Hello Ladies!

Welcome MANDA! Welcome BACK, LADY HAWKE!

Yesterday turned into a pretty decent day. I had a Dr appt yesterday – nothing major, I have a pituitary tumor that has to be monitored so they sent me to the endocrinologist who poked me a bit and drew some blood – but the history I had to fill out took forever and made me feel like a sick old lady with all the stuff I had to check and I needed a second page for all my meds because the form didn't have enough lines! But, on the up side, I was advised that losing 89 lbs on my own with diet and exercise was amazing! Made me very proud.

Newsnerd – I completely understand where you are coming from. Several months ago I hit a point where I was just so tired of it all! I was tired of taking the stairs at work, I was tired of eating vegetables, I was tired of THINKING about food! And for a time I coasted. I haven’t gained, haven't really lost – and I SO regret it! I look now at ladies like Kenya and especially Wyllenn and I get so mad at myself! I think - "That could be me! I could have lost over 100 lbs by now! I could be close to goal right now! I could have done that if I hadn't let myself stall out!" DON'T give up! You've lost 38 lbs! Maybe YOU don't see the difference…but I bet other people DO! And more importantly, I KNOW if you are honest with yourself you FEEL the difference. Keep it up! You CAN do this!

Misti – I WANT A CRUISE! I swear I know SO many people who either are going on a cruise or just came back from one! Or BOTH! Our reception clerk here just came back from his 14th cruise with his wife and booked his 15th before he ever got off the boat!

Zelma – Glad the tests were not too bad and the initial analysis is good!

Well that's all for me for now. I have to run and try to actually work today! But I'm sure I'll BBL!

I think I almost missed this thread!

I would like to thank everyone for your support. I'm doing a lot better and my eating is really on target. Also, I've been exercising and I hope to meet my exercise goal of 1200 minutes even with not exercising for an entire week this month. I just need to do 50 minutes of exercise every day until the end of the month. The scale even showed a lb down I'm hoping to hit 259 in the next couple weeks. I'd love to be 249 by my wedding day so that is what I'm going for.

Misti - I did that same itinerary with Carnival cruises and it was pretty fun. I did parasailing in Key West (it is so fun!) and snorkeling in Cozumel. I don't think cruises are "my thing" but it was fun to try once. Although I think DF and I may eventually do an Alaskan cruise.

Heather– I know that a lot of my dislike of exercise also sprung from my childhood. For me, I was always slightly chubby and my mother was overweight and she was worried about me getting fat. So, she was constantly trying to find something physical for me to do so that I could slim down. It always made me feel that exercise was some kind of punishment for being chubby and I resented it. I also had problems with my feet – I have basically no arches and certain foot movements and being on my feet too long REALLY hurt. I had trouble with ice-skating and cross-country skiing because of my feet, which didn’t help matters.

Amy – Sorry about your workout clothes. Could you possibly always leave an extra set in the car so you don’t have that problem?

Annie – That is such a cool little competition you have going with your hubby! I am hoping my BF finds something he wants to do as far as exercise goes. I think he would feel better if he started doing something. I am crossing my fingers for you about that job. It is always nice to have more cash coming in, especially around the holidays.

Newsnerd – Are you using other indicators besides the scale? Are you taking your measurements? Are you taking pictures? Don’t use the mirror – use pictures. We see ourselves every day and often don’t realize the change until we can see pictures side by side. You probably do look different and just don’t realize it. You can always post some pictures here – we will definitely tell you if we see a difference!

Brenda – I hope the new CPAP machine was much better. Hopefully it will help you get a better night’s sleep and feel much better. That is also great news about your hubby’s operation and that your new oven is coming. Lots of good things happening!

Lady Hawke – Welcome back! That is fantastic that you have stayed on plan for so long. It is obviously working!

Misti – That cruise sounds really nice. I have never been on one, but hope to go at some point. Now that I have much more energy I will feel ready to take on a new port when we stop at different places. You may not be at goal when you go, but you should be awfully close!

Sharon – Isn’t it funny how men can try to do something nice and still fail miserably? I suppose you have to give him points for trying, but getting you chocolate when you are trying to lose weight and also getting some that was reduced and not removing the tags is not the best choice. I am not quite sure why you are upset about the jeans. It sounds like the 18’s fell off you – isn’t that a good thing? Or were they mislabeled do you think?

Zelma – I am glad all went (mostly) well with your procedure and that it is over and done with. That is great that you have some time off to spend on yourself with everything that has been going on.

