Got up and walked 3 miles this morning felt like I was racing the bad weather. I am so sick of the rain it is supposed to hit this afternoon and last through Saturday. My daughter plays softball and the last 2 weekend tournaments were rained out and looks like it will happen again this weekend.

I work at home and it has been crazy busy this week with Christmas orders. I sell hair bows and craft supplies, yay for being busy and it's keeping my mind off the Halloween candy I have a snickers problem and the fun size bars are killing me!

Lemon: We keep both kids as busy as possible, my son plays soccer and baseball and my daughter is on the high school softball team and then also plays on a travel softball team year around. We stay busy running to practices and private lessons but I love watching them play wouldn't have it any other way.

I was pretty lucky with my gastric bypass surgery I didn't have a whole lot of complications and I lost over 100 pounds and then kept it off for a good five years, even now 10 years after surgery I'm still down almost 60 pounds from my highest weight. My lowest weight after surgery was 190 I can't wait to get there again I remember how great it felt.

Baking got done last night and by the end of it, I sat down to fold clothes and ran out of steam. Though my mom's freezer will now be full, so that's good. My weigh-in for day is not great:

239.4

I went up/down/up again and now holding. I would love to say I am completely committed to no sweets, I can't. I am eating way less than I was, so I guess that's important. I move my body when I can, but I am still trying to find that right time in the day to do so. It's difficult, I won't lie about that. This whole process can be difficult. I enjoy the weight loss, would love to loose more, but until I can get it really going, I am wishy washy on my feelings about it. I know what my issues are trending towards. I just wish I didn't have said issues, so a work in progress!

Giggles: Good for you on getting your walk in. I will try to take DS out for a walk around the block today. He has short legs (well really tall, but short in comparison ) So a trip around the block sounds doable and hopefully not too much for him. Carrying him will be another story!

Les: good for you on feeling good and moving lots. Glad you have gotten time w/the LOs that keep you busy. Perhaps your weekend will slow some. I just wish I had the gumption to fight the urges to put sweets in. With time I guess.

Mam: Good for you on your walking! I just printed patterns for christmas gifts for the LOs in my family. I ordered folder elastic for gifts as well - from hairbands to doll clothes to imaginative play, I will be busy! Good for you for having fun w/your dear Marley! Have you begun teaching her how to make traditional Polish foods? It's a must to pass down - just no czarnina (well my DH would say that!).

Happy day to you all - I may be missing this weekend as I am traveling to visit again. I will try to pop in, but if I am not here thats the reason. Now, if only this weight would stay elsewhere. I'm all for it!

Hey violets,

11,167 steps in today. Still good. EAting is good also. Had cookies and fishies in house for Marley I didn't eat them and am not tempted either. That is a big plus for me. Yeah!!!!

Tonight it is RS chili so good and easy to make. I have made many different chili's but DH likes this one the best.

Marley and I picked out the ornaments we are going to make. We are going to make the ones you put pledge floor polish in and then put glitter in. And ones that you can put on decals of initials. She was ready to do some today. lol. But I didn't have all the supplies for them.

Supper is ready.

LG

Morning - just a quick hello today. I will be readying so that we can go travel and get the car packed for the drive. Have any of you tried chia seeds? I was reading and came across them - yes I know all the rage and such. What prompted me was seeing a special on them. I am just curious especially w/their higher omega 3s (I loathe fish unless fried) and I do add flaxmeal to things, but thought maybe this might be another area to investigate. If you have tried it, how is your preferred method?

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. I do hope I can move a pound or two off. I don't think I will meet my own challenge. Pretty sad I know. It'd be great if I could subsist on air alone for a few days , however that is not the case. I have to really work on this to loose it. Drat - I hate aging, and all the things that come w/a body that slows some, and I hate my habits I have to break. Oh the challenges that lay ahead of me but that's what is part of this journey.

Hello all violets! I hope everyone has had a good week!

Giggles- If you like to craft and sell hair bows, etc, you will fit right in here, we are all crafters of some kind. Really great job on the walking! I als had a few too many fun size snickers, haha. It happens.

Mam- You are doing so great! Awesome job! I hope you and Marley have a fabulous time making ornaments, sounds like fun! I should find some that the kiddos could make around here.

