Christina-Welcome, I certainly understand that feeling of disbelief that I couldn't possibly weigh that much. I was in the hospital with a kidney infection once, and they brought this huge scale on a dolly into my room to weigh me. It said 535, and I just freaked. I completely lost it. I wanted to jump up and down on it, just to break it. I couldn't accept it for a long time, and basically gave up even attempting to watch what I was eating. That lead me to almost eat myself to death. My next visit to the hospital was even worse. I finally decided I wanted to live. I'm glad. Living is much more fun.

LUAN: I think your friend shold go and get over it! It is your day not hers

Heather_DW: WTG on the getting out and walking!!!

As for me...well I am doing ok. Making pretty decent food choices I think. Except yesterday I ate a muffin at work that must have had something in it my body did not like..(I have food allergies BAD) and I woke up at 1230pm wheezing and swollen and my hands and feet were itching so bad!! I had it comming out "both ends" I quickly popped in 2 benadryl and delt with it for 2 hours. I think it was the walnuts in the muffin...everytime I eat something with walnuts it messes with me. Lesson learned..I didn't need the muffin!!

The older I get my food allergies change without notice. It is just one day I cant eat something I have been eating all my life. It really sucks!!

Well all work is calling, and although I am sleepy and still not feeling up to speed I gotta go!!!

Have a great day yall!!

Since I've started walking outside.. the last 5-7 days or so.. the scale hasn't moved. What's up with that?


Could I be getting muscle or retaining water? If that's the case, it should lower again soon? I'm about a pound over my lowest weigh in at the moment and I haven't been eating badly.

Catherine: Please pm me with the information on how to purchase your book. I would love to read it.

Rat: Sorry about the bike seat. Hope the new one comes quickly.

heatherdw: I think if you want to continue to walk to see your hubby at work, don't let ANY of those ladies and their remarks stop you. Poo to them. Yes, walking or any change in your exercise could cause your body to retain water. Don't stress. You are doing everything right sometimes our bodies just have to take a break and maybe you are loosing inches right now. Hugs.

Debbie: Going to the group therapy helps me to see things in a different light. I also learn lots of things about this surgery that I didn't know before. One of the things that comes out of going is I find myself so greatful and thankful often that I do not have the same relationship with food as I used to have. I now feel like I can say no to anything that I previously was faced with and wanted to eat. I see lots of people in the group struggling with food addiction still and It makes me very thankful that I had to be on the liquid diet for so many months. I feel like it really helped me to break that connection with food being my best friend. Now I am able to pretty much look at food as fuel and choose food that is best for my body. I don't always make the right choices but probably 95% of the time at least I do.
Woohoo to new clothes and to have them fit! That is so great Deb. I'm so happy for you. It still amazes me every time something fits me and doesn't look tight. I can honestly spend so much time in the dressing room just being in awe that a 22 fits me perfectly fine and sometimes too big. I'm so happy for you.

Battle: Stay strong my friend. You can get yourself right back on track. Hugs.

Zelma: Your trip sounds so lovely. I'm sure whatever you decide to do you will enjoy it so much.

Johnnie: Woo hoo on the new size 24's. You are doing fantastic.

Anne: Glad that your knee doesn't seem to be hurting you too much. I hope you are right that I have more than one offer to go over. Although last time I had more than one offer I stupidly turned down the county job for the one I was working. lol.

debimitch: Hoping and praying your DH starts to feel better very soon. Hugs.

Luan: I think you need to not worry about your friend and just enjoy your day. Congrats by the way on your graduation. I am hoping to fly to Long Beach on June 12 - June 18th. I have one niece graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obisbo and another niece graduating from High school in Cypress. I really want to be there and see them do it. Don't let anyone ruin your day!

Lauren: Hugs to you on being up 4. You will take it off in no time.

Christina: Welcome. I hope that you find all the encouragement and support that you need here. I can't say enough about how wonderful these ladies have been to me and how they have gotten me through so many tough times.

Cyn: Yikes. You should be very careful with food allergies sweetie. Hugs.

Carol: Where are you? I miss your smiling face.

Sharon: How is the house cleaning going? I need to do that sometime today too. lol.

Well, I am so excited. I am down 4 pounds since Friday and have met my next goal and passed it actually by one pound. I am waiting to do my ticker until my official weigh in day on Friday. Yesterday I went to Curves for a free workout. I get to work out for free there for the whole month of May for a study they are doing on weight loss. I am so excited because I can fit into all of the machines now and when I went there last time I certainly couldn't fit into them all.

I am hoping to get the get up and go to go to the gym this morning and then come home and get ready for my interview at the College. Wish me luck everyone.

Blessings to you all,
Annie

Catherine, thank you for the welcome

And ... WOW on your story and your weight loss to date. That is awesome how far you have come and it's inspiring to anyone that thinks they are stuck in a rut and can't get out. Thank you !

How did you get started? Any ideas or suggestions? It's strange, because I have battled my weight up and down for so many years, and I know all the do's and don'ts, but yet I feel kind of lost as to how to get started this time (even though I'm ready and want to) because of having so much to lose this time.

