Good Morning!
Terra are you getting your house all decorated for Christmas? How is your Christmas shopping going?
Sam glad you thought to buy yourself a scarf also. I think it is important to take as good of care of ourselves as we do others. Now, I just have to act on my words. It was good of you to help your friend and I'm sure the $50. will come in handy. Do you still make your lunches for the week on Sunday?
Betsy any stories to go with chopping down the tree?
Tami how are the hormones?
Bllondy did you pack yourself in a box to be shipped? Get back here with a smoothie report.
Fi, shan, Donna, Silent, Jane, Emily,... sending warm thoughts your way.

Had Mexican yesterday. My husband and I are going to have to figure something out. Our new Mexican restaurant does not have one friendly option for me. We will have to search out a new one. Yesterday our waitress was doing shots at the bar. That did not sit well with him so there is hope.
Weekends are killing my diet. I do well all week and then Epic Fail! I know I need better planning. I also need to get off my butt and plan activities other then housework.
I will not give in to the temptation to give up and start again in the New Year. It is tempting but I can not afford to give in.
Thanks for being here. I need to be with people who get it.
Have a peaceful day.

Hello everybody....I am so sorry I have been so quiet! My chest has been pretty rubbish and that has put me in something of a bad place. I have read everybody's posts and I am thinking of you all!
I am hoping to pull myself by my bootstraps soon and be back fighting! I have antibiotics now so here's hoping!
Big big big hugs,
Donna

Ubee ~ The house is already decorated for Christmas and my Christmas shopping is done. How about you?

Good Afternoon!!

I slept in today...wasn't my intention but after the long day I had yesterday I think I needed it.

Ubee Yeah the scarf was too pretty and snuggly not to get one myself I haven't been meal prepping on Sundays in awhile but I do figure out all my meals for the night before and it seems to help pretty well.

Well I lost 3 lbs this week...I'm now down 94 lbs...only 6 to go until I reach 100lbs!!! That's just so crazy to me...but happy with how far I've come. I posted some progress photos on instagram. Here they are if you wanted to see:

http://instagram.com/p/wmCogRJ3DL/

http://instagram.com/p/wmC3i4p3Du/



My cousin is flying in from Dallas this afternoon so instead of going to the gym I'm probably gonna skip and go see her. My body is tired and achy so I'm not sure how good I'd be at the gym anyway.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!!

Good morning all. We're having one of those winter days where the sun is shining, but that means it's cold. Better than the pineapple weather!

Ubee-- Good job at the funeral (now that's odd wording for people who don't know the reference!). Staying away from the dessert table is always a good idea. And realizing that you are a stress eater and can recognize the signs is a good step. I've personified mine -- gave her (don't know why I assume it's a her other than I am since most of my trouble in life has come from men, but I digress) a name and when the mindless stress eating pokes her ugly head up I call her by her ugly name and tell her to go away. Sometimes it works. Sometimes she knocks me up the side of the head and food magically appears in my mouth. Sometimes it happens in locations where I realize I've said it out loud and mothers physically move their children away from the crazy lady. Mexican is a tough place to eat that is low in carbs -- in fact I'm not sure there's anything on the menu that is on a low carb diet. There are several Mexican recipes on genaw.com, but they are recipes that have created the taste without the carbs -- no refried beans, no tortillas, etc., but lots of flavors from salsa and cheese. You might try Thai or any of the Asian foods -- there's always the option of getting a vegetable stir fry without the rice.

Terra -- Sounds like you're having a busy weekend with laundry, bathing Clyde, and cleaning house. Did you get your exercises in like you planned?

Sam -- So your secret is that you want to be thin and healthy more than you want to eat the foods that cause the opposite to happen! Well, you're definitely one of the reasons that I keep coming back and am determined to stick to this and get it off. Confession time: I was a little jealous (along with being happy for you) when you hit the 70 pounds mark cause my lowest weight was after losing 69 pounds.......and then the great yo-yo started. Sounds like you've had a busy weekend. Did you guys get your grocery shopping done? Fingers are crossed for DH's test results to be good.

Donna -- So sorry that you're going through all of this with the chest crud. It's hard to do anything when just breathing sometimes feels like it's an effort. Hope those antibiotics knock out whatever is causing this. Thanks for letting us know you're out there. Feel better soon!

The great tree hunt was a hoot. First, there was no snow. We were able to go all the way to the top of Mt. Pilchuk with no trouble. There have been years where there's been so much snow that I feared we'd be stuck in a drift until the spring thaws. The boys were wild. The dogs were beside themselves with smelling every tree and the males marking every tree multiple times. My two nephews were in charge of the cutting and hauling. I swear my nephew always picks out a tree that requires a lot of work to retrieve -- never can pick one that is just beside the road! So much fun and so many wonderful memories from over the years. I know what you mean, Sam, about special memories come with getting those trees.

