New photo -- I am in the middle.

on my way to massage, groceries, errands while in town. I finally put on a pair of jeans this morning since it's cold outside. Guess what, auk!
Tight, tight, tight! blah, back to counting calories. DH is leaving for antelope hunting on friday, that will be my starting date. Darn, I hate when weight creeps back up. I'll have to weigh myself and change my ticker. Lynn...you've inspired me, maybe I'll start a walking/jogging program to get back into comfortable fitting jeans. I love the pictures, you should frame them, hang in prominent place to keep you inspired when the snow flies.
How's the dieting going for the rest of you Golden Girls now that summer is about over. Does it make you want to get more serious about the holidays coming up and fitting into our clothes?

Wonderful pictures, Lynn....SO, so proud of you, chickie!!!! And I must note yet again that your dd is the spitting image of her mama!!!! I just love the relationship that you two have.

I am home yet again. Left work at noon yesterday - doc squeezed me in for a check, and ended up with a chest X-ray. NO pneumonia, thank goodness, but severe bronchitis, for which I have been given an inhaler and, since I refused a narcotics-based sleep aide/pain reliever, got some OTC Mucinex and Nyquil (ugh) to help with sleeping. Several years back, when I had surgery for a staph infection in my foot (the only surgery I've ever had, if we don't count having my appendix out because they burst when I was 3 yrs old) they had given me percoset (sp?) and subsequently, a couple of other narcotics to help manage the pain before I went into surgery, and I couldn't tolerate any of them. One of them had me hallucinating, another immobilized me (had to go to the bathroom, and when I got up off the couch to go, fell flat on my face) and I don't remember what the others did, but it turned out that I couldn't take any of them. So, since then, I have known not to take prescription pain meds no matter what. ANYhoo, I'm home, and feeling icky, but hopeful that I'm on the mend, finally.

Arrowspark, the thing about being acknowledged is that you have to post regularly. Even those of us who've been in the GG's thread for years, sometimes fall behind with posting...out sick, or away on vacation, or some such, and the conversations just flow on without us. So PLEASE don't feel that you were personally ignored. It looks like a few of us noticed your post and welcomed you, and had you posted again, more of us would have. We're always very welcoming towards new members, because so many new members have become "old" members...we were all new, once upon a time. Jump on in...to know us is to love us! Oh! Also, after a while, you'll notice that some of us are more interested in some discussions than others. I, for example, am always willing to give out (often unsolicited) advice about how to handle the men in our lives, but shy away from talk about exercise, as I'm quite convinced that I have an allergy to it in all of its forms. Well, I like bike-riding, and will do an itsy-bitsy bit of walking, but other than that, I'm the "soak in the bubble bath with a nice candle burning and a little music to meditate by" type.

Gayle...soooooo, is it the pool or WW or both? I'm anxious to hear, Chickie! Oh, yeah, I know about those short evenings!!! Going to bed practically right after supper is cleared away, in my case. Getting up at 5:30 in the AM is getting REALLY old, trust me!

Glad MF seems to be working so well for you, Mary! Don't lose any more off those hips, you hear???? Do your leg-lifts and side-stretches so that what you lose comes off where you want it to come off! I'm waiting for some bikini pictures!!!! (LOL....I know it would be a long wait! I can't imagine any of us GG's putting ourselves into a bikini even if we dieted down to a twig!!! )

Marie, you know full well how much I adore my son. We really are two peas in a pod. BUT, after he moved out to Cali some years back, he blew the engine on his car, and I agreed to put it ($6,000) on one of dh's and my credit cards. Ds was to pay us $100 a month until it was paid back - interest-free, of course. We had bought him the darned car - poor judgment on all of our parts - a brand new (2004) Mazda RX-8. Well, to make a long story short, he never made a single payment, and stopped communicating with us for over a year. It was the worst year of my life - and his. His sisters finally tracked him down through friends-of-friends through facebook, and we all talked things through, and as a result, we have never been closer. He's 30 now, just got married, as you know, and I couldn't be prouder of the person he has become. These things take time. They really do. People change, circumstances change. But I DO know how you are feeling, and I think you handled the birthday just fine. Sometimes they have to do some work in the relationship, too....it can't be all you.

