Hiya Peeps - you are one busy group of lades - I am gonna come out to play and catch up a little bit. Things are good here for the most part - I've fallen back in to my little act of too few calories - yesterday only 1133 calories - gotta do something about that. I've never had a problem getting my water in but since I've started working outside in the yard I'm drinking more water and seems to really reduce my appetite.

Last night I came home from my workout - told hubby I had a sports injury - in his most serious voice, unable to hide his grin - "that's what happens to athletes" - he was very proud and then showed his concern - simply a nasty blister on the bottom of my toe.

Bernice - welcome back - we missed you - hope things settle down for you a bit and we'll see you more.

Vicki - Hey - welcome back - I've wondered about you - Enjoy Florida - sounds wonderful.

Battle - glad to hear you are starting to feel better. Detox is a blessing/curse at the same time for me. I think the hardest part is the adjustment to portion control. That sometimes is enough to keep me OP. How was the holiday?

Debbie - if you go see the tulips can we get some pics??? WTG on the new clothes. I am ready to change my style too and am struggling a bit with age appropriate attire. I so hear you on the invasive daisies - several years ago my brother brought me some kind of plant from Oregon - it thinks it owns my beds now.

Heather_DW - great NSV on the walking. Be sure you drink plenty of water to take care of those muscles you're working.

Prof - glad you had a nice time. Wonderful to reconnect and unwind at the same time. We tried to behave but it was hard.

Debi - how long until you notice a difference in meds for DH? How was sleep last night?

Annie - how was the interview today? Which job do you really want? It does sound like you are enjoying your time off even though the financial stress is elevated.

Catherine - sorry about the snow - we finally got a little warmth and now it's April showers. I need you back in the pool so you can give me some new exercises - maybe you can tell himself you just have to go for me - LOL. Hope you're feeling stronger every day.

Julia - what a great way to handle the cocoa. I don't tell many people I'm changing my eating either - too many questions - proof is in the results for me. As for the neighbor - he obviously hasn't saved energy not running his mouth. Rudeness has no place.

Sharon - get your blood tested to see if it's really peri-menopause. I was so fortunate, for once as my doctor put it, no symptoms other than no more TOM. Although he had advised me it would be early and easier since I was not able to have children. I think I was all done by 45, if not before. Gotta say don't miss TOM at all but I don't like the wild white hairs on my chin - LOL - never happy. When I turned 50 I realized how lucky I was to have flown right on by so quickly as I watch friends start to deal with menopause. Once again, please get your blood work done to see if that's really it.

Rat - you are so right - what 3FC can do when something happens to one of our own could be downright brutal. Is BikerChick behaving better now? BTW thanks for the bike info.

Zelma - what a wonderful trip you have planned. We are in the midwest - wish you were heading here - maybe next time??? It always brings a smile to my face to see you post - thank you. I second Catherine's Tijuana comments - we were in San Diego in December - we were advised not to cross the border at that time - apparently the holidays are the worst. Actually the entire time we were on the cruise ship within 3 miles of Mexican land we were surrounded by Mexican Navy with many guns - apparently it was a red terror alert.

Johnnie - how cool is that about the clothes - maybe time for a new pic girlfriend??? Thanks for sending more gulf moisture our way - NOT. enjoy your walks.

Anne - what kind of berry bushes are you moving? How's the pool? We are still in the cleaning stages - too cool still anyway since we don't have a heater - it is nice to see the cover off though.

Luan - hey to you! Celebrate your achievements - those who love you will be there.

Lauren - hi - hope to see you posting again regularly. Missed ya.

Christina - welcome - I look forward to getting to know you - keep posting. For me it's about making choices. The choices I make are healthy eating and more exercise - which I have come to love. I have evolved somewhat into a calorie counter - to see what I really was eating. I use The Daily Plate to log my intake. I began this journey in September. I don't lose quickly - sometimes I get discouraged when I see others losing fast but this is about me. I have found so much support here - this group is fantastic.

Cyn - so glad to see you - sorry about the food allergy.

Julee - Vegas sounds like fun - how many days? Sorry to hear about the car.

I think I'm mostly caught up. Now, guess what, time to eat.

Hugs,
Carol

Heather -- You've been around long enough to know sometimes the scale just doesn't move. You've had some big losses lately. Maybe you're like my husband who tends to lose a bunch of weight, then stabilize before he loses a bunch more. I tend to have smaller losses more regularly.

You probably aren't gaining muscle just from walking, but water retention is always an option!

Patience will win the day, if you keep up the good work!

Annie! i can see the long beach airport from my house! we should totally meet (and have a salad) while youre here!!

thanks everyone for the comments. thats pretty much how i feel, but if she wants to miss out, its her loss. some best friend.