On the diet front.......drum roll........I hit my 10 pound weight loss for December. However, it doesn't count if I haven't kept it off by the end of December. So, for the remainder of the month, I am making a commitment to no yo-yoing. To be honest, there is "inspiration" to stick to it because I have my annual heart checkup in January, and I don't even want to think about how disapproving he would be if I had gained a lot of weight. I know that it's mainly water weight at this point, but I'll take it. I'm going to make some more jello fluff to help with the sugar cravings. Haven't had any salt cravings for ages.

Lots to do today including going to visit my friend and show her other living possibilities that would probably be a better fit for her. Hope everyone has a great day!

Hi all. Sorry no personals today except to say congrats to Betsy on hitting her 10lb mark for Christmas. I also hit mine though not the way I wanted to. I'm moving into week 5 of my extended induction today and as of my weigh in this morning I am down 28lsb in the past four weeks. Now, a few of those lbs were not lost the way I would have liked them to be because I got food poisoning this weekend and was so sick for two days. However, I didn't jump off plan just because I was sick. I just stuck to water, tea, and chicken broth I made myself and waited it out. Back to solid foods as of last night. So, hope to regain my strength this week. No exercise planned for the next few days because right now it took all my strength to get dressed, get a taxi, and come to work today. Hope everyone is having a good end to their weekend/start to a new week.

Betsy ~ Yeah I did have a busy weekend, I got my laundry done, Gave Clyde 2 bath's today and got all of my exercises done.

Hi Everyone! I just joined today, and thought I would jump right in and introduce myself here! I am at 323, and my initial goal is to get to 299. (I would love to banish that 3 from my scale!) Starting my new WOE tomorrow and reading back through this thread, it seems I am in good company on this journey to health!

Ncqueen ~ Welcome to the thread and the forum, I hope you like it here. I'm Terra, I joined 3FC on July of 2013 anyway I'm now 285 but I was 310 starting out. I started my 2nd weight loss journey on Jan. 16th of this year, Next month will be one year on my weight loss journey, My goal is to get to 150. I look forward to getting to know you.

Good Morning!
Terra I just noticed your ticker moved down again. 25 pounds down! Good for you! Do you think it is because you have gone down from 2 frozen dinners to one? No Terra I am not ready for Christmas. Grinch/Scrooge here this year.
Welcome ncqueen! I went back and found your intro thread. I too am trying to be gluten free. Our daughter with autism has gone gluten free and it has made a world of difference. I think having the goal of getting smaller by the time your hubby graduates from boot camp is great motivation. Good luck. We will be here for you!
shan 28 pounds down in 4 weeks is so exciting! Except for the food poisoning you must be feeling so good. I am so happy for you to see the number 4 in the rear view mirror! How did it feel that first day that you saw the 300"s?
Betsy thank you for re-posting the genaw site. Today at breakfast it finally got through my thick skull (again). I need to make new recipes not trying too change my old ones. I love new foods. The tree hunt sounds wonderful. Can you send some of that Christmas spirit here? I am too lazy to bring up our tree and plug it in. Good job on the 10 pounds off! I am counting on you keeping it off so I will have motivation to get mine off by the first.
Sam another 3 pounds!!! Your pictures are impressive! I really notice your face. When you started out you had such a stone face. (Often caused by gluten.) Now it has such definition. Your eyes are bigger and clearer. Most importantly is your smile. You really are healing yourself from the inside out. So proud of you!
Donna I hope those antibiotics are working because I have missed you! I hope you are up to fighting soon. Some days surviving is as good as it gets. We are having a warm spell and it will be 50 today! The bad news the cold ground and little bit of snow and ice left is causing major fog. If I had a mountain it would not be out.
Well it is Monday again. Am I the only person that does not look forward to the weekends. They are such a diet pit for me. No matter I have to figure this out because it is for life.
Have a peaceful day!

Good morning all. The sun is shining so brightly this morning that it's hard to see the screen on my ipad. Since rain is forecast for the next few days, I'll take it!

Shan -- 28 pounds!! Yoohoo!!! That is wonderful and saying goodbye to the 400s and welcoming the 300s is great. Hope that tummy bug has left you for good -- they are miserable and it takes days to get back to feeling right. Hope you make it through the day ok. Teaching takes a lot of physical stamina.

Terra -- I missed your downward trend until Ubee said something. You need to brag on yourself more. Why did Clyde get 2 baths in one day?

NCQueen -- Welcome to our group. We are a friendly group, very supportive, and understand what it's like to have a lot to lose to get healthy. If you don't mind telling us, where in central NC do you live. I ask because I lived in Winston-Salem for 16 years before moving out to WA when I retired. Absolutely loved living there and would move back in a heartbeat if my family wasn't all out here.

