Oh, it’s far too early for me to be awake! Of course, with my sleep schedule, I didn’t end up falling asleep until almost 2am, and here it is, 5:30, and I’ve been up for half an hour already. Hopefully, that means I’ll get an early night’s sleep tonight! I’m going to get half of my workout in this morning before class. I thought about skipping it this morning, and just doing it all this afternoon once I get home, but I think it’ll help wake me up, and give me energy, which I desperately need at this point!

Heather hb – Oh, I’m the same way with black clothing. That’s pretty much ALL I own. Kind of why I get called ‘miss doom and gloom’ all the time. Haha.

Cyn – If you upload your photos to a site such as photobucket, flickr, etcetera, it will give you a link that you can input into the box that pops up, and you’ll be able to attach thumbnails; I upload mine to Flickr, and then I right click, and click ‘properties’. On that box that pops up, it will say “Address: URL”. I copy it, and enter it between brackets like this: [img] URL GOES HERE[/img]. That’s how you add pictures not in thumbnail form, but in full size form. Hope that helps!

Well, sounds like it was a good news, bad news kind of thing with your gall bladder; my best friend had to have hers removed, and she’s been pain free ever since. The only bad side effect is that she pees a lot more frequently.

Susan, welcome to the group and good job on the weight loss

AZ a least it isn't heart trouble or anything like that but still bad enough that it's the gal bladder.

Kayle have a good day in class

Amy good job on the job you go girl.

as for me I lost that stubborn pound am back on track now to my second mini goal of ten pounds, lost another inch off my waist and one off my bust. six more to go off waist three more off my bust to get into my dress. Funny thing is I didn't work out at all yesterday and I lost go figure.

Cyn - I had my gallbladder out in Feb 2002. The pain from the gall stones was acute before that, and it was such a relief to know I wouldn't have those attacks anymore. For a couple of years, I had to watch eating high-fat foods, because they just ran through my system without the gallbladder. I didn't notice having to pee alot more, in fact other than the "I NEED TO GO POTTY RIGHT NOW" feelings after the the fatty foods, I didn't have any after-effects. The surgery itself was easy. Other than the pain in my shoulder from the gas (they pump your abdomemen up with gas so they have room to do the surgery), I was raring to go the next day. I have a tiny little scar under my right breast, and another one that you can't even see in my belly button. Anyway, all that is just to say, you will be SO glad to have it done and you will wonder why it took so long for them to figure it out and get the surgery scheduled.

Thanks to all who welcomed me - I'm sorry to report that I completely overslept this morning and missed the gym. I'm particularly ticked off at myself because today was the last day that the outdoor pool would be warm enough to swim in for this season, and I was really looking forward to one last swim. The GOOD news is that my husband is seriously thinking of joining me at the gym. He's having joint pains in his knees and ankles and lower back pain and knows he needs to do SOMETHING. I think this will be good for me and for him both (if we don't kill each other trying to both get out of the house that early).

In other news, I made the mother of all BAD dinners last night. I had some eggplant that my hubby brought home and so I thought I'd make eggplant lasagna. I've never cooked eggplant before though, so I had no idea what I was doing in that regard. The flavor turned out to be WONDERFUL. But I hadn't pre-cooked the eggplant long enough and it was tough! I ended up picking around the eggplant (all the cheese - bad!!) and then giving up and making a bag of popcorn for dinner. Oh well. I'll try again some other time.

Tonight we're grilling yellowfin tuna and making tuna sandwiches on wheat buns with a chipotle spread (chipotle peppers in adobo blended with fat free miracle whip) - and sweet potato fries on the side (cut into fry length/width and baked). (Did I mention that I like to cook?)

Hey ladies.

Been a bit ill the past three days because of the BC pills, I get that way when the active pills give me you know MEGA DOSE OF HORMONE. But now I'm starting to level off I think. I'm feeling hungry this morning...I really don't want fruit. Hmmmmssss...what to do.

I have a lot of food to chop up, prepare, and going to attempt my raw food Cinnamon balls (i'll report back how they are Kayley ). I hope they are good...sometimes these recipes are a hit and sometimes a big fat miss. Like the raw food hummus recipe. I'm like "I taste zucchini..." yeah I want the real thing, so no thanks.

I hope everyone is well! I don't think I got a chance to welcome you susannahc, so WELCOME! Eggplant is wonderful, but it soaks up anything. It is a huge sponge of a veggie, so what I have done in the past is use a TINY bit of olive oil, or another healthy oil, and some salt. Give it a little love in a frying pan to make it soft, then use it for whatever, but let it cool down on a paper towel before you do anything with it. It will release a lot of moisture that way.

