this fight tonite...thought I'd let you know this is where I'm at") until I got a hold of one in person. She helped me make some SANE decisions and called me about an hour later to check in and see how I was doing.

I'm happy to report that with my friend's help, I drove myself home without stopping anywhere to buy anything, made myself a healthy meal, had me a bottle of water, and then had a cranbery "Luna Bar" since I did want a bit of a sugary treat and those are much healthier than a candy bar.

The rest of my evening was fine. The friends I'd left messages for all called me back to see how I was doing. I took the time to give myself a facial and to pamper myself a little bit before going to bed.

I tell you girls, my friends are God-sent. I'm so very thankful for my life!!!!

Hope ya'll have a good day.

I know some of these are already out of date, but I wanted to catch up. . .

Brenda – That really sucks about the machine being so hard to get. My dad has sleep apnea and uses one. It has really helped him. Luckily so far I seem to be fine. I do hope they can find one for you sooner!

Lillion – It is so sad how some people like having others around so that they can feel better about themselves in some way – i.e. having a friend that is fatter so that standing next to them the person will always look better. I really wish I could understand why some people have such low self esteem that they feel they need things like that. I really hope your friend can get back on her meds. It is really sad that she can get coverage for a LAP band but not for her meds – Medicare really scares me.

Melinda – The Biggest Loser dvd’s sound good. I seem to have the cardio down, but getting the strength training in is harder for me. I have a different strength training dvd I got from Netflix that I really need to try (I have had it for awhile). I totally understand about the water. I retain quite a bit. You may show up a bit, but it will come out eventually.

Maria Lucia – I am glad you were able to talk to your friend about your success and her reaction. I agree that she probably feels like you will leave her behind. Your weight loss also must confront her to think why she is not doing anything and it is probably painful to face the reasons why she is the size she is. I don’t think any of us get to this size just by eating a few too many cheeseburgers, but by having link between emotions and food that changes the very nature of why we eat. Also, I love how you put your reasons to lose weight – I totally agree!

Ammi – Your scales definitely have to be wrong. Please let us know what your doctor says – it just doesn’t add up!!

Julee – I had a guy I was really interested in tell me that too! “If you were thin I would be really interested in you.” I started to diet like crazy, but then figured out he was a total loser. I think that is another reason I always failed on diets in the past – it was for all the wrong reasons. I definitely agree that this journey is as much a mental and perhaps spiritual one as it is physical. I know that I have, for whatever reason, suppressed myself in certain ways for so long. I have so many fears and learning to shed those it part of learning to shed pounds. I remember reading a book that said “The reason why you are fat is that you chose to be that way. If you wanted to be thin, then you would do something about it.” (or something to that effect) It took me a long time to accept that – that it was me that was making me fat because I wanted to be that way. Part of me screamed “no, I don’t want to be this way!”, but the part that put the food in my mouth certainly did. For the first time in my life I feel like I don’t need the fat and so I am able to put it aside. As I continue on this journey I am sure I will learn even more about myself and uncover parts of me I had thought lost. It is all pretty exciting.

Wyllen – I hope the coming Spring and the activities you mentioned will help you break out of your rut. It is so hard to keep going when the momentum is gone. I hope you find something that puts the wind back in your sails. Are there any sports you have wanted to try – something that would challenge your fitness level and make you want to work to achieve a different kind of a goal?

Zelma – I love hearing about your outings. 6:30 am is a bit too early for me to be up and about but I still can’t wait for the warm weather to come so it is nice enough to go on walks. We don’t have any good shopping areas for walking, but there are a lot of trails and nature areas around here. I hope you had some time to yourself and it wasn’t all taken up with school work and cleaning.

Christine – Congrats on getting so close to the 200’s – that is so exciting! I totally agree about the heart rate monitor. I have been using my heart rate from the beginning as a way to measure my exertion and it is really helpful. Already I have seen it switch twice. When I first started my muscles would fatigue before I could really get my heart rate up, then after a few weeks I would have to slow myself down to keep my heart rate in line, and now again I am back to having to push hard to keep myself at the 140 range. I guess that means it is time for some more strength training for my legs. Using the incline on the treadmill should also work for that.

