It has been such a busy day at work that I haven't been able to post at all.

The good news with me is that today I feel completely better - I am finally over my cold! So I am back to the gym as of tonight.

Ammi - I am so sorry you are still feeling so ill. I hope the doctors are able to figure out what is going on. Congratulations on the loss, even though it feels empty. You are almost to 100 pounds lost!

Annie - I have been thinking of you when you mentioned that you were looking into surgery. Is it your back that is still causing you a lot of pain? I hope you feel better soon, either through surgery or through some other healing.

Hopefully I will be back later for more personals.

Ammi look at that ticker going way down! i hope you feel better soon and are up to exercising again soon

AMMI~Just wanted to say sorry you are having to go through all this! I hope you feel better soon! I hope you can get back to exercising soon. Congrats on the 5 pounds lost!

Nancy~Glad you are feeling better!

michelle

Ammi I am so sorry you're still not well. Hang in there, sweetie and know we care. Congrats on the 5#. Think of the head start it'll give you when you can exercise again.

Hi all,

Nancy Yes it's my back. The surgery should be an in office type thing I hope. I have a date to see him on the 7th of Nov. Glad you are feelin g better again.

Ammi: So sorry you are still not feeling well. Huge hugs and congrats on the 5 more pounds. I am so proud of you and happy for you. You are so close to being under 200 pounds!

Patti: Congrats to you on your big loss.

Andie: Thanks for the pat on the back.

Hugs to all and huge blessings, back to my recliner and heating pad!
Annie

Good Afternoon!
My day has gone well so far. Right back to my exercising routine after my "day off" yesterday. My legs feel much better.
I know I've only lost 12 pounds thus far but I am starting to feel thinner. I know its do to the exercise. Don't know if its just in my head or not but I don't care.

Lillion: I eat way less at sit down dinners too. I don't like to eat around other people (besides my immediate family). When everyone is sitting and eating it makes me not eat much at all but if I was up walking around & nibbling then I would tend to eat more because I wouldn't feel as if people were watching me. I have been a "closet eater" since I was little. That has attributed to me being overweight.
Yay! about finding some good yogurt. I wished I liked yogurt but I can't stand it. I went shopping yesterday & got some healthy snacks.

Wezi: Congrats on getting back to the gym.
Good Luck on your weigh in tomorrow!

Michelle: My cold is not even comparable to your cold but it still makes it hard to get out of a warm bed.
Big congrats on your loss! Exercise does make all the difference, not only do you lose more steadily but you feel better too.
The darkness could definately be making you feel funky. Thats a crazy thing to deal with. How long will the 24 hr darkness last? I can't imagine that, weird. Maybe Alaska isn't my dream home, lol. Maybe we should trade houses for a few weeks.

Ammi: So sorry you aren't better yet. Keep your chin up.
Congrats on the loss. It may feel empty but its still 5 lbs. You will be up & gazelling (my new verb ) before you know it. And you will shatter that 100 lbs lost very soon!

Nancy: Glad you are feeling better. Have fun at the gym!

Ammi -- I'm so sorry you're not feeling well. Take care of yourself, but don't let it distract you more than you have to!

Greetings all,

I hope everyone had a decent OP day today.

Jill, I am envious that you can wake up to exercise. Every exercise routine that I've ever tried early in the morning has failed, which is bizarre, as I'm a morning girl. For some reason, exercising at 8pm seems to be doing the trick this time around.

Ammi, I can understand that feeling of not taking pride in a weight loss due to sickness. It does seem so much more rewarding to have sweated those pounds off. I'm wishing the docs fix your belly soon.

Annie, I hope the 7th arrives quickly for you. Back pain can be so debilitating.

Michelle, congrats on the loss! How are you coping with the loss of daylight? Do you have one of those natural sunlight lamps or do you just go outside in the few hours of daylight that you have?

I had a huge NSV yesterday. I can not cook to save my life, preferring to pick up fast food, eat a Lean Cuisine (hi Misti!), or boil pasta on the stove. I've really been trying to prepare meals for my lunches and last night I made the best dish. I made some plain couscous, mixed it with lots of spinach and black beans, stuffed the mix into some red peppers, and covered the dish with spaghetti sauce. Each serving approximately 300 calories and it is YUMMY. This is such a victory for me because I'm starting to throw things together, of course much cheaper and healthier than before, and it is good!

Well, tomorrow is WI day. I'm hoping for a loss, as the scale hasn't moved since Oct 1 (well, it did when I was sick, but as soon as I was better, that loss popped back on).

Have a good day tomorrow, folks.

Hi everyone... I was really hoping to do some personals tonight but this over time is a killer. Although I am GLAD for it so please don't wish it away for me. I am an hourly employee and the $$$ total is adding up quite nicely.

Jen har har about the Lean Cuisine. Actually I understand exactly... I hate to cook also and am really surprising myself that I am sticking with this. I am amazed at how nit-picky I am becoming about nutrition, chemicals, etc. Yesterday I made the most wonderful meatloaf... just invented the recipe and decided to try my hand and making up spices instead of the mix... wow it is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!

Hope everyone had a great day!!! Stay OP!!!

hello again! i just read katt's stuff about laughing and all the health benefits it has----so in the spirit of helping everyone get a laugh in today, here is my favorite joke (keep in mind, i'm a nanny, so it's kid friendly! besides, kid jokes are the only ones i can ever remember the punchlines to! )
how do you make a tissue dance? put a little boogie in it!
i'm so immature! that one cracks me up every time!
see everyone tomorrow after i weigh! lori

ROFL ... Im gonna have to remember that one ... I cant seem to remember any jokes other than the kid ones I learnt at school or those naughty limericks that did the pub rounds rofl ..