Welcome Donna Marie, Carol Sue - and anyone else I've managed to miss. I'm afraid I'm winding down now. My energy is about at the end of it's tether, but I'll hopefully catch up with the rest later.

Rie/Val....you are the busy one these days...well, most days, actually. I'm glad you're back on your feet. I think the cranberry juice knocked out whatever was trying to develop here, because those symptoms are gone, now. Yay! Hah...I never knew anyone to enjoy being audited the way you do, chickie. Makes me want to chuckle. Of course, it's because you spend the money the way you're supposed to and keep track of it appropriately. It's the ones who don't do that who get all stressed out come audit time.

K3, you are a champ! 50 pounds, eh? And the "old man" is back to being the "young man", is he? Yikes! I'm getting tired just thinking in that direction. (I'd just as soon keep mine old... )

"Older than dirt", Freda?????? Oh, girl, there's still plenty of tread left on those tires of yours, and don't you forget it! (I've been wanting to say that to somebody for a long time, now...)

Oh, and just for the record? I don't ever remember seeing my mother iron, but I always had nice clean and wrinkle-free clothes (I think). Me? Oh, sure, I iron occasionally, but mostly, I try to get things out of the dryer in time to smooth them out and hang them so that they're wearable. I also try my best to wear things that don't require a lot of effort to look decent....flowing jersey knit kinda stuff....you know what I mean.

PT, glad to hear from you, girl! Wish your hip would stop plagueing you (Is that a word?) but you don't seem to let it hold you back any. I'm such a wimp, I swear. If I don't feel good, I'm good for nothing. I'm with you in the "too pooped to post at night" club. Check in, tho, because you know we worry...next thing, I'll be sending you my homemade chicken soup. Oh. I'd have to make some first, wouldn't I? Too pooped to do that, too. I see brighter (fall) days ahead!

I'm off for an invigorating nap.

Have a good day, GG's!

Z

Hi Goldens! :-)

Lynn, loved the photos from your half marathon. Despite the distance and exhaustion, you look so happy and the pride of your accomplishment shows in your smile. Congratulations on coming in under your time, too!

Rie and Marie, this is way overdue but thank you for your comments about the mistake of weighing in right after a trip. I will so remember that next time! I was so excited to see my efforts pay off, and that sure didn't happen, but it does make sense to wait a few days.

I find it strange this time that it has been so easy to turn foods down or not think about those that aren't "good" for a healthy lifestyle. I pretty much gave up crackers (except a few low-fat Triscuits with cheese for a snack now and then), chips, cookies....the standard "junk" -- and even when my boys have some, I haven't been tempted. Have any of you noticed since you've been changing the way you eat that your taste for some of the old familiar foods has changed? If I do occasionally take a bite of something I used to love but haven't allowed myself for a while, it doesn't even taste as good as I remembered it - that was something I wasn't prepared for, though it makes it easier to stay away! :-) I'm down 6 pounds from the end of July, but have stalled for the last couple of weeks, and for the last 4 or 5 days I have been at the exact same tenth of a pound -- not totally frustrated, just find it almost comical that the scale is taunting me with the same tenth every morning. Work is slow this morning, so I'm going to take advantage of that and use the treadmill -- must start figuring out an hour in the day to incorporate exercise, as I know that will help ME taunt the SCALE. I am doing this for me, and if it was "just" me, I'd be ok with the slow weight loss, but having a doctor's appt in early November to show him I can do this on my own and to hopefully see better blood work and a weight loss, I feel more pressure and the slow weight loss doesn't seem like enough. I know, though, that things have to be better just by changing my eating habits -- as long as my fasting BS and hemoglobin A1c are down and diabetes doesn't get permanently added to my diagnoses, I'll be happy -- kind of (?) looking forward to the lab work at the end of the month (my kids would think I'm crazy, little needle phobes that they are LOL).