Amy – I know what you mean about feeling lonely. I was on my own for so long and for the most part I enjoyed living alone but every once in a while I would feel so lonely. It is good you have your family around to help a bit, but I think it is normal to feel lonely at times. Having your BF being so far away must be tough. That is such a great term “spirit-sniper” – I have met a few of those in my life too, alas. I find it so hard to even think about a definite goal weight. Disregarding outside pressures, I need to find what will work for me, but because I can’t ever remember being there, I figure I will have to wait and see. You can always get to 175, see how it feels and reassess. That is probably better than setting yourself up with a number that is too low that will frustrate you when you are getting close.

Garnet – I totally understand the wanting to keep people at bay thing. I think the best thing to do is to try and find some other coping mechanisms now so that as you lose weight they will already be in place. The thing is, weight loss should be about you – about your health, well-being, and the way you feel living in your own body. Forget everyone else! Of course that is hard to do when one of the reasons we are fat is to hide from those things that scare us. Visualization is a great tool there. Think about how you would handle the situation. Personally, it is one of the reasons I want to do weight training and eventually do martial arts. Not that I would ever physically hurt someone, but I would like to feel that I could defend myself a bit if needed. I think feeling stronger will help me get over some of the fears.

The new Dr. Who show is on the Sci-Fi channel at 9pm on Friday.

Congrats to Tracey and Crock – way to go!

Cleo and SherryByron – Welcome to 3FC! This place is amazing!


It was good to have a chance to chat with my stepmother last night. She and my dad are at the point that they need to make some changes in their finances or they are going to have some trouble down the road. A big part of this involves moving out of their house and getting a condo instead so they don’t have to worry about maintenance, etc. It is going to be tough for them, but I am glad they are doing what they need to do. As much as I love them I don’t want them to have to move in with me!

My BF has to work this evening, so I will have most of the day to myself. I’m not sure what I will do yet. Maybe just stay home and relax.

Xena - Welcome Back!

Kayley - Argh! You are so close! You will defintiely see the 200's by next week.

Maria Lucia - Way to go on not giving in to the cravings! That is so great that you have friends you can call that are so supportive. A couple of other things that really help me when I need a sweet fix are sugar free jello puddings (caramel and double chocolate are my faves - 60 calories each) and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches (140 calories).

Howdy chicks!

Well, after all my soapboxing and determination this past week, it's been a BAD food weekend! Started with Friday, when we decided we'd hit our favorite italian restaurant in town. To our credit, DH and I ordered 1 salad, 1 pasta and 1 dessert and split them all between the two of us. But...we didn't exactly make the best choices. They have this absolutly incredible combo supreme salad! Salad=healthy, right? HA! Not this one - lettuce smothered with ham, shrimp, provel cheese and creamy italian dressing! We split a large. Then they have linguini with livers. We love this dish - linguini, sauted livers and mushrooms all covered with a mild garlic cream sauce - about 100,000 calories I'm sure. Then my DS wanted dessert so we got a carrot cake and split that while he had his cheesecake. Not a good meal when the dessert was likely the healthiest thing you eat!

Ah well, life goes on. I was better yesterday, up until I started eating cheese-it chips. They are GREAT and 36 chips are 3 pts...but I probably ate 5 pts worth...they appear to be somewhat addictive.

Today we're back on track. Had a late breakfast and went the bacon and eggs route...but I'm still only at 9 pts and I only have dinner to go, so that's good. We're being somewhat "bad" and having steak, but I'll watch the portion size and be well under points by the end of the day.

Everyone seems to be struggling and down lately...I'm no exception. I think I'll blame it on global warming. Can't everything pretty much be blamed on global warming?

The one healthy thing I did this weekend was buy my bike! Purely by accident. We were coming back from the grocery store and saw a handmade sign that said "bikes for sale". We doubled back and checked it out. Turned out to be a man who buys or finds old bikes and fixes them up. He had a bunch of so-so older bikes that had seen better days and one practically new 15 speed women's bike. I tried it, liked it and bought it for $35! At that price if it falls apart after three rides I figure I got my money's worth. I need a new seat for my overly large butt to sit on and a helmet and I'm set. My kid was SO excited! It'll be worth killing myself on the darn thing to make him smile!

Well, sorry no replies today. I'm actually at work and need to get busy since I'm ruining my Saturday here at the office! Congrat's to those who lost! Every pound counts! To those struggling...obviously, I'm there with ya! Oh! And to the new or returning chickies!