Actually, I would love to hear how all of you got started and what you're doing, and what you've found that works for you.

Thanks !

WARNING: Nobody wave a red flag. I might charge. Older male neighbour in elevator saw the book title that I am reading Tightwad Gazzette. He says "Oh if your looking to save money you should just eat less." I wanted to respond well I wont always be fat but you'll always be ugly. But I dont stoop to the level of rudeness. SO I will vent here.

Wow.. that was rude


((hugs)) People always say the younger generation is so much ruder these days but I've run into quite a few older people who are way worse. I guess some think they're old enough where they are entitled to be rude. Also, it seems some people just think they are being practical and don't even realize it's rude.

Julia-Where I come from, women are allowed to have proper hissy fits when someone is that rude. Isn't that why God invented marble rolling pins and cast iron skillets?

Ruby-I got started pretty easy. The cardiologist that came to see me in the ER told me that my "character was too flawed" for him to help me, and that he just wanted to medicate me enough to stabilize me to send me home to die. The worst part was that since I thought I was having a heart attack, I couldn't get really mad and throw something at him. Turns out it was "just" angina, and he's lucky that I never saw him again. The best advice I can give you is to take baby steps. Don't put any kind of time table on yourself. It takes 6 weeks to 6 months to change a habit. I did one thing at a time. I'm on step 38 of 1209. I hope to finish with this step (learning to live in a new country, and be married) some time before my 50th birthday. I have been doing this since 2001. It has taken me 6.5 years to get to this point. Some people can lose 100 pounds in that many months. I know because I did that before. I didn't keep it off obviously. This time, I am in it for the long haul, and the only way I can fail, is to quit trying. My knees are scarred for the number of times I have stumbled, but gotten back up and started again. Just hang in there, and be gentle with yourself.

Sharon-I asked the publisher last night about Visa, and he got this look on his face like a dog does when you make a funny noise. So I'm thinking that is a no. It's a very small publisher, I wanted Oregon Catholic Press to publish it, but was talked into this instead. Golden Meteorite normally publishes political science and history texts and reference books that only schools or libraries, mostly law libraries buy, so I don't think it has come up before. If I could figure out how to use paypal for something other than buying things, I'm good at that end, maybe we could arrange something that way.

Annie-You're going to do great in your interview, and they are nuts if they hire you on the spot. Isn't it great to fit onto machines again. I was thinking the other day about how nice it was for the people at the hospital to not ask how much I weighed before putting me on the X-ray table.

I'm kind of freaked out right now. A courier brought the first copy of my book this morning. I got to hold it in shaking hands for about 30 minutes, and then himself took off with it. He's showing it off or around or something. We're having lunch with someone at 2:30. I'm not sure who because I was too freaked out to even pay attention to what he was telling me. So I get to slog through the snow, but at least it is warmer. We may get above freezing today, Yeah! I spent an hour yesterday trying to help a neighbor dig out his car in the parking lot. It was covered in a drift. Beyond bizarre.

Annie - I'm here - last night I was exhausted for some reason - I will catch up tonight.

Hi everybody - see you later!!!

Hugs,
Carol

Christina WELCOME!!! I just recently started my weight loss journey.....Feb 2nd as a matter of fact! I have lost to date 35lbs.....I am calorie counting along with avoiding red meat for now.....and anything fried for the most part.....which were two kinds of foods that our family ate wayyyyyyyyy tooooooo much of.......DH & I are both doing this together.....helps alot....however he will reach his goal sooner than I will since he has less weight to take off.....but he calls this our "LIVE-it" instead of diet.....since we are doing this to LIVE not die from the way we were eating......

since starting my 16yr old daughter(just turned 16! my baby)....decided to join us and count calories....she has lost 15lbs in about 4 weeks.....

Hope to get to know you more as time goes on.

Bernice

Hi everyone,

Every time I go off plan for a couple of days or more, and then begin to eat OP again, my body goes through a detox period. I've been going through the detox--the last 2 nights I couldn't sleep, I had a headache, and I constantly had to pee (sorry for TMI, this is how my body works). Despite the fact that my body is ridding itself of the icky stuff and is ready to continue receiving nutritious foods in reasonable portions, my mind is lagging. I have been having a lot of trouble with eating thoughts. I hate when my mind goes to the place that a huge binge on cookies or fried chicken is ok..not that bad...just this one time, etc.

Thank goodness for this board. I made myself come here to read, and now I am back to my center. Thank you all for being here. Today I am making good choices.

Lauren, sorry to hear you've had a hard time staying OP last week, but it's great your back on track again. I count calories and have since I started this journey. I never did points so I don't know what thats all about but even calorie counting can get tedious. But I really like it so yes, I can recommend it. If you have any questions you can PM me anytime!

