We go to music festivals every summer, and I've seen some wing tattoos there; maybe a tattoo will be my reward for reaching goal! I do get at least one henna one every summer, and I love those. What color are your wings??
anita

You guys all rock! Thanks you for staying here! A few months back it ended up being just me for like a week

Anyhow - moto - I had an inspiration on your idea - I'm PMing you back right now. BTW - I LOVE IT!!!

Guynna, great attitude!! I am too new to have experienced a gain while eating better and exercising, but it helps volumes to hear tales of it being dealt with by others like yourself in a positive way! All of you wonderful people inspire me in that I feel I am really setting myself up for everything in this journey, including the lows.

Tonight we had terrible wind, and my walk/jog was a real work out. I felt so proud!

One rant I have this week is that the family (son especially) is in mourning over mom no longer eating in front of the television. I despise this. He is a great kid who loves his mom, and he feels like I am punishing myself when I am at the table eating alone. Ultimately, when I am farther along in my journey, I am going to break my son in this habit. I am ashamed that I have passed down this trait to him.

Growing up, I never had issues with weight. But my parents have always had a television in the kitchen, so I grew up eating in front of the tv. When I began to gain weight, eating in front of the tv was huge for me.

It is so embarrassing to admit that eating something yummy was a waste if I did not have a good show to share it with. How backwards is that?

Our household is really off target when it comes to eating together. We don't eat together all that often. So, it will be interesting to see what happens when we are all eating dinner at the same time. I am on day #7 and so far, it was only Sunday that I sat at the table upon finishing breakfast cooking. My son did join me. I think he is going to be great about it. (though he approaches it as though he is visiting me in prison!) Jer? Not sure if he will come around right away, but I think he will when he realizes that he is not privy to our conversations, and feels he is missing out.

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a good long weekend!

Have any of you watched the new TLC show "I can make you thing" with Paul McKenna? The first episode talked about conscious eating and that you were to sit down to eat without t.v., music or reading material to distract you. You are supposed to focus only on your food and chew slowly - this apparently is supposed to make you taste your food and be more aware of the signals your body is giving you - i.e. when you are full.

I guess I knew this but also have fallen victim to eating in front of the t.v.

My resolution for this week is to set the table in the kitchen and try to get hubby on board to eat dinner there and forego the tv.

yeah, the tv thing is a killer. I agree that eating is definitely better if you eat "mindfully" and really enjoy the food. Paying attention to taste and to the way your feel when you eat is a big thing in Dr. Ornish's advice (I'm doing his low-fat way of eating), and it's also part of Buddhism. I think of myself as kinda quasi-buddhist -- got my hubby a great laughing Buddha statue for the front yard a couple of Christmases ago!! I am lucky to have a husband who likes to cook, and we don't have kids, so it's pretty easy to eat at the table.

Moto, maybe you will start your son on a whole new way of eating, that actually includes conversation! : ) Good luck!
anita

Thanks Anita! I hope that we can be better regarding that as a family!

Mauv, good luck with your goal to not eat in front of the boob tube. I am going to look for that TLC show. It sounds like it could be helpful. Do they focus on different weight loss topics each time?

So far, I am doing great with the eating in front of the TV issue. I have eaten so much less in the 8 days I have been committed to this! Yeah, I would like to know when I will be down more than a pound, but I have to get in tune with my body to understand best times to weigh and such. All I know is that no matter what the scale says, I am so much better off than I was 8 days ago!

God reminded me of His sense of humor this week...Monday, I developed this huge pimple smack dab in the center of my cheek. It has been years since I have had one so blatant and unsighly. So, I guess even though I am feeling great about myself, there will be bumps (and pimples) along the way!

moto - I'm totally on line with the unsightly blemishes! I have a nice one right next to my mouth - and yesterday i got a Beautiful mountain of one RIGHT BETWEEN MY EYES!!! yea - I get them generally when stressed of close to TOM's visit - but right now isn't either!

Oh well - such is life right?