Battle-I have freaking food/eating dreams. Not nice. I also have to detox. Seems like all the time. Think I’d learn.

Debbie-To be honest, my hands were shaking so bad, that I dropped the stupid thing. I think the reason I let him take it with him, was that I was afraid I’d sit down and read straight through, and find a bunch of stuff I wanted to change or add. It is really hard to put it down, and say, finis. By the way, I refuse to dress my age. I still put bright yellow shoe laces in my hiking boots, and just got a Hogwarts golf shirt yesterday. People don’t like it, and I’ve got something really big they can kiss. My dad once told me that the minute you grow up you grow old.

Annie-I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I hope you get the one that pays the most.

Carol-I went walking at the mall today. The sidewalks are still a mess, but we went to the mall across from where the rec center is, so he could see I could get myself there. I’m pretty tired, but stronger than yesterday.

Luan-I’m just the opposite, I tried to duck out on every one of my graduations. My mom didn’t let me get out of them. When I graduated from law school, they had two, one in the morning at the school, and then the big one in the afternoon for the entire university. I hated law school so much, I basically neglected to tell her about the morning one, and got to ditch. They funniest part is that I was supposed to get a national award and the dean was going to give it to me. They didn’t know I had ditched, and he called my name apparently, and just stood up there looking around. That was just the last volley in what had been a 3 year battle with me. I think he was so relieved to see me leave.

I still haven’t stopped shaking. It seems so strange to see my name on a book cover. It’s not the big weight loss book. I know a lot of people wanted me to even do it in two parts, but I just couldn’t finish it, because the story isn’t finished yet. This story includes some of the weight loss, obviously, but it’s more about the things that led up to the injury and the eventual recovery from it. It is intense, very personal, and I’m told kind of scary. So far everyone who has read it has cried, except me. I still don’t have an emotional response to it. I’m sure that by the end of my CBT therapy for PTSD, I probably will have emotional responses to it all over the place. God help my husband.

Thank you ladies for the support. I'm doing well on calorie counting. I've had two big lunches the past days so i've really had to back off on dinner, but isn't it better to eat bigger lunches? well i'm going to bed. i hope you all had a wonderful day!

Good evening all,

Not much going on here today. Just the usual working the gardening and swimming around the exercising. Did get the second berry patch cleaned up today and will fill in gaps tomorrow. Have two neighbours lined up to take the leftover plants so that's good. Oh, and I finished up my haircut today. Yep, yesterday I cut it myself. I was going to look for a new stylist (the one I was using is in the town I was working in - 30 min drive) although I've gone back to colouring it myself as it's cheaper. It was getting just a touch too long to colour well so yesterday I did what I've done in the past - gathered up the ponytail and chopped it off. It sounds much worse than it looks. I made my mother tidy up the back a little today. I've got enough natural curl that I'll get away with it for a while. Besides, in the summer I wear it up about 99% of the time anyway. I'll probably break down and go find someone to give it a real cut.

Debi - so sorry that hubby is still struggling with his meds. I really do find that hunger early in the day is the toughest to deal with. I've been trying to throw a lot of protein in earlier in the day. It does seem to help.

Luan - it is your day and you shouldn't have to choose. I hope you and your friend resolve this.

Debbie - I really enjoy the weight training. I'm stronger than I thought, with still a ways to go. Today I finished off one of my sets (8 reps) with 27-1/2 pound (ea) dumbbell shoulder presses. If you had asked me could I do this 6 weeks ago I'd have said no way. And next week I'll try that last set with 30 pounds. (yikes) And after pulling out berry bushes, I agree, gardening can be hard.

Lauren - I find calorie counting quite easy, but then I eat almost all my meals at home. Any plan can be tough when eating out though. Having said all that, I like the flexibility of calorie counting. If I really want something I find a way to work it into my daily count. Although often I treat it like a budget - ie. do I want to spend that many calories on a single item.

Ruby2sday - Welcome. I originally got started with a low-fat vegetarian diet, followed by a couple of different attempts. It worked well, but because of illness I got off track, and even now am still losing weight I lost last time (only 30 more to go until I'm on new ground). This time I've been more successful following simple calorie counting. And recently adding lots of exercise (because I have the time) and more calories to go with that. Small steps and finding a way of living that you can do long term are really important.

Cyn - sorry you had such a bad reaction from the muffin, however, this would be a great way to avoid the next treat someone has handy... it could have walnuts in it!