Ubee -- Yes, you may be the only person who dreads the weekend coming. I know that the fear of irritating the doctor has gotten me on the straight and narrow, but having success is keeping me mentally in the game. I just googled low carb and gluten free recipes........lots of sites with recipes. Of course, it also dawned on me that most low carb recipes are probably going to be gluten free unless you get into the low carb baking products that are available. I am currently in love with jello fluff and Tillamoos. The Tillamoos are individually wrapped pieces of ....... CHEESE ....... from Tillamook Dairy in Oregon (great cheese -- you'd like it!). Last night I fixed cream cheese pancakes (2 ounces of cream cheese, 2 eggs, packet of Stevia, pinch of cinnamon) which are low carb, delicious and felt like a treat. There are recipes out there. Go find them. You can do this. Remember how wonderful you felt when you started on grain brain.

Off to the gym and then home to do laundry and continue with the picture hanging efforts. I need to get this done so I can start wrapping. The boys will be here again this weekend for one night as their parents have a Christmas party that they want to attend that's down here in Tacoma. They always have it at a hotel so everyone can get a room and stay off the roads. They don't get drunk, but don't want to be driving and don't have to worry about waking me up when they get here at 2 to 3 in the morning. Nor get awakened 4 hours later by little ones! Hope everyone has a great day.

Hey Ladies

Feeling really good today ... Just had my IP weigh in and I officially hit 425 today ... 19 lbs in 4 weeks works for me! My waist is down 2.5 inches, thighs 3 inches, hips 3 inches, and well my chest refuses to leave.

Hoping everyone is having a great day!

Hey all feeling a little ugh, not at all on plan and can tell by the tightness of my clothes and the heaviness of my step that I have gained a ton but keep forgetting to buy scale batteries so can't actually weigh myself and maybe subconciously don't really want to. My friends all have plans to get on track in the new year.

I probably should try at least to relearn moderation way before that. Try and survive the holidays without any more significant weight gain. :-|

Holiday Parties, upon holiday parties, yesterday I did nothing though. But still found excuses to eat poorly. I just don't care right now perhaps? But i'm sure not-taking care of myself isn't helping my moods either. Things should quiet down now on that front but solo time isn't always the best solution either.

I don't have much to say except that I went down to -3 last night on my mood scale, and down to -4 depression pain this morning. I had a lot of negative thoughts of the "I'm a horrible person" variety, but tried to ignore them. I'm at -1 right now, thanks to taking extra Geodon. My goal is to take less Geodon, not more. =sigh= Maybe I need to be doing my Qigong practice more often.

All my collages these days feature either abstracts, animals, or both. My latest is called "monster matinee". (Don't worry, horror-phobes: it's not very scary, just silly/funny.)

ncqueen- Good luck and welcome to the thread. You will find great support and friendship here from many.

ubee- It felt great to see the 300s cause that was my Christmas goal was to get out of the 400s. However, I wish it had come from only my constant choices from atkins extended instead of coming with the help of food poisoning. I'm still not feeling 100%. Food smells awful to me and tastes very gross. I'm doing my best though to keep moving towards being strong again.

Betsy- It definitely takes a lot of physical stamina to get through each day teaching. However, my students are in exam mode and completing listening exams everyday for the next 10 days so it gives me a little bit of freedom to not have to teach everyday. 28lbs feels fab! Hope I can keep it moving in the downward direction to hit a new goal for going home on January 31st for vacation...I'm thinking 385/380 is a good goal for the next 6 1/2 weeks.

Togden3- Congrats on your 19lbs so far! Way to go on the inches though. You must be feeling great!

Fi- Sorry to hear you had a rough night and morning. Sending thoughts and well wishes your way. Love the art.

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week. I'm trying to regain my strength from this weekend's illness but so far it has been a very slow process. Tonight the bf and I are going to the old school I worked at last year for their primary Christmas concert since my best friend was the director this year. Going to support her, although it will be weird being back there and seeing everyone again. Anyways, this is the only festive thing we are really doing for Christmas so I'm excited, should be fun. Don't get me started on the weather here...freezing!!! We have been 5C and lower for the past few days. Then I woke up to that plus rain this morning and it put me in a grouchy mood. 5 taxis turned me down this morning before one would stop and take me to work. Not a great way to start out. On the vacationing planning front, my bf bought his plane ticket for his travels to Ghana and the UK before he comes back to China at the end of January and we start our vacation. So I will be alone for about three and a half weeks. Maybe I'll just spend more time on here to help me pass the time. Hope everyone has a good nights rest, and happy Tuesday from here in the Chonx (Chongqing).