Christina, Welcome!!! It's great to have you here. Just post any ol time so we can get to know you. There's lots of great tips and ladies here.
I read in one of your post that you wanted to know about our stories. Mine is still developing, but this is my beginning.
I started April 30, 2007. I had high blood pressure, diabetes, and hypothroidism. I hurt, just from walking. So I decided if I wanted to stay in this world, that I better get my act together. The main reason I wanted to lose weight, is because of all the pills I had to take to keep things in check, and I hate taking pills!! So I choose to try calorie counting and it seems to have worked for me. It's still hard to not eat everything in sight, but it gets better with time. I'm down 70lbs now and feels SO much better and can't believe the things I can do now that I couldn't do last year at this time.
I know that you'll do well because you've taken the first step to get yourself going. And please come and post no matter if your having a bad day, ate too much or when you're doing so well you just want to share because it helps so much to have so many people understand what you're going thru and how you're feeling

Cyn, o those terrible food allergies! I hope you're feeling better now.

heather dw, yep, it's probably the muscles screaming for that water retention. You'll see a drop soon.

Annie, that's so great that you DO have that different relationship with food. It's so hard to overcome that. But you've proved to yourself and all of us that it can be done. I find I still slip into eating junk just because it's there, and it's a habit. Last night I wanted to eat. I asked myself now am I really hungry or is it just because I'm bored....it was boredom....so I didn't eat. Six months ago, heck, a couple of months ago, I would of just eaten. So I sorta know what you're going thru on learning things about yourself.
Good luck on your interview!!

Julia, How dare he say something like that to you!!!! O man!!! I can't believe some people and they claim to be adults??? I'd be pretty upset too. I think I would of made the comment though that you held back...so bravo to you for that!!

Catherine, that doctor should of been shot for giving up on you like that. I'm glad you never had to see him again! How did it feel to hold your book? I think I would of fought himself for it.

Carol, Ratkity, Story, Luan, Nancy, and all

Bernice, now that I see your story, WoW!! You're doing great!!! And so is the rest of the family.


So many times I look at clothes now that I can fit into smaller cuter clothes, that I don't know how to dress for my age. I see so many things that I want to get, but then I think, would that be ok for someone my age? So I've had a hard time picking the right things. I want pretty things, but then sometimes I think I don't deserve them because I'm so big still. Most of the time I'm in jeans and just a plain top. I'd love to get those jeans with the embroidered things on them but then think I'm still too big to wear them and have them look nice. So that's my dilemma right now. \
Another dreary day so I'm just staying inside and relaxing.
Have a good day
Debbie

Battle, you must of been posting at the same time I was, so I missed ya!!
I'm glad your back on track. It IS so hard when those little voices keep telling us to eat things we shouldn't or when those cookies are screaming our names. Just be strong and you can get thru it. Good to hear your having a better eating day
Debbie

I'm here I'm here!!

1) Passover bites. I need some carbs back in my life.

2) Catherine...please PM me your info...I am looking forward to reading your book very much.

3) ZELMA!!! What are your dates? I would love to meet up, make suggestions, etc. In SD..absolutely go to the GasLamp District. It is a regentrified area with a lot of clubs and restaurants and lots to do. It's also right by the water and you can go along the Harbor as well. The SD Zoo is outstanding. So much to do in LA...glad you're going to Disney. Try to go there on a weekday.

4) Luan...not fair. Not fair to you at all. Sorry

5) Julia...whatever!!! Who the **** is he to judge? My FIL was making all sorts of comments the other night about people's weight...he claims he is the same weight as he as when he left HS...which may be true...but it's redistributed itself so it's all under his shirt. UGH.

5) Annie...you're also coming to So/Central CA? Coming through LA at all? Long Beach is kind of a long way from CP-SLO....it's south of LAX...did you get a better fare flying into there?

We made our reservations for Vegas in June...so excited. Then we took DH' car to the shop today...knowing it needed SOME work...we were not prepared to be told the car needs a new radiator...oh well....it is what it is. Thankfully we can afford it now.

Happy Days...

Julia: Hugs. What an a## for making a comment like that. I just want to smack that man.

Catherine: Thank you for the information on your book. I will mail them my check asap.

Carol: Hi there. Thanks for saying you are okay.

Battle: So glad you are getting back on track and had a good op day today.

Debbie: You deserve everything beautiful and wear whatever jeans you want to wear!

Julee: I am flying into Long Beach because two of my sisters live in Cypress and they will be picking me up from the airport and I will be staying with one of them. The older sister who's daughter is graduating from Cal Poly San Luis and I will drive up to SLO on Friday to see her graduate on Saturday then back down to Cypress on Sunday and my other niece will be graduating from High School on Monday. Whew. I hope that between the graduations and probably a trip to Disneyland I will spend some time floating in the pool. lol. I actually grew up in SLO County. Born and raised there so it will be cool to go "Home" again.

Well, the interview went well and as I expected they had hundreds of applicants. Time will tell. I did get to meet the dean though which was nice. She was very nice. I called on the job at Salvation Army to see if they have made any decisions yet or anything and she told me that they have hundreds of applications and will be making choices for interviews next week sometime. So, just waiting until the next interview on Monday for the County job.

Blessings all,
Annie