Will reply more later -- going to take advantage of the slow work time and get up out of this chair for a bit, before it's off to school to supervise all the kindergarteners at lunch and recess (though they are oh-so cute which makes it fun!).

Have a great day!

Finally got here...it's been a busy day...and oh, so many posts, too little time!
It was a pleasant day...not too hot, not too cool and the sun shined most of the day. Up here that is a very good thing! Remember this is our last chance at summer this week!

Donna - Think it was you that asked about my diet...well, glad you asked because I lost 7.6# the first week!! That's the most I've lost in a week since I was on the Prism Weightloss Program but this was way easier! On Prism I was always hungry! On this diet I rare am. Today I went to the mall and I'd had my breakfast meal, and my snack meal (after gym), but I could smell french fries, ice cream and chocolate..but it really wasn't tempting...I just thought oh, that smells good, wish I could have some, but was easily able to walk away. Somehow the cravings are going away. I hope it stays like that. We talked about how most diets say drink a lot of water, well so does Medifast. I usually drink quite a bit but I have increased it a couple cups so I could say I did it by the rules. They say it takes away the cravings...I don't know about that but something is helping. So I'm back below my sig weight but am going to wait a month before changing my sig just in case.

Mom - Glad you are doing so well turning down the no-nos too! My bs is mostly good on this diet too except in the morning which may be because I do have two MF meals in the evening but I feel like i need them just in case I get the munchies as evenings was my bad time before I started MF. Despite that one bs I think I should see a drop in my A1C next doctor's visit.

Zoe - You're right you'll be waiting a very long time to see me in a bikini. I used to wear a two piece back in my 40s but not since then and I'm sure even if I managed to get really skinny, I'd have a lot of sagging tummy to deal with ...in nursing we used to call that an "apron." Not nice no matter what you call it! And yes this time I know to exercise my legs, otherwise they do get like twigs while my torso is so hard just to get right! And when my torso's too big, my legs look pretty decent. Aw, well, what you gonna do

Bobbi - I am definitely look forward to some "skinny" clothes! I told my dh last night, "you know if I stay OP I'm going to be needing some new clothes" and he said, "you will deserve them!" I remember how fun it was to go shopping last time I lost a significant amount...too bad I gained most of it back! Hopefully this time I will be much more watchful and make sure that doesn't happen!

You all have a wonderful day, and Hi to those I missed with the personals!

Good evening GG's,

Got out of work an hour late again tonight ~ so another evening has flown by. Two days down ~ two to go ~ then off the weekend ~ yippee

Now that it is almost bedtime ~ I have almost made it ~ I will be one day back OP with the food. I managed to resist digging into that bucket of little mini candy bars that were placed there on the desk at the nurses station because of Halloween coming. Be strong Gayle!!!!!

Forgive me ~ I've run out of time for personals tonight.

A couple of comments ~ Donna ~ hope your hip feels better. Zoe ~ hope you get to feeling better. Donna ~ my avatar pic is just one I found on the internet and liked ~ I thought the colors were so pretty and loved how the colors were reflected in the water. I make calendars out of the pictures I find, and also use them for other stuff (the background picture on my phone and computer ~ I like to change every month) (and my avatar and profile pics ~ now that I have learned how to do that ~ when ever the whim strikes, I change it).

Oh, regarding the WW vs Swimming decision ~ I think I am leaning toward the swimming option. I am not really great at swimming, so not sure how much exercise that will give me, but I love being in the water, and think maybe I could do water walking and that would help and I would enjoy it.

Ok, guess I'd better quit fooling around and head to bed.

You all have a good rest and take care

Mary, how cool that you found some MF on Craigslist. Great idea to look! And great job on the 7.6 pound loss!

Gayle, I hope the butt ice packs help tremendously and that you feel better quickly.

Carol Sue, I use the Interval, Hill and Fat Burning programs on my elliptical. I also created a User Defined program that is a variation on the Fat Burning that I can do without the arms because I have very bad wrists and if I use the arms too much, I can’t use my hands the rest of the day. Definitely try using one of the user defined programming if your Sole has that feature. I know we have different models.

