EMILYMAY - I just saw your post and had to say I love your logic! Your right - mindset is everything! Bravo for using your thoughts and attitude to raise yourself up instead of push yourself down! I could certainly use more anticipation right now, instead of dread. Positive thinking, that's it.

Hello all – I can’t believe I haven’t posted for almost 2 weeks! Life has been really crazy for me. The episodes of walking into places and not buying anything turned into buying things, and several cupcakes, a small birthday cake and some ice cream later I finally detoxed myself off the sugar last Sunday. I had a great week, with only a small blip last night when I let myself get too hungry and then “only a pb&j could do the job” and I ended up eating two. Sigh. Today I started off the day with a good breakfast and I am going to get right back on plan, rather then give myself more excuses.

The head manager of my office got laid off last Monday and that turned into 3 days of non-stop meetings (including dinner meetings) plus increased workload and responsibilities for me. So that was stress #1. The apartment hunt is not going well and I have seen a bunch more places that haven’t been any good. Then in the past week there has been NOTHING show up that is even in my price range. I am getting very nervous about that since there is now a housing shortage in NYC which could have a horrible ripple effect into the outer boroughs and into Westchester. So that is stress #2. My ex has started dating again and he has already sent her flowers. I got flowers once in 5 years and that was after I had taken him to task about it. It’s not so much that I am jealous, but that I am mad at myself for putting up with that stuff for as long as I did! So that is stress #3. Then when I am eating badly and not exercising like I was for awhile there it exacerbates the stress and compounds upon itself. So that is stress #4. My bosses now are thinking they want us to move offices into a completely different building, which makes me really upset because I really like the building - especially the gym. So that is stress #5. I know there are other things too, but I can't think of them at the moment. As I have said, it has been rather crazy.

I have the house to myself today and I am taking it easy. Having some computer time, doing some cleaning, etc. I can’t necessarily get rid of all the stresses, but I can find ways to handle them a bit more healthfully.

I am looking forward to a mini-vacation next week when I head up to spend several days with my parents (who will just have moved into a new house) and my brother and his girlfriend who are visiting from Hawaii. I head up on Friday after a half day of work and stay until Wednesday. It’s not long, but it will just be good to get away.

I promise not to be such a stranger.

Heather – Fantastic new avatar!

Sharon – Your new pictures are great! You are looking !

Hi everyone!

Well...lunch with my son went well yesterday and I came home and logged my points right away. One down, one to go. We decided on the 99 for supper...but we decided that basically as we pulled in to the parking lot. I usually don't research ahead of time because I almost always just order a salad whenever we go out. So that's what I did...excpet it wasn't an ordinary salad...it was a specialty with some cheese crumble and some bacon bits. I've had this particular salad there before so I knew what to expect as far as quantity of both cheese and bacon pieces and I knew that there was a lot of spinach and mushrooms and tomatoes as well as some grilled chicken. How bad could all of that be? Well...let me tell you! I got home and looked online for nutritional info on the 99 website. Holy cow! The salad was 31.5 points!!! I only get 32 points per day! Needless to say, I dipped into my flex points for the week! LOL! Live and learn, I guess. I was pretty busy/active today so hopefully that will help my weekly total!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

Cris

Hi everyone
Im glad the board is kind of slow today, maybe i can catch up hope everyone had a good day. i am sooo happy to be off tommorrow i have been working way too much and i am sick of it
NANCY: im glad to see you back, im sorry you are having some stressors. hopefully you will be able to find an apartment soon, and that will relieve some of your stress.
VALERIE: i am also glad to see you posting. that's great your scale read a number lower than you thought. i know you will do awesome, just try it one day or one meal at a time, seriously. if i think of the rest of my life as constant "counting calories" and such, it becomes a real pain thank you for the nice words
i hope all the mothers have a great mothers day. i am doing well, and as i mentioned, i am off tommorrow, so that is a good thing. My NSV for the week was seeing a patient at the physcians office i used to work at, i havent seen her in several years.. she asked me if i had "wt loss surgery" needless to say, i was happy. one weird thing i am experiencing ( and please help me out if you can relate) it seems i had more dates when i was bigger. maybe it was because my standards were way lower, lol. i have tended to shy away from men in the past year due to disatrous relationships in the past. i am ready for a new relationship, but i am having difficulty finding the right person. oh well, nobody ever said if i lost some wt, my life would be great i hope you all have a nice evening.

Happy Mothers' Day to all the moms we have posting here.

Good Morning Ladies!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!




Things have been crazy here...birthday, dances, girlfriends, fingerprinting(not for jail...for the boys' summer job)etc. I also have gotten a little injury from our kitty. I was in bed and she came up to say good morning. She walked past my head on the pillow facing Doug's side...(he was getting ready for work) something scared her~still don't know what!~and she jumped back and caught my right eyelid with her back paw. I probably could have used a stitch, but Supermom had absolutely no time on Thursday. It is much better today, but I need to find a redish-purplish eyeshadow for the other eye to match!!