Heather_dw - you answered your own question in an earlier post. At that rate, even 5 or 7 days doesn't make a lot of difference to calories. However, it will make you feel better, and improve your general overall health. To answer your question though, if your muscles are sore then they are likely retaining a little water. You're going to have good weeks, and bad weeks, and weeks where you do everything right and you don't get the right result. Consistency is key. If you keep doing everything right the weight will eventually come off. Unfortunately it's never as fast as we would like it.

Annie - we all seem to make those kinds of errors when it comes to jobs. I did that myself on my last move. I'd been interviewed by both plants and ended up picking the one I didn't like. I thought I'd be bored at the other plant and it turned out that they ended up with lots of new business. The only thing we hope is that the next time we make a better choice. Good luck!

Julia - some people just don't think before they speak. I'd have probably said something back, but probably keeping the moral high ground was a better choice. It's sad to say, but fat-bashing is really the only prejudice that seems to still be acceptable to do in public.

Catherine - the weather channel had pictures of Edmonton on today. I knew you had snow, but I didn't realise that it had drifted so badly. I really do hope you get some spring weather soon. And congrats on seeing your name on the cover. I think you're right about the weight loss book though, it's not really a story until the journey is complete.

BattleAx - the last time I went way off plan I was actually sick. Upset stomach for days. I suspect that's what has kept me on plan since. I always feel so much better when I'm eating well. I'm glad you're making good choices today.

Carol - the bushes are boysenberry. It's like a big blackberry, but with a little tartness too it. There are raspberry bushes that we need to add to (but we'll have to buy in May). I'm also hoping when we get rid of the last boysenberry bushes in the corner (neighbours will take them) that the gooseberry bush will recover.

Well, I did manage to get everything done in time. I've planned my meals for tomorrow, updated my blog and only have my protein shake to drink before bed. Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow.

Good Morning,

My day was nuts yesterday!!Hubby was still pretty wild...it will take a few days to a week to level him back out somewhat. THE little ones napped at different times...so no break for me. Then youngest daughter came in from school and started throwing up. She was so sick!! Its going around really bad here. So I spent the rest of the night cleaning up after her and washing bedding and towels. We lifted again last night and then had unexpected company who stayed even though I would never stay in a house where someone is throwing up. He stayed till about 10.

Im to far behind to try to catch up on personals. HOpe everyone has a great OP day.
debi

Howdy, everyone!

I have survived...whether my sanity did is another question altogether

I got the astronomical project in -- I can't believe how crazy I was when I planned the schedule for it. I must have been on crack! It was awful! An average of 13.5 hours/day in addition to my regular work. Oof. So I took most of yesterday off and am finishing up more projects today. After today, just one more to go, and then it's time for a rest! And more outdoor activities

Tonight is yoga again! I'm so excited! It's really, really hard to get my husband to exercise (with or without me), so I'm thrilled that he likes yoga so much. I also really want to get walking again and am ready to start pushing myself. The other day, I walked up and down two flights of stairs twice (in addition to my regular movements). I paid for it that night, but boy was it nice to move around. I'm tired of babying the leg! We'll see what the PT says tomorrow morning -- I have been trying to do the exercises, but I have not been icing it I'll try to be better!

Not a great week, calorie-wise, but I'm ready to start doing better -- beginning with having lunch today!

Happy weekends to all!

Julee, good to see you again. Thankfully the car only needed the radiator. Seems whenever we take ours, it ends up being a bazillion things wrong with it.

Annie, so glad the interview went well for you. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you will get called back.
You're so right! I should wear whatever the heck I want to.....within limits...

Carol, Ed is so sweet. What a guy! You can tell he IS so proud of you.
Yep, I'll take my digital with me and take some pics. But first this rain has got to stop!! They say we're suppose to be warming up this weekend. I sure hope so.

Catherine, you just make me smile. I love reading your posts. They're so interesting and down to earth. Thank you for that!

Debi, Hope your DH and DD get well soon.

Walrus, it's great that you can move around more. Going up and down the stairs twice is really good! Have a good dr's appt.

Yesterday was my son's 26th birthday. My dil took him to California for one day, for him to go deepsea fishing with his Dad. It was a total surprise to him and he sounded so happy. He and his father hadn't talked in over 5 years, so it was nice that they are communicating again. I guess they are even having him here in Washington for the weekend.
I'm still at 281, no loss so far this week but my official WI is tomorrow so hopefully maybe I'll get one pound off. I'd be happy with that. I don't think I will make it to 275 this month though. I was hoping I would since that is my next mini goal.
hope everyone is having a good OP, water drinking day
Debbie

Anne-We planted Saskatoon berries last summer, but I haven’t gotten to see how they came back this year. They’re still covered in snow. We also have raspberries that grow wild all over the grounds. We got about a butter dish a day last summer, and that’s with having to share with all the neighbors. We planted some apple trees out front last year, but I doubt they will fruit for a couple of years anyway. We’ve been thinking about asking a group of urban sharecroppers put a garden across the whole front lawn of the condo. They are hippies/yuppies, that plant gardens in people’s yards, and take care of them for 2/3 of the crop. Most of them give their share to the homeless shelter. Less lawn to mow too.