I snuck onto the scale this morning. I was happy to see a #1.4 drop! It's been about 1 1/2 weeks since I started the IE way instead of counting calories. It's nice to know that I'm still On Plan.

So far so good for day 3 as well... Sticking to it to get over the mid-week hump!

You go, Enygirl!! Wow, I guess one good thing about middle age is that I don't have to worry about the pimple thing much any more. . . . . Of course there's the grey hair thing and the wrinkle thing. . . . : O : )
Hope everyone is having a good day --- I am trying to get out of the office and scoot to Curves for a workout!
anita

Hi again! I just came from working out (my second visit to the gym this week, I'm so proud! and it feels so good!). That extra pound is still with me, but my chiropractor this morning told me he thinks I've lost weight (or at least rearranged some of it : )

Hope you guys are having a good day too!
anita

morning chicas!

motomom: props to you for making meals the main event and not a side show, i agree with the other ladies that it really does make a difference to focus on enjoying food and each others company. it is difficult to break the habit and establish a new one, tho. but sooo worth it.

as to blemishes : have a nasty monstrous zit on my neck and TOM is here. bleargh.

bloatedness and ickyness prevail . i cannot seem to shlep myself to the gym today..oh, well! enough of the negativity! hope all y'all have a great thursday

Hee! See, in Thailand an awful lot of the crunchy snackfood type things are protein-based - crunchy pork, crunchy cuttlefish, flossy pork, crunchy fish snacks, broad beans - all kinds of things! (even fried crickets - which, even though I know that this is only like prawns, really, I just can't bring myself to try.) It's been a bit of an adjustment, but actually it's pretty damned handy since I'm doing Atkins, and the wee crunchy fish are a great alternative to croutons on a caesar salad (since caesar sauce is supposed to contain anchovies anyway...)

Let me chime in on the blemish and tattoo discussion - I have a whopping great mosquito bite on my tattoo at the moment! Located underneath my bra strap, damn it! But no way am I going to risk scratching the bugger!

Been away from the computer a few days...

Guynna~ The wings are a lot of different colors... I got the outline done first and then went in again with a book by Brian Froud (who is an artist... he does a lot of fantasy/faery type things) and showed the tattoo artist a pic of some faery wings... and he just went to town!!

mauvaisroux~ I watched the "I can make you thin" show... I watched the one where he talks about the pressure points. What did you think? It was a little weird how it almost came off as an infomercial... I thought even if the pressure points don't work, I think it's kind of psychosomatic- where if you THINK it's working, then it is...?

kudos to those not eating in front of the TV... that's TOUGH!! I get to the point where if I'm not doing anything but eating I almost feel uncomfortable and bored... but give me a bag of chips and a cheesy reality show, and before you know it I'm grasping for those last few greasy pieces at the bottom of the bag!

Hope all is well for everyone this evening. Things here are great. I did my walking last night with a small hand weight. That was great, but a tad embarrassing. It is such a good additive to my walking, but I will only end up doing the weight a few times per week.

I got a great incentive to keep going on my plan last night, as a friend got married in Mexico (big surprise) and is having a reception at the end of May. He hangs with a lot of 20 something hotties, so I am glad that I am on track to attend and possibly not feel inferrior.

Guynna, congrats on the positivity from your chiropractor. Every word of encouragement goes a long way.

Hope everyone had a great day!

hi all --
moto: that's cool that you have the wedding celebration to look forward to; weddings are a great excuse for a party! (and I bet you could justify buying and outfit too : )

folks with tattoo: really... how much does it hurt??? I don't want to sound like a weenie here, but....

Hope everyone is having a great day. I had a big day at work (did a guest lecture, chaired a meeting), went out w/hubby for dinner and ate a really fab, healthy meal. He ordered a gooey chocolate dessert and I had TWO bites and really didn't want more. I even got a to-go box for half of my entree & veggies and felt really satisfied and yummy.

I feel so good! : ) And I'm so glad I stumbled on to this site so that I can share the good and bad days with you -- thanks a LOT.
anita

guynna - do you have children? Tattoos hurt less then child birth.. and the adrenaline rush is better then an epidural.