Shadie: It sounds like you have an amazing 16 y/o son!! Smart, good- hearted, adventurous...you have done a great job!!!! My oldest works at a movie theater too. I am glad your 21 y/o has found his way. All you can do is steer them in the right direction and hope for the best. Not that it
doesn't hurt your heart when they are not happy, but all we can do is love them.

Annie: I am so happy you finally have your CPAP! You will be amazed how great you will be feeling!!! It's so great about the swimming. I wish we had a pool around here I could use all year...I have an aboveground one in the backyard, I can't wait to get in it!

Valerie: I see so much of myself in your post. It's a vicious cycle that sometimes I wonder if it ever ends!! Hang in there and just like AA~one day at a time.(sometimes one minute at a time!)

Kayley: I got the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds~1, 2,& 3 mile DVD's. I have done the 1 mile 2x and love it!! No complicated steps, and you can use it with 2lb weights for a more vigerous workout~not me yet...I am just making it without . (My hips are definately screaming at me "what the heck are you doing!!!!")

Kimberly: ONLY 1 MORE LB TILL ONDERLAND!!! You can do it!!
And don't worry...there is someone out there for you, just be patient, and he will fall in your lap.(maybe litterally!)

Nancy: Sorry you are having so much stress. It can only get better!

Cris: I know what you mean about the salad!! Amazing when you think you are doing the right thing and they sneak in all those darn points!! Makes me really mad.

Have a Great Mother's Day to all mommy's of both human and furry kind!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!!!!!

Just a quick post this morning...I'm down 3.8 pounds. It's a pretty chilly day here, so we're just going to finish up cleaning, and chill out. Hope you all have a great day!

Nancy, I'm glad that after all that "Should-I-Stay-or-should-I-go" that you went thru, at least you've reached a point where you know you did the right thing and will expect better treatment in the future, which you certainly deserve! I understand that it's still stressful, but I hope that you see the upside to it. I hope next week goes more smoothly for you!

CRIS, even if that salad was over points, just your choice of it shows a change in direction for the good. Live & learn, huh? It sure sounds yummy, too.

Kymberly, way cool that someone notices and appreciated how much weight you'd lost! As for the dating, are you dressing differently now? More classy perhaps? I remember noticing back in college that if I was wearing a sweatshirt or dressing down, more guys approached me, and not always respectfully. When I dressed better, I was more off-limits and unapproachable. I think we wear our weight the same way sometimes. I think sometimes guys perceive us as less threatening, or more vulnerable or whatever when we're heavy. I've heard of first class, 10+ super-models that never have men approach them because the women scare 'em. Are you out there scaring those poor insecure boys? Or have your standards gone up to only be interested in higher quality guys? In either case, GOOD FOR YOU!!!

DONNA, yup. One day, one bite, at a time!

HAPPY MOMS DAY EeeeeeeeVERY BODY!

The cakes were a big hit yesterday. I couldn't even touch it I was so grossed out by sugar by the time I finished it. Today I woke up with more 'grit' and determination than usual. I threw out the last of the extra cake, and went out and planted beans in my newly tilled garden. Then I went to buy more plants - broccolli, etc - and it occurred to me that a custard cone would be lovely... until I thought about the sugar, and drove on by. Once I decided against it, I didn't even look to see if the custard stand was open yet. Realized I was getting hungry, so I had some OP lunch before going out to plant some more.

Who knows? Maybe I can kick this thing today, and let everybody ELSE eat cake for the next 15 days. Maybe I can start NOW.

S'cuse me while I go plant lettuce, yellow peppers, brussel sprouts....

Well, ladies, the festivities are over, and I have no excuse not to get back to some serious work. I’ll have to spend the next few days detoxing my body again. I’ll have to eat every other hour to keep from getting hungry, and force myself to exercise even if I don’t have the energy. I will get my leisure pass in two weeks, and then I can finally start going to the pool. I already have my bag packed. All I have to do is shave, and get over that nervousness of going to a new pool with a new teacher, etc. By Christmas, I want to be down to a much smaller size.

Donna-I also worked in a movie theatre in highschool. I was there for the opening of Star Wars, and Saturday Night Fever. That’s back when a 4 screen movie house was enormous, and people actually lined up around the block to see them. We charged $2.25 for Star Wars, and people really complained about the price. Guess that kind of dates me.

Kymberly-I have had many people ask me if I had the surgery too. I always tell them heavens no, that I have done enough damage to my body without rearranging my plumbing.

Cris-before I took a cross continent bus trip, I went on line and researched every fast food place I could think of. I wanted to be ready with a list of things I could eat at each place incase the bus stopped at one of them. I was shocked that some of the salads had more calories than a basic burger. It isn’t the lettuce that is the problem as you found out the hard way. I have my safe places, and safe things to eat at them, so that I am never surprised like that.

Nancy-You made my head spin just reading all the stress you have been under. You are right about learning to deal with the stress in healthier ways. We all have to learn to do that better.

Lillion-Thanks, I have recovered from the emotional upheaval. I threw my bit for a few days, but I’m back on track again. My MIL is still threatening, but now that I am safe from her, she can threaten all she wants to, and I just smile.

Shadie-I’m feeling much more relaxed. I just took a few days off. He had a conference here in town, and meals were provided, so I just let someone else cook for me for a few days. I didn’t even clean up after the party until this morning.