Amanda – Welcome! This is definitely a great place for support. Please feel free to jump right in so that we can all get to know you!

Ammi – Why does everyone keep reminding me that Christmas is right around the corner? It is true though – I can’t believe how fast the year has gone. I am glad that you didn’t have a lot of pain today when you were doing some crunches. My trainer is always saying to not do things if they are causing me pain. A bit of discomfort is ok, but real pain is a sign that our bodies don’t want to do something.


Well, I had a rough night last night and I didn’t handle it in the most mature way. Instead I got really drunk! I figured I needed to brace myself for my call with my boss last night at 8:30pm, so I got out the bottle of Southern Comfort and I poured myself a small glass. I think during the call I must have had several more (don’t really remember now) and then several more afterwards. I hadn’t really been planning on it – it just kind of happened. I ended up going to bed early and not eating any dinner. I also feel a lot better this morning. It helped to blow off a little steam.

I am also pretty excited this morning because today the scale said 285 – 4 more pounds down! I was pretty surprised because yesterday when I weighed myself it said 288, but I got on the scale probably 10 times to check. It may have been in part because I didn’t eat last night, although I wouldn’t consider that a healthy dieting tactic.

Nancy-- Congrats on the four pound loss.. i think that is great

Ok ladies I am going to take some photos today. I hope everyone is having a great day. I am going to go and dance and take some pictures and get ready for school..

All this talk of cruises has me excited. My parents, dad's cousin, his wife and I will be leaving February 23rd for a cruise on Royal Caribbean to the Panama Canal. I've wanted to do the Panama canal for a couple of years now and we got the opportunity finally. I'm really looking forward to it. My 24 weeks at Metabolic Research Center ends on February 17th and I should be down 72 to 120 pounds by then so that'll make for a great cruise! Now, if I can just find a swimming suit in Kansas in February, I'll be set

good morning ev eryone.. and welcome Amanda. nothing new to report today i slept late so i am running behind on everything today!

Manda – thanks for telling us more about yourself. I must say that Metabolic Research Centre sounds interesting. Are they finding ways to boost your metabolism rather than making you watch what you eat, or is it a combination of both? Whatever it is, it seems to be working well for you and I bet you will be at the goal you set yourself in time for your cruise. I have had 5 cruises in my life time, but unfortunately the oldest I was on one was 11. I would love to experience a cruise as an adult. I also remember in school learning about the Panama Canal and how it works, it fascinated me. What a brilliant trip you will have cruising it. I hope you will tell us all about it when you come back

Valerie – I love your attitude to that job and possibly not getting it. You are right that ideally you want full time work, so if you don’t get that other job you can just carry on looking for your ideal job

Lilion – I love that you were given kudos for losing 89 lbs without any medical intervention etc. That must have given you such a buzz to get compliments like that. When I saw my consultant on Monday he didn’t comment at all on my loss, and when I asked about the possibility of a tummy tuck with an ostomy, and told him how much weight I had lost, he just said, ‘oh good’ and then examined me. It annoyed me because he nagged me and nagged me to lose weight, he wouldn’t even operate on me until it became life or death because of my size. So the least he could have done was be a bit more enthusiastic about my loss

Nelie – if you ask me, with the new found determination you seem to have, look at you catching up on your exercise I reckon you are bound to make 249 in time for your wedding!

Just out of interest, why aren’t you too keen on cruises? You said you had one and that they aren’t your ‘thing’.

Nancy – did you have to mention those words, those two little words that made my mouth water…….Southern Comfort It’s a very expensive drink here, so I don’t tend to buy it often, and not at all when I am dieting. But I think I will definitely make it my drink of choice for New Years Eve Black Russians are my fave, but having Vodka and Tia Maria together is a very fattening drink. So yes, SC it will be

Sorry that you got drunk, but it doesn’t sound like you had a hang over, AND you still lost 4 lbs If I have a drinking session I always weigh more the next day. Though I do tend to have an eating session with it LOL. So anyway, did the phone call with your boss sort anything out?

I agree with you about the pain thing, if it hurts that much to do an particular exercise you shouldn’t do it. I told myself that this morning. Decided if I had pain when I tried my crunches I wouldn’t do them. I just had discomfort though, so did a small amount.

Kenya – yay you are going to get those pics taken. Let us know when you post them on the pic page pls

Patti – why did you sleep late, it had nothing to do with being up late on games I hope Seriously it does suck when you are running behind with everything. I hope you get caught up

Take care all and bye for now,

Hugs,

Ammi