Okee .. heres my one ..

Whats Snow Whites brothers Middle Name??

Egg White (get the yolk?)

Love and Laughter everyone!

Ammi and Annie .. hope you two get better soon .. wishing you Health n Huggies

Sandy - Guess who's going to Ivy Tech for the Paralegal program starting in MAY?!?!? Oh yes!!! Went for the meeting today, and LOVED it.

Unfortunately, this means looking for a new (closer) job. Luckily, I have time, and I won't quit until I've got something set up that I'll (hopefully) love! Also, since Ivy Tech is in Indiana, that means Andrew and I are going to be looking for an apartment in Indiana, since then I can get the In-District rate (a savings of about $2000 a YEAR!) I'm pretty excited. May can't come soon enough. Just taking the last of the classes I can where I'm at that will transfer, and then I'm movin on up, so to speak! Heh.

Went to see "Employee of the Month" on Sunday morning, and it was pretty funny. Never got to go on our walk, as it started raining, and didn't stop for...wait...it's STILL raining! BAH!

I got in about 5 minutes of JOGGING in today...jogging to and from my car, that is! But hey, I'll take what I can get...and honestly, I wasn't really out of breath.

NSV for me, too. I have a pair of pajamas on that there's NO WAY would have fit a year ago. The bottoms are 2x, and they fit fine, and will be too loose in about 10 pounds...and I'm bigger on top (lucky me...gah!), so the 3x top BUTTONS. That NEVER happened before! Another NSV...I was at a TIGHT 50D bra, and am now at a comfortable 46D! Not too much, but it's PROGRESS!

Well, I need to get back to my work, but thought I'd pop on here for a minute!

HI ALL! I've been hiding and just lurking for a few days, still trying to kick the Popcorn Ball Blues... That evil thing I ate last Thursday has had me craving more evil stuff since then, and the evil stuff has had it's share of wins. I know for many of you, it's a good thing to have a treat once in a while so you don't feel deprived. For me, I don't feel deprived until I get a little sugar in my system. It's like telling a junky "Go ahead, a little fix now and then is fine." It's totally NOT fine for me. It's a chemical that attacks my poor weak little brain, takes over all reason, and sends me prowling for my own destruction! The key to me losing this 65 pounds and continuing in that direction, has been the realization that I have an addiction. Refined sugar as well as grains make me crazy, lazy and fat. I know this probably won't be the last time I go thru this, but every time I have to ask myself WHY??? Why did I take the first bite of something I knew would hurt me so much, for so long? I think that every time I convince myself that this time I can handle it - this time it won't make me crazy - this time it won't send me face first into the nearest sugar bowl or bag of bread.

If you wanna hear me whine, I could tell you that TOM is due, Bill is home, yadda, yadda, yadda.... But the truth is I caved in to a popcorn ball, loaded with sugar. I failed to control that urge, and I've failed to control many urges since then. I am now kicking myself in the tush (and the head) and trying to get back to where I need to be. I did much better today, but I still had some poison. Tomorrow is the zero day - no sugar. One day. I CAN DO ANYTHING FOR JUST ONE DAY! Right?

OK - GOOD NEWS!

FIRST of all I have to say for PATTI, ANNIE, AMMI, AND MISTI, as well as everyone who's been victorious this week!!! I'm sorry if I'm missing folks - I've been lurking/skimming for a couple days, and I'm sure I've missed stuff.

MISTI - I know you waited a long time to see that scale budge! Now that you've got the FFM, hang on to her!

SHARON and Everybody- I had a first with Gabriel (horse) last night. I've had a girl just up on him to sit for a few seconds about 4-5 times, but he's always been nervous about it. I really hadn't put enough ground work in to him, but we've done more of it lately. In fact, he's getting downright bored & lazy on the lungeline. I've even had him over by the mounting block a little, and leaned on him myself. Last night there was a heck of a wind blowing, (wind often makes horses goofy and excited) and it frequently brought the smoke from the wood furnace down across the arena. (They aren't crazy about smoke either.) But when we put her up on him, he was more interested in licking my hands, even when she started shifting her weight back and forth. We took a step, then another, and shortly I was leading him all over the place, stepping over ground poles, etc. He acted like he'd been doing it forever. I think it will all be downhill from here. I just needed to put enough time in to him!

The other great thing today was that I had my second and final refresher driving lesson in the Big Truck. I was so much more on the ball and feeling so much more at home finally. I even did some backing maneuvers, and did beautifully, even if I do say so myself. I'm getting really EXCITED about driving again, and it's a wonderful feeling! Tomorrow I'll call the guy where I want to go to work and get an appointment for a road test - YEE-HA!

Ya know, if I could just get this sugar thing under control again, life would be going brilliantly! I'll have to keep in the front of my mind, how much I want to ride Gabe myself. Having that rider up on him yesterday should make it easy to be really excited about that prospect!!!

to each and every one of you! I HAVE noticed that we have several fairly new members who are taking control of their lives in wonderful, positive ways, and I wish with all my heart for your success!!!!!!

KAYLEY - WAY COOL on the new paralegal program!!! It sounds like your future is just laying itself down at your feet, and you're ready to take off!!! GO GIRL!!

OH, and I love all the kid jokes! I'll have to remember them to tell my little friend Steph, who's 8.