Annie-I’m glad you were able to get you CPAP machine. I hope it doesn’t take too long to get used to sleeping like that. Once you lose your weight, you probably won’t need it anymore, but for now, I’m sure your body is going to enjoy getting the oxygen it needs while you rest.

Valerie-I am in the same boat. I just can’t seem to keep going long enough to get the weight loss started again. I can do okay for a few days, and then just seem to lose it. I can blame it on stress, or a million other things, but I just feel out of control at times. Your post wasn’t selfish at all. You were able to say things that I should be saying, but avoid. There are times when I know I need to do things, and just can’t seem to get my body to move. I can’t keep a “high” going long enough to get past this barrier. If I had a solution, I’d bottle it and make a million.

Kayley-I think I drank enough alcohol in college to last me the rest of my life. That was back in the days when 18 year olds could drink. I never thought about the calories though.

Jill-It is really nice when you can get ahold of someone who will actually listen to you, and what you need instead of trying to make you fit into their cookie cutters.

Emily-When I try to treat myself by going off, it isn’t a treat. It makes me feel guilty, I deal with cravings for days afterwards, and it is just not worth it. I tell myself that I deserve a break, but you’re right, I deserve to be healthy instead.

Catherine - Your MIL, my DIL. Smiling at them is what hurts them most. My DIL is having a wedding shower this weekend and I just found out about it. I am NOT invited (Thank heavens cuz I don't wanna go anyway) but I'm going to take a gift over and drop it ahead of time. Me being nice to her is the sweetest revenge there is. Especially if I don't even have to talk to her to do it. She made some cheesey remarks about 'the moms' at the wedding sort of including me, and all I could think of is "I AM NOT one of 'the moms!'" But don't worry, I didn't say it out loud, even with it screaming inside my head.

Fifteen days til the wedding from **** is OVER! I think I'll start celebrating Tuesday the 29th now, instead of just dreading the mess on the 28th. Of course, there's the rehersal dinner to make it through too, I think.

On the up side, I got some flowers from one of the girls I taught riding to for years. She calls me her 'Horse-Mom.' I think it's adorable, and I love her to pieces! See, most little girls love me. (OK, so I buy them off with ponies to ride, but still!)

Planted beans, snap peas, 4 kinds of tomatoes, yellow peppers, bibb lettuce, some cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and lots of broccolli today. I'll be happier when that thieving groundhog is gone.

Off to the barn to visit my biggest fur-babies. I hope everyone is having weather as gorgous as it is here! Absolutely doesn't-get-better-than-this Perfect!

Valerie-I have always believed that living a good, happy life is the best revenge. That will make the "cold pricklies" in your life nuts.

Kayley - woohoo! Great job this week - I bet you are feeling really good about yourself!

Catherine - As anything, it's a learning process and I will probably follow your lead about researching ahead of time. One thing about this eating plan for me is that I don't want everyone else around me to have to conform to me ("Oh we can't go there because there's nothing for me to eat"). It's up to me to make appropriate choices no matter where we go as a family. We have the basic chain restaurants around here so it will be easy for me to research and come up with a list of the good choices available at each place for the future. Frankly, it is still annoying to think I have made a good choice only to find out that I would have been better off with a big juicy burger.

Valerie - Sounds like you have a great garden started! Gardening is not my favorite activity, but my in-laws live next door and have two big gardens that I pilfer from every summer! Do you have your own horses? My daughter just started riding lessons at a barn where there are over 30 horses. I haven't quite figured out how many are owned by the woman and how many are boarded...but I know she owns quite a few! My daughter would move in there in a split second if it was possible!

Donna - sounds like you and I are on the same plan - wishing chauffering counted as excercise, and cursing at the restaurant people that mess with our salads!

Today wasn't a great op day for me - I actually am feeling uncomfortably full right now. On the up side - I won't feel like eating any more tonight!

Hope everyone had a great mother's day and a great weekend!

Cris

WARNING...NON-SCALE VICTORY (NSV) AHEAD!

So I am out for my walk today, just going along, admiring the view of this beautiful day and minding my own business. Most of the walk was uneventful, outside of saying HI to a few people I would pass by here and there, until I made my way back home, a car came by and some TWENTYSOMETHING guy whistled out the window at me! ROFL.

Wow, how long has it been since that has happened? I have no idea *grin*....but it certainly feels great!

The funny thing was, I had nothing revealing or outstanding on...just a casual outfit of capris and matching top. Of course, they were a couple of sizes smaller. Heh.

Have been reading faithfully but still feel a little out of the loop! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms.

Will try to be a more productive poster in the week coming, but off the top of my head 1) congrats on the finalization of the immigration stuff Catherine...I hope you're very happy here in Canada and that you've been made to feel welcome and that it truly feels like home 2) Annie - I'm so glad you got your CPAP machine...sleep of good quality and quantity is vital to every aspect of our well being and something everyone deserves, and no one more than you. Your sweet nature and good cheer come across in every word of your posts and they are always a pleasure to read. 3) Great pictures Sharon! Something we can all look forward to with continued commitment...thanks for the inspiration!