Debi- I hope things let up for you soon.

Walrus-All it took to get my husband to come to the pool with me was to tell him very cattily that I wondered if there was going to be any cute guys in the class with me. So he stands right behind me in the pool to keep his eye on me, poor deluded fool.

Debbie-That’s great that your son is spending time with his dad. Guys just need that, and it is bound to have some good effect in the long run with your relationship with him as well.

I’m supposed to be going for blood work today, but don’t know if the doctor is even open yet. So I’m going to putter around the house instead. We’ve got new furniture coming next week, and I need to rearrange some stuff to get ready for it. I always feel so good, and almost lighter when I clean and organize. Went to the grocery store this week, and went down the dog food aisle. I looked at 8 25lb bags in amazement. I couldn’t even lift them all at the same time. When I reach my goal weight, I’m going to have a picture taken of myself along side 16 of those babies, or better yet, I’ll climb on top of them. My Mount Everest.

Debbie,...it wasn't JUST the radiator...it was the radiator on top of everything else. It's a switch for the A/C because the fans aren't both turning, a belt, a tune up and all that entails, 6 type-specicifc spark plugs and an oil leak that was going to require having the entire underside of the car washed off to find the leak...but when he opened the radiator cap it was filled with goop...so the radiator will be new and the engine will be flushed. Ta-Da. With labor we're looking at probably $1600 for everything. But this guy comes very highly recommended. He fixed my friend's car and when I looked at her labor cost it was low...because his attitude is...if I have the engine out, I can do everything that needs doing...so why stop and start over again. Hopefully we'll have the car back on Saturday...but he is closed today. There is a very large Armenian community in LA and today is Armenian Genocide Day. Not closing your business if you are Armenian is a bad thing.

Ah well.

Didn't WI last night. I went to pay a condolence call and it was the only night and time I could go. Such is life. I just need to stay focused and not get into the habit of missing meetings.

Carol: Your hubby sounds so sweet. Sorry about your injury to your foot. The interview went well but the testing for this one, well, I froze and forgot things I know that I know. Such is life. lol. The job I want is the one that I will be happiest in. So, who knows which one that is. lol. Well, I know God knows and praying He helps me to keep my yapper shut and just let things be. I have another interview on Monday for the County. The pay is about $2.00 less but maybe the stress is less too.

Luan: Yes, I would love to meet up with you for a salad, iced tea, a hug, heck anything. I will be without a car though so you may have to come get me in Cypress or meet me someplace that that I can walk. I'm sure my niece will give me a ride. I'm her favorite. lol. So, pm me or something and let me have your email address or phone number or some way to get ahold of you.

Catherine: I am so proud of you. Hang in there girl. Things are going to be great for you. I can just feel it. Take a deep breath and be proud of all that you have gone through and made it. You have come so far. I think that is an awesome idea to have your picture taken with the weight you have lost. That is one thing I think Oprah was so lucky when she had access to all that fat that she pulled out in a wheel barrow when she lost all that weight one time. That would be really cool to have an actual visual like that. Maybe I'll use your idea and pile up the dog food bags myself. lol.

Anne: I bet your hair cut looks nice. Sometimes the simplest things work the best.

Debimitch: Hugs.

Walrus: great job getting all of your projects complete.

Debbie: Hi girl. Glad things seem to be no the up with your son.

Julee: Sorry about your loss whomever it was. Hugs.

Well, time to go and exercise. I ended up doing 70 minutes yesterday. I set my goal at 2000 for April. I hope I make it. I have about 750 more minutes to go to reach it before the end of the month. I need to step it up a bunch if I'm going to make it. Too many days off.

Blessings all,
Annie

Catherine and Annie - the dog food idea is great - I have trouble hefting the 50 lb bag down the steps each time - we could have quite a dog "pile".

Hi peeps,

Still really busy but want to pop in and say I'm doing well today. I feel good and pretty much back to myself.

The bags of feed, potatoes, etc. as a representation of lost pounds is really eye-opening. Any time it's hard to understand or give ourselves credit for the work we've done, it's a good idea to try and lift a bag of something like that.

Julee-You have reminded me why I don't miss having a car. There was an episode of Designing Women once where they talked about car repair bills, and she said she just walks in, and hands over her check book balance and asks if it can be fixed for that.