SHANNA again my prayers. It will be a long bumpy road, all the love in the world from your family and friends won't take all the pain away. You know that though. In the midst of all this I am so happy to see the way you are "fighting" through the pain....what a wonderful tree you will have...forever!

Shanna~so glad to hear your dad's surgery went well!

Well, DH and I have been on our "kick" for about 2.5 weeks now and he's lost 4 pounds and I've lost 4.5. We still have a ways to go. I was telling DS what next week's menu was (because he was less than happy with the salad last night) and he said that he thought we'd only be on this diet for 3 weeks. I said, sorry, I have at least 20 pounds to lose and it'll take longer than that. Besides, when DD gets home on Friday I know she's going to want to diet (or at least needs to).

Shanna, my brother had a similar experience with his oldest son as you did. While the pain and sense of loss never goes away, eventually you will be able to smile over the good experiences you had with your son. You will even be able to chuckle about the funny things that happened. I pray that you will be able to stay strong through this for your sake as well as the other members of your family.

I have learned from experience (mine and many others' on this site) that people who "want" to diet seem to do much better than those who "need" to diet.

Dagmar

Jessica-- my younger dd is 14 (freshman in high school). Our appointment and hers went well with the doctor and we did go to our hotel. It was great to be away though I worried about her and my best friend. My best friend had blood work done and they called her yesterday and told her she needs to get to an oncologist ASAP. Needless to say, she is panicking and I am extremely worried for her too.

Shanna-- I love the idea of your Ryan tree. We planted a tree in our backyard in Houston in memory of our Boston Terrier, Bubba. Our kids were young and had a difficult time with his death so we planted the tree, spread his ashes there and had a family memorial. It was very nice and we always talked about Bubba's Tree after.

This weekend remains a challenge food wise. Going to a bridal shower this afternoon and then either tonight or tomorrow night we are going somewhere to celebrate older dd's finishing her freshman year of college (with a 3.79 GPA!). The hotel had a great gym so I did the elliptical there. We also played in the jacuzzi and got in the pool but didn't swim any laps. Great breakfast too with an egg white omelette and fresh fruit. Hope to make good choices at my challenging events this weekend....

Shanna - the Ryan tree is a wonderful memorial. We put in a memorial tree last year for FIL. This year, as it blossoms (weeping crabapple), it is a beautiful testament to his life and memory.
My prayers continue to be with you and your family!

Hi guys! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! We had a good day off, nothing we had to do, nowhere we had to be.

Shanna - the tree is a beautiful tribute to Ryan.

I'll be back this evening to respond to everyone else, about to load up and head to lunch with my family. Have a good day everyone!

It's been another tough week for me. Sadly, the things that made it tough were decisions of my own...bad decisions food wise. Wednesday, I took a trip with my husband and, on the way, bought chocolate chip cookies. No, he didn't even suggest we buy them, I just bought them. They are my definite weakness. Did the same damn thing on Thursday. I bet I ate 30 nibbler size cookies. Yet, that was all I did, so I guess it could have been worse. Came back to the scale with a 2.3 lb gain. Not a surprise.
Friday found the scale going down. Saturday, I was off on another road trip. I didn't get any cookies, but I still had trouble with finger food. This time, it was baked goldfish crackers. Again, this morning, the scale showed a 1.3 lb gain. There is a clear connection between riding in a car and eating. I get bored riding, so I eat. I take food along, so it's stuff I've brought, but I am eating far too much of it.
I am so tired of fighting myself all the time. Don't I want to stay thin? Why am I constantly unable to stick with eating healthy things?! I'm angry and disappointed with myself, but I am not giving up.
The past few months, pretty much since Christmas, I have really been having trouble. I've not gained a ton, but I have gained about 10 lbs that I don't want. I have some great OP days and then I have a bad day or two and I'm right back where I started again on the scale. I also have really not been doing the workouts and the amount of time I need to do like I used to. I'm not enjoying any kind of work out at all. I have to force myself to work out no matter where or when. I still look ok, but I feel floppy--you know, like the muscles I used to have aren't what they used to be. I have to get this stopped!!!!!!!!
I am almost done with classes and summer is coming where my schedule is more open, so it's time to kick my own butt and get this moving in the right direction again. I'm going to exercise each day for 1.5 hours and see if I can get that part moving in the right direction. Then, I'm also going to be more vigilant about the food. I still journal what I eat even when I eat the wrong thing, but I want to see that scale going down, down, down.
Words of support, wisdom, and encouragement would sure be appreciated. Above all, I KNOW I don't want to regain any more of the weight I've lost. It's really hard to get it off again!!!

Hey Goal - Hang in there.
I am pretty much in the same boat - I know what to do, but cannot seem to commit long enough to see any real results.
I have started running - I run between 10 - 30K /week.
I think I feel like I can eat more off plan things because of the running. Wrong-O!. I feel as plump as a Christmas Goose.

Keep posting and maybe we can keep each other on track.

-S

Goal, I can totally understand where you're at because I'm there, too. So I have no words of wisdom, but definitely words of encouragement and support. I need to say them to myself, too. That floppy feeling is awful, isn't it? It's too darned easy to quit lifting and losing that precious muscle mass. Let's get back to working out!

Sznn, congrats on the running! When I was eating right and running, keeping the weight off was so much easier. Can no longer run and am having a hard time eating right, but I know I can all get back to where I want to be, and you can, too.

Sznn and Sheila53,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. Though I was OP yesterday, the scale still showed a slight gain this morning, but I kept going. Today, I got myself down to the gym and did just about an hour and a half work out. Then, since it was so nice out, I walked the 2 miles home and then had my husband drive me back down to get the car. It felt good to be doing the right thing. Planning to do a similar thing tomorrow. Overall, my eating was good today. I did eat 12 pringles, but I wrote them down, and I didn't have either of my starches today, so maybe it will be ok. I tried running once, I can't do it for very long and feel like a failure when I'm puffing away after less than a block. Maybe instead, I need to take it as a challenge and see if I can work from where I am and push to where I want to be over the summer. Started using my Wiifit last night. Medium level is a good sweat for me. Think I'll get up tomorrow and start my day off with exercise. Keep working at it Sznn and Shelia53 and keep in touch!