Anyhow, hope everyone is well! Currently my weight is a on the way downward, thank ye Gods and Goddesses, and I'm happy about that. Still struggling with the exercise, sorry Heather I have like nothing to share with the exercise thread. I've been bad with it! I'm working it out though and changing my attitude toward the ol' Exercising Issue.

*HUGS*

Good Morning ladies...

Well, i wasnt able to get my 3 mile walk in this morning because my inlaws are coming over sooner than we thought so i had to take a shower and clean up the house a little bit but it is a really chlly day today outside so i decided to wear pants and one of my long sleeve tops that i havent worn since last winter/spring and i went to put it on and saw that these tops are 4X not 3X like i thought ( i think i got a 4x because the 3X was getting tight and i like my tops to be baggy) so when i put it on and i am swimming in it now so i can just imagine in a couple of months when i start wearing them on a daily basis how big they are gonna be on me...so that was pretty exciting

Well, hope that everyone is having a good day i will be back later tonight after i do my workout cause i couldnt do it this morning so i will do it this evening instead.

have a good one!
Heather

Hiyaa :]

I would like to say a massive thank you to;
Heather, Tracy, Annie, Cyn and Kayley
for your kind words and support (YY)
I'd also like to apologise for my outburst the other day. It was quite silly of me =/

Girls, I'm just at a loss here. It feels like I'm destined to be fat for the rest of my life -- as a form of punishment, perhaps. I realise I sound really stupid but I feel like I'm being punished for something, and I don't know what it is for. I know I'm perfectly capable of changing my eating habit and switching to healthy foods and exercising more but after two or three weeks, I just give up. I just don't think I've got the willpower to do it =/ and it feels like I won't be motivated enough until I reach 300 lbs or more. I really, really don't want that to happen. I always picture myself being skinny and being able to buy lovely clothes, and having more confidence BUT it's just not enough to keep me motivated =/

What's wrong with me? I feel like a r*tard (N)
Thank you girls, for listening as always!!
xx

Bazz, hon, you are not alone in this feeling. I felt that way my whole life until I finally managed to COMMIT to a lifestyle that let me lose weight. I wish I knew what allowed me to finally do it. I knew what to do but I could never put it together.

Had an ‘eating out’ victory today. Lol. Mom & I went to a Chinese buffet. Usually the fallout for me. It used to be that if we’d go out for it, I’d say ‘I’ll just go off the diet for today, and start again tomorrow’. Well, I didn’t do that today; I got about a cup of rice, and some vegetables, and a little bit of chicken. Once I finished that, instead of getting more of it, I got a small salad and some oranges. No dessert, no over the top eating. I was really proud of myself. After logging my calories, I ended up eating about 700. Not bad…especially since I used to get THREE loaded plates when we would go.

I’m feeling pretty sore this evening. Got in half an hour of DDR, 45 mins of Cardio Dance, and 30 mins strength training. I haven’t taken a day off of exercise in over 3 weeks, so tomorrow I might just do that. Give myself some time to recover. Or if I do anything, it’ll be some Yoga.

Had my Legal Writing & Persuasion class today. Oh man, it’s going to be a tough one. We don’t have any tests or anything, but we do have to be able to create briefs, litigation documents, and many other things like that, and create this portfolio, which it then gets sent to the dean of my program, and she decides if I pass or fail. There’s no gray area, you either pass or fail. I’m slightly terrified. Lol. I found out that I don’t have to go in to class tomorrow after all. Woo! That class only meets every other week, and this is the ‘off’ week, so I don’t have it until next Thursday.

Tracy – That’s great news! Not too much more to go.

Susannah – I love to cook, too. Unfortunately, I’m living back at home for right now, due to….well…the fact that I’m a poor college student. Lol. But when my boyfriend & I lived together, I was cooking up some awesome dishes. It was a good way to get my boyfriend to eat healthier, too, which is always a good thing. I’d like to cook now, but most of my cooking involves chicken, which my stepdad won’t eat, and my Mom just makes stuff for them to have most of the time, and I cook what I want. So it’d be a waste to cook an awesome meal, and I’m the only one eating it. Lol. I definitely take full advantage of holidays & our anniversary to cook us some great stuff. I’ve always thought I’d like to be a chef.

Beth – That’s what we’re here for. Everyone needs support to do this! If only there was advice I could give you. I’ve been there, and lost weight…been totally motivated, and then went off the wagon, never to recover, and simply gain everything back. Right now, I feel more motivated than I EVER have; I really had a few ‘aha’ moments lately, and it’s just time for me to do this for REAL. It’s all a matter of you getting that moment for yourself.

Hello my Peeps,

I'm sorry for the MIAness. I haven't even been cycling this summer I've been so stressed.