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Lillion-just a quick drive by post, but I had to put in my two cents worth for Hobson bike seats. I will never own a different one. They are “two cheek” seats. There are like two smaller seats, one for each cheek instead of just sitting on your crack. It is adjustable for how far apart you need them, and each kind of rocks back and forth as you move your legs up and down. They run about 30 bucks and are worth every penny. The company is Hobson, and the model is the Easyseat.

Christineu--I just realized I forgot to respond to you in my couple posts yesterday, but I wanted to tell you that is awesome that you got your butt to Curves yesterday and didnt let yourself make any excuses! Yeah! How'd your muffins turn out? I've never made anything w/soda pop before so I'm impressed by your's & Lillion's adventurousness! Also, your weight and inches loss are outstanding! Good job! Thanks for the tip of using ribbon to measure and about the quilting measuring tape.

Kayley--You are SO close girl! I applaud you for staying positive about how close you are, I'd probably get really frustrated about it! But you know it will come off soon and that is what is important. A promise ring?!? That is awesome! Yay! And you rock out in those capri's girl. I have always been really embarassed about showing my ankles and legs. I have had severe chronic edema (swelling) in my ankles and legs since I was a teen and its very embarassing for me to show them. I never wear shorts or skirts above ankle length (no, not even in the 100+ temps we have everyday in the summer in NE). But last year I bought a pair of capris to wear to my bro's July 4th party because I knew I'd be outside all day and I was SO sick of being the only one sweating like a pig! I ended up wearing them all the time. I cant wear sandals because my feet swell too so I just wear 'em w/my Chucks and socks and they look pretty ok.

Julee--I find sometimes people try to make compliments about someone losing weight but they dont want to embarass you by making the compliment directed towards your weight. So, they make a comment about you being pretty or looking good or something like that. Also, elderly people sometimes tend to subscribe to an old idea of what pretty is which has never included overweight people. Granted, Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 but that was not considered overweight then. Now it is, and so the concept of thinner=pretty adjusts w/the times and what is considered "thin". Just my thoughts. I also loved your comparison to seeing pretty to a Magic Eye poster. My mom always told me during that teenage awkward phase my mirror must be distorted so I couldnt see what was really there. I still think about that and try not to let the mirror get too distorted. Congrats on the XL dress! I think I was a size XL for proably a milisecond in Jr High but not since then.

Sherry--I couldnt remember if I said or not! If I didnt, welcome! If I did, well, welcome again!

Brenda--Hey, a lb is a lb! Better than gaining! I'll keep my fingers crossed for 3lbs for you next week. I have faith in you! I'd love to see a pic of the afghan your mom makes. My mom quilts and I consider myself to be pretty crafty and I like to see other's works of art, too.

Teahoney--Good job on the 1 lb, like I said--a lb is a lb! Better down than up! Good for you for still getting in 2 days of excercise during a crazy week. Do what you can and things will pan out. Good job!

Crockett--3 lbs?!?! Good job! Yeah! 25 lbs total?!?! That is amazing! I love that we can have tickers on our posts here, it really means something when you can see it inching down towards goal.

Xena--!! 22 lbs is awesome! Good work, girl! Do you find the Core Plan easier or more difficult than Points, or just about the same? I can certainly hear you on the being ashamed of having done this to your body. I know people look at me and think "you shouldn't be eating that, fatty" and I just wanna hold up a sign that says "Get off my back--I have Flex Points to use!!" My weight has never really isolated me and for that I am thankful. I dont know how I always had such good self esteem because a lot of my formative years were kind of a wreck, but I had (and still have) a good strong-willed beautiful mama and she is what probably made me what I am today. I endured a lot of cruelty in high school that went beyond run-of-the-mill teasing and sometimes that comes back to haunt me, too. When I start a new class at college or something I always think people will make fun of me but then I think "Wait, these people are adults, not teenagers" and that makes me feel more confident that they maybe have grown out of that crap. Plus, I'm older than a lot of people in my classes so I think that helps, too .

MariaLucia--Its amazing to me how losing weight can be very much like beating a drug addiction sometimes. We all need "sponsors" in our weight struggles, too, and I am glad you have such a good support system. Good for you for saying "NO" and taking control. Its your life, you control this, and no donut is stronger than YOU!