Lemon- I haven't fought the sweets well lately, either. Yesterday I had 4 chocolate donuts. 4! But I have been way under my calories all week because I just haven't had much of an appetite, so the donuts won't hurt me too much. Awesome job on the baking for your mother, I'm sure she will love having her freezer full of treats! Enjoy your traveling this weekend, and be easy on yourself. You can do better, but not if you focus on mistakes.

I am 191.6 this morning, I have had a week of drops. Though I'm not quite at my halfway point of 190, I am apparently a BMI of 29.9 at this weight, which officially makes me overweight instead of obese for the first time in my adult life. It's a pretty big deal! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and that we all feel awesome!

Lemon have a fantastic trip. Do the best you can.

Les Yahoo!!! you are on a roll girl..... It is a big thing to no longer be obese.
"Good Job."

LG

New jeans today (a size I have never been in before!!!), and I made my goal of losing 30 pounds in the Christmas challenge, which started on 8/25. I can't even believe that I lost 30 pounds before Thanksgiving, much less Christmas. It all feels kind of unreal since I never thought it would be possible to lose weight. I am aiming for 175 by the end of the year, but that may be a long shot.

Have you guys started thinking about how you will handle the holidays? I now have two thanksgiving dinners to go to, one that day and one the day after. I think for both days I will raise my calorie level to maintenance and try to just stay under that amount. So I won't lose for those days, but hopefully I won't gain, either. I know for sure I don't want to feel like I am dieting on Thanksgiving, haha, but I also don't won't to go overboard.

I hope everyone is having a really great weekend!

Hey violets,

Les on reaching 30 pounds what a great accomplishment for you....You are my inspiration...


Lemon miss your posts. Hope you had a good week-end.

Yesterday I gave I and had some white fudge covered oreos. My favorite.. Yummo...They only come out at Xmas time. I had them I am done and that is it. Of course I put on 2 pounds but I gave myself permission to do it. No guilt. If I feel guilty I will just keep eating. It is alright when it is planned.

Les what I am going to do before Thanksgiving is the week before until that day I am going to cut out 100 calories a day. so if I do overindulge I will have the extra calories. It will not be that big of and indulge cause I do not like the pumpkin pies that are eaten at Thanksgiving. I will usually make a pumpkin mouse that is a WW recipe. It is very good and does the trick. What I love at the dinner is the stuffing and the cranberry sauce. And a dinner roll.

Congrats on NSV of fitting into a pair of smaller size jeans. You go girl.

LG

Les: 30 pounds! That's 6 - 5# bags of flour - GOOD FOR YOU! Ands it's nice to see you are no longer labeled obese. I am morbidly obese, me and 3/4 of the NFL, but hey, I am working on it. That's a fantastic feeling I am sure. You can keep doing this!

Mam: I am back! I didn't hop on the scale and then panicked after I ate breakfast that today was veterans day - but that's wednesday, so I still have some time to work on it all. How was MarleyTime? I do hope you had an enjoyable time together and got the start on your gifts. How's your weight doing?

Giggles: How did your walking go? Any fun activities over the weekend? DD here started basketball last week, so she's excited to get going, their first games are in december, its a traveling team so will keep us busy and on the road.

Hello violets!

AM: Oh - the fight w/the scale continues. The fight to keep sweets out of my mouth continues as does trying to retrain my DH to not ply me w/sweets as a treat. Oh the things we need to work on in this house!

I have a knot in my upper arm - I can move it around but do you think it will dissipate? No, so I will try to keep working it today. I find it so interesting that the body inside can knot up too. Not easy to deal with, but the source of my arm woes this week. I sound like I am 90!

Well, more later, as I have someone coming to the house shortly, and since my DH dumps all travel stuff in the front door after traveling, I need to get picking up. Happy start to your week to all of you!

Oh and turkey day dieting - since the only thing I am seriously a fan of is pumpkin pie, I will be mindful. I usually do smaller helpings, a bit more on the turkey (protein to counteract my sweet). Since the main meal is at my ILs and my mom does soups and dessert, I should be ok. And my FIL does all sorts of fall squashes, sweet potatoes, cabbage etc. Got to get some of the familial ethnic foods in there as well. I think all things in moderation. And I will try not to bake sweets that weekend. I need to loose the weight, not pack it back on.

Welcome back, Lemon! Sorry to hear you are still struggling with the scale. Hopefully it starts to come down soon.