Bobbi, you’ll be comfy in those jeans soon.

Donna, I’ve missed you and your humor. Kai and I are so happy SamCat is doing well. Kai has turned into an eater. She loves the Canidae food and I’ve been really picky about any of her munchies. Basically I keep her on the straight and narrow eating path and she’s so much healthier and happier. Hmmm, I think I need to take a lesson from that statement. And I am bouncy and happy. I have my elliptical back and I’m on plan. It is amazing how much better I feel eating on plan a couple days in a row.

Zoe, you need to feel better now! I do love your perspective with your soon and mine. You give me hope DS will grow up some day. I think a majority of our problem is my difficulty with his wife. We’ve always had lots of ups and downs, but I never reached a point where I just didn’t want to try anymore. So I loved your point that sometimes they have to do some of the work on the relationship.

Darcy, I love that you’re going to taunt the scale!

I had a good day at work. Still overwhelmed but controlling my food has helped calm me down at work. Literally dancin’ around my house this evening so definitely not calm. Anyway, my sweet sister texted me today and said “I got the job!” I was so excited for her, I danced around my office too. Today my sister realized her life long dream. She’s a pediatric nurse practitioner. That’s all she’s ever wanted to do since high schools. She’s been an RN since college and went back to school as a GG and got her masters and passed the licensing board for PNP. So congrats, dear sis, for reaching what you’ve always wanted to do. Can you tell I’m excited for her???? I bet she’s walking on air. I kicked butt on the elliptical this morning, swam this afternoon because my DH was kind and vacuumed it before he went to work, had a very good inservice that I taught without any prep at work and watched Dancing with the Stars online. I really love that show. I was cheering for all the contestants and love watching them overcome their fears and become a dancer. I’m also jealous since I’d love to be on the show and learn to dance. DH refuses as he has three or four left feet.

OK, my evening is almost over so I will post and go play on something else. Have a great night GGs.
Marie

Hi Everyone,

Moving into the final week of my course. Today, I am visiting the private schools in my town to try to get them involved with LLS. Then, tonight, there is a "thank you" dinner for the school coordinators who worked with LLS last year.

A while ago, someone recommended the book The Anti-Inflamation Diet and Recipe Book. I just got it from the library. I have not yet had time to read through it & am not sure I will be able to handle it with all my various eating problems, but I am looking for something more healthy than I have been doing.

Yesterday was my barium swallow study - YUK! I do not think they will find anything. I do not have problems with liquids. It is hard foods (like bagels) that cause me the pain.

I set up an appointment with gym trainer. Now that the marathon is over, I need a new workout program. Will meet with him next week.

Take care everyone. Looking forward to next week when course is over and I can get back to personals.

Lynn

morning all...Been out and back already. Had a 9:45 appt with derma and it went so fast I was out before scheduled time in. My DD raised caine with me about a "black" spot on my thigh when she was here and hasn't shut up since. I couldn't do anything until the infection was conrolled. So this am I took 4 antibiotics as Rxed and went. IT is just an every day normal mole. Absolutely Nothing.....actually had no spots anywhere. Asked him to freeze 2 spots that bug me on my neck, so will have my dermalogical badge like most Floridians.

I forgot to take notes on your posts so BBL to do personals....k3

ps Our DS has sold 2 new books. One will be at in June 2012 and 2nd will be out in Nov 2012!

My e-reader is not a Kindle, but I recently started downloading from the library. I think it's great! I was having a hard time with it so I went to the library and it wasn't me....it was not accepting my library card number and they had to do something to activate it. I will still get regular books from the library because I want to check out some books on healthy eating and they are not on the list of ebooks.

Mom, I love Triscuits, but I recently switched to All Bran Crackers. They are similar to Wheat Thins but they are high fiber. I try to eat several of them each day. I used to love Triscuits with that cheese you squirt out of a can! LOL

Donna Marie -- I'm SOOOO happy for you! Congratulations on breaking through and leaving those 300's behind! :-)