I've been embroiled in my big sister's saga of dealing with an abusive ex that won't let her get her things from the house before it goes into foreclosure (there's a restraining order). When it goes for auction, everything in it is sold with the house. I am taking on her stress as if it were my own. I can't seem to let it go and my eating has been primarily to sedate myself during this time. It's hard to pull away when sis is calling me 40x a day. I can't not answer the phone, btw. Esp when she says she wishes she was dead. Yes, she is seeing a therapist. We aren't even in the same city and this is affecting me this way.

I am reading all posts and I do get inspiration from you all. Keep up all your good work!!

Bazz, I hear ya girl. I've had that same conversation with myself several times.

Sorry for no more personals.

Special hugs to all,
Ratkity

Good evening all...my husband and I had a wonderful anniversary today..his mom and dad came down to visit and they bought us a gas bbq grill which is soo cool i have been wanting one but we havent been able to afford it..its not a big one its a small one but i love to eat hamburgers, brats, and chicken off the bbq grill so we will be doing that alot more plus they brought london broil for dinner on the grill plus all the fixins plus they gave us a gift card to get groceries so that was really nice and my parents sent us a card and gave us money to buy groceries ( with me being unemployed and husband only working part time money is sometimes tight so it is nice when my parents and his parents help us with buying groceries)

So, they ate dinner with us and they left around 6pm to head home and we did up the dishes and then went shopping and when we got back i did a 4 mile walk because i know that i went over my calories little bit with dinner plus they brought a small cake for our anniversary but actually after working out i ended up not going over my calories but i did go over my fat and carbs but i think because i worked out i will be ok.

Heather

Also, his mom told me that whe can tell that im losing weight that totally made my day

Well, sorry to ramble it just ended up being a great day!

Good evening everyone! Just a couple personals tonight, since I need to get to bed.

Cyn - glad you finally found out. Yes, they usually do take it out, and I think you will feel a lot better afterwards. Congrats on signing the lease!

Ratkity - does she have a restraining order or a protection order? Protection orders usually give you the option to get your personal belongings out with a civil standby (where the police, sheriff's dept, whatever is there to make sure nothing bad happens basically). If she hasn't already, she might want to get in touch with a local domestic violence help center. If she's not sure where one is, let me know (and let me know where she's at) and I will look it up in our resource book. In the mean time, try to take care of you, too. You can't help others if you are too run down to help yourself. *hugs*

Kayley - Your classes actually sound fun, but then I work in a legal environment. I'm sure you will be great! Don't worry about failing - it's not an option

Hbieber - Happy Anniversary! And congrats on someone noticing you've lost weight.

As for me, I am hanging in there. Still doing okay with food but not fantastic. I am working on it though. I need to call it a night, so I'm sorry to those of you I missed.

Brandnew,

I think it's a restraining order. I'll have to ask. She's in Raleigh NC. What's really hard is that this guy has friends in the sheriff's dept.

I just want to sleep through all of this and am contemplating taking today off just to do that.

Hugs,
Ratkity

Good Morning all.

just came here to say good morning and a quick hi to all the ladies as im getting ready to head out the door to my moms we are going over to visit with some cousins of ours so i will exercise tonight after i get home so i will talk to you guys later

ps tonight is hamburger on the grill yummmmm

Heather

Good morning! After an overslept day yesterday, I am back on my game today.

We grilled tuna last night and had tuna burgers for dinner. Totally yumm-o. Planning leftover spaghetti tonight (multigrain/whole wheat mix and ground pork instead of beef in the spag sauce) because it will be a late night for both hubby and I. Tomorrow night - grilled salmon and steamed veggies (one of my absolute favorite meals).

Even though my shoulder is KILLING me - I slept on it funny Tuesday night and the kink just hasn't worked itself out yet - I still did my upper body strength training today AND I did day 1 of the Week 2 program for Couch-to-5k. I was able to do the whole thing, I was so amazed with myself. It took 3 times to be able to complete week 1. Maybe I'll progress to week 3 on time! Now granted, my "run" is really a fast walk with knees picked up to look like running, but hey - my cardio is improving and my enduance is too, so I'll take the small win.

Tomorrow is my first meeting with the new trainer (I saw one when I first joined the gym in June and then again in July) - he's uber qualified (he's actually a chiropractor AND he has a PhD in physiology - so he's a Doctor-Doctor). I am VERY nervous about this. Even though I'm pretty healthy for a fat girl, there are still limits to what I can do without getting frustrated. I hope he has some experience with my kind of weight loss, because if not, I will have to either go back to my original trainer (who was nice, but actually was TOO easy on me) or find a new one. I will not let that kind of frustration trip me up.

Ok - I slacked off big time yesterday and have **** to pay to make it up today, so have a great day guys, and I'll check in again as I have time later.

Sus

morning all...

Thanks KAYLEY!!!!!! For showing my how to upload pics!!!

I finally uploaded the pics of the handquilt I am making in the photo page.

Kaykey your little kitten is adoarable!!!!