You both sound like you have a pretty good handle on Thanksgiving. I hope I can be good that week. I will definitely have to bake some things but I will figure out the calories as I bake them and allow myself a reasonable portion of only my absolute favorites. I'm not a pumpkin pie person, but I do love pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin bread. And I love all the carb heavy sides like Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls. I am hungry just thinking about it, haha.

As for me, I am up again today because of TOM. 192.2 today which means back to obese, and just under my 30 pounds for the Christmas challenge. 37 pounds total instead of 38, haha. But it's just TOM fluctuations so hopefully by next week I'll be back down.

I hope you all have a really great week!

Les: Oh, I forgot about rolls, but the ILs use pre bought ones (ick and yellowish - that's not a good dinner roll!), and since we do soup at my family, generally there is some good crusty bread someone got somewhere. I do like a mean sourdough though. So ok, two things really that I enjoy - but only if both are homemade and to my liking. I generally can have a forkful if it's not, being polite and all . So when do you plan to go see your doctor and surprise them w/your weight loss? I do hope I get to do that next year for my annual. They have always said work on the weight, well I am trying right now. But I look forward to surprising them w/loss!

Hello all!

AM: Making those chicken foil packets for dinner that I found the recipe on this site. It's pretty tasty and filling, though I use real cheese, not the low-fat kind, but I also don't put on the whole amount. It's pretty good and fairly quick and easy cleanup!

Already nearing my 66 oz of water, a bit behind today, but I did an extra cup of coffee, so maybe they make up for themselves at some point. I do hope to get to move tonight at the gym, that seems to help the scale move. Besides the sweet things - my scale doesn't move as rapidly if I forego the salads at lunch. For some odd reason that was a big help, so you learn as you go, maybe I need to do salads for lunch again - w/mealy hot house tomatoes? Sounds so totally where it's at! But if it knocks off my weight, then I should do it right?

Lemon, if salads help, eat as many as you can stand. You could always have a small cup of low calorie soup with it to make it more cold weather friendly. I am eating a lot of lettuce wraps lately with whatever I have around, like chicken salad, tuna, or a little turkey and cheese, cucumber, etc. You can wrap anything in a big leaf of romaine, haha.

I got a long walk today, and hope I can do it again tomorrow.

Les: I don't know if its because I have been eating a lot of salad, or just the time of year where I know the items start getting the hot house flavoring, but I am just not thrilled w/salad of late, but it does help me out. I tend to stay away from tuna as most is pulled from the pacific and I've read they have been hot since the nuclear issue in Japan. Supposedly safe, but I have been radioactive before for medical reasons, so I just stay away from it. Do you cook chicken breasts ahead and just keep in the fridge? Any seasoning? As you can see I am once again looking for ideas. Do you find your romaine wraps keep you full? That's my downfall area remaining full two hours later.

Morning Violets!

AM: Taking advantage of veteran day sales to start christmas shopping. I found some nice pieces on clearance and saved a bunch. Always a plus. I quickly glanced at clothes for me, but kept on looking for others as who wants to dress someone weighing 238? I'd rather look at maybe 215. I have a ways to go.

I know I won't be down 5 lbs tomorrow unless I just do liquids today. And thats not smart. LO and I are running to town to shop and get groceries - some proteins for me and items to make sandwiches for the freezer for the bigger LO. I hope DH is ok w/meeting me at a place I can have soup - maybe panera? We haven't done that in ages, but he always chooses poorly when wet re there if you can do such a thing. Will have to see what they are offering today and maybe stick to that and water. I will have to load up the big jug and take it with me.

So hopefully you all are trekking w/your weight in a downward trend and can meet the 5 for veterans day goal tomorrow. Keep on trekking!

Yes, I will cook a few chicken breasts at once and toss them in the fridge. Not all the time, cause I get tired of it. But they are great for salads or sandwiches or wraps. I usually just use a tiny bit of oil and then a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pretty basic so they go with anything. The lettuce wraps do fill me up, because I use a lot of protein. It doesn't work on those super snacky days because of my cycle, but then again, nothing really does, haha.
I'm looking for some healthy casserole recipes now since it's getting cooler. I also bought a spiralizer online so that I can have zucchini noodles instead of pasta for some nice warm meals. I can't wait until it gets here, I have seen some great recipes.

I love Panera, Lemon, but I haven't been there since I started losing weight. I will have to check out their nutritional info. I love their soup and salads.