Nancy--Good idea for me to get to 175 and see how I feel. I think I am going to make that my goal just for now and then reassess at that point. BTW, thanks for relating me to on the lonely thing. I really appreciate hearing others feelings on it and knowing I am not alone.

Jillybean--I LOVE lazy days! Good for you for taking some time for yourself. It can be hard in this fast-paced world.

Lillion--I love bike riding, I sure hope you enjoy it. Going w/your kid will be great excercise and nice quality time for both of you. $35 is a great price! Even if you only get 1 summers use out of it you are still way ahead. Oh, and I've always wanted to tell you that I love your Yoda quote. It is so true to life!

As for me, I went to this local greasy spoon today and had thier chicken fried steak breakfast. I had plenty of Flex Points left and I calculated the whole meal to be about 40 pts . I still have Flex left because that is the only thing I've eaten today so I'm not worried about it. But thinking about the whole meal being around 2000 calories tells me that this is something I can only do once in a great while, regardless of whether I have the points for it.

Going to breakfast by myself was kind of a mistake w/how lonely I've been feeling lately. I looked around and the only other people eating alone were very old men. I started to tear up in the restaurant . Thankfully I'm almost done w/Aunt Flo so hopefully I will be back to normla next week. Sheesh.

It was snowing really beautifully earlier when I was at the restaurant. I just stared out the window for a long time and pretended I was in Paris or something. The restaurant is downtown and all I could see out the window was snow and a really old beautiful ornate building across the street, so it was easy to pretend . That made me feel better. Well, that and the big old lady that owns the place calling me "Sweetie" in her greek accent . I love that place.

The good thing is that Nat will be here next weekend and he has the following Monday off work so he will be able to spend Fri, Sat, and Sun nights w/me. I am really happy and excited about that. You probably wont be seeing much of me next weekend, though .

Last night I got a little closer to the end of the book I am reading. I'm reading "The Stand" by Stephen King, its 1153 pages long. I'm 100 pages from the end now and plan to finish it tonight so I can start "It" (1000+ pages) tomorrow. I've never read a book longer than I think 500 pages so I am really proud of myself for finishing "The Stand" and starting another long one. "It" will probably scare the sh*t out of me but it is part of this new thing I am doing. I have irrational fears about stupid stuff all the time and it is high time I stop that insanity. So, I'm facing my fears. I've always wanted to read Stephen King books but always been too afraid to. I know it sounds weird and when I explained it to my sister and her BF last night they were completely puzzled, but for me this is part of taking control of my life. Last night I started to think maybe I shouldnt read "It" but I am going thru w/it. Nat says I'll like it and he's a pretty good judge of the kind of stuff I would like.

christine - that doesnt sound like a fun thing. it sounds like you have a good system for dealing with it tho

zelma - im planning on going to sydney (and maybe a few other places) for 2-3 weeks in december with my best friend. we will have to try and see if we can be in the same place at the same time

ammi - *hug* dont be discouraged. talk to your doctor and see what she has to say about it.

Hey everyone! I've been AWOL for quite some time and have had a hard time with life in general. I haven't been eating the best (no points tracking at all!) and my exercise has been at a complete standstill. But Spring has sprung (kinda) and I'm ready to start again. The cool thing is that I haven't really gained any weight but I haven't lost any either. I've been checking in once in a while to see how everyone has been doing and wanted to post but was too embarrassed to do so. But I decided to start up again and realized that you guys were always my biggest support and you're the reason why I was doing as well as I was. Once I lost touch with you I went downhill fast. Can't wait to get back into the swing of things and renew my friendships with everyone. I also want to all the newcomers that have joined since I went AWOL. This is a wonderful group of people!


Sarah

Amy - Somehow, I got lucky, and I pretty much have "skinny girl" ankles and feet. My legs have always been toned, so I'm okay wearing shorts and stuff most of the time. And I love love LOVE flip flops!

Well, we went bowling today...and I kicked BUTT! Beat Andrew 2 out of 3 games. It was so much fun...I hadn't been in so long! Got my promise ring...it's gorgeous. I don't like gold gold....lol...so I got white gold with 7 diamonds in it...one in the middle, and 3 on each of the sides. I love it! AND!!! NSV! I got the ring in a size 8 instead of a 9-9 1/2 like I used to wear!!!

I'm off to work out cuz I've been lazy lately!