I will post more tomorrow but just wanted to start the new thread!

Ennay: You're a bit of a "health nut" hehe, or so I've assumed/noticed. One thing I did learn with all the piercings that I've had is this:
If you won't stick it in your eye, why put it anywhere else?
My body piercer, Rob, taught me that. And he showed me studies they had done with various people who have had piercings in the past. So I tried it. These were my results:
Pain was more manageable, healing time (approx 6 months for the average piercing to be fully healed) was cut in half by 1/3, and it was cheaper!
What did I use?
1. Dr. Bronner's Lavender Soap
2. Tea Tree Oil
3. Sea Salts

Polysporin and Neosporin contain medicinal ingredients, some variations even contain codien, not to mention if you don't check for low phosphates, they can contain a high number of phosphates.

Just a tid bit of info for you I've had many, many piercings, majority of them being oral (center lip, corner lip, tongue, monroe, and medusa), and I LIVE by the above mentioned for most everything, and have had nothing but good experiences. At the very least, something you could look in to if you're interested

Sorry ladies, I responded to this one because it's an area that I pride myself in having studied quite extensively, and know a bit about. But be sure that I've read all of your posts Congrats to those who have lost, and chins up for those who are in a bit of a rut. We all have them (myself included, frequently!), and tomorrow is a new day If you've hit a plateau, there are a number of conventional (and unconventional) methods that you could look in to, ways to "kick start" your metabolism in to losing again.

I realize that I've been MIA. I was enjoying the free time I had to myself, but was enjoying it a little too much. I ate poorly, completely ignored my food schedule, and ingested far too many foods high in sugar. But DF is back, and I'm back on my "wagon." Not much more to report than that. Goal has changed for this challenge. To maintain, and lose what I can. No specific number, but I am definitely not going to come close to my goal. That's alright. I haven't gone above where I started, so for that I am thankful.

Hope you all had a great weekend!
~Mande

Okay, I have to get my fanny in gear again. It seems I lose interest weekly though I know this is important to me. It seems I get side tract. My husband is home right now on his days off from work and I think that does it for me everytime. My routine gets interupted. Hmmm I will have to figure out something to do about that trigger point. Thinking...thinking...

I have to see the doctor tomorrow for a follow up on my lab work for the osteopenia. The labs showed a deficiency in Vitamin D which is important for my bones to absorb the calcium. Possible osteomalacia. So the 1500mg of calcium isn't going to do me any good without the vitamin D. I always thought I was out in the sun enough, but apparently not. I can't think of anything else that would cause vit D deficiency. I will have to research this further...

I will keep you informed...

It is really cold here 27 degrees. Buurrrrr!!! But no snow:-(

Here is my me and my kids putting up lights in the cold having fun pretending its not cold.

Ennay: Also, I wanted to say I'm sorry about DS. You would think that in times like that, everyone would use the other for support. But it's like you have all this stress from having a sick child, and when things start to calm down a bit, the stress leaks out, and who's there for us to take it out on? Eachother. I call that normal. DF and I are like that to a capital "T." When things smooth out, so will you guys.

hey everyone here the beginning of a new week

Good Morning Chicks,

Well after a busy weekend I am down one pound. So one more pound until I reach my New Year's Goal. Hopefully this week at work will go by really fast and then off for a week. That should be relaxing. I hope everyone is starting off with a good week!

ennay: Sorry to hear about DS. The weather changes in the Big Easy can be horrible. It is the same where I am in Texas. It makes alot of people sick. One week it can be in the 30s and then like this week in the 70s.

JasonsLea: I am with you with the peppermints. Bath and Bodyworks makes this peppermint lip gloss that is fairly strong, and when I put that one my appetite goes away. I don't actually like the sugary feeling on my teeth the candy leaves. Altoids are also a good option.

Hi everyone!!!! Its monday, my fave day of the week Its technically my humpday workwise, but I love to restart on Mondays! I am just working on maintaining where I am now, I know myself and I have 2 dinners plus a breakfast to deal with for christmas then my annual christmas party (closer to new years for work) I know that I will eat and drink and be merry!! So as long as I can maintain my 163 I will be more than thrilled.

Loveandlaugh~ I love your picture!!

Sharri~I too work in the food service industry. It is my BIGGEST BIGGEST obstacle. Lately it has been my problem, I ate chicken broccoli and rice so much that now It just doesnt' seem complete (even if I am left satisfied) I want something else. One week until we are closed for 10 days. I know that will be a big help.

Everyone else Hiya

Well I did horrible with food this weekend. I can't even begin to guess how much I ate. I snacked and snacked and snacked!!! We had a lot of people over and I started out really well but then it went down hill. My stomache actually hurts today! I had some oatmeal and a banana today at lunch time and it was too much. Why do I do this? Once I start I can't stop. The good news is I only have Christmas Eve and Christmas left for gatherings! I feel so lousy right now I actually can't exercise.

Good morning everyone! I am sorry I have not been around lately. I have been busy between buses, kids, cooking, walking, etc. I will try to go back when I get free time to read everything and hopefully comment. I have been doing okay lately, just maintaining thru my b~day week. I did lose the 2 pounds last week by thursady and maintained til sunday, same weight this a.m. thank God. My cals were so low 1200-1300 during the first part of last week that I wanted to end them on a higher note so I could at least get to a 1500 average. Wound up with a 1613 average for the week with the last 3 days being really high. We also celebrated my birthday and got tamales and flour tortillas and banana cream pie over friday and saturday. I stretched it out between those two days and I felt so stuffed! I HATED going to bed like that. I told myself maybe instead of trying to worry about hitting a certain average that I should just listen to my body and try to keep the cals between 1200-1700. Instead of having really low days, then eating like a pig to try to make up for it! Like saturday for instance, now I was not worried about being good mind you cause we were celebrating that day. But I had a tamale and a flour tortilla with a little bit of *butter!!!* NOT cheese *edited* for breakfast. Lunch was ditto.

By dinner I actually wanted pie first! I had a slice and a half. Actually couldn't even finish it it was so sweet! After this I was actually full and honest to God I could of gone to bed without another bite to eat. But the kids wanted dinner and were hungry! So we pulled out the tammales and the beans and the rest of the spanish ricea nd the carnitas. haha

I LOVE tamales and flour tortillas it is not hard for me, when placed in front of me to overeat even when I know I am NOT hungry. I skipped the beans but had 2 more tamales and two more tortillas and some carnitas meat. calorie total = 2303 for the day! Now my "maintenance" cals are 2235 or so. SO not much over but I felt like I gained 10 pounds! I also had coffee and creamer.

The day before was 2176 and I went to bed feeling stuffed too!

Saturday ended that week though and SUnday I wanted to be better. I figured I could stand to do a few low cal days but it was "red meat and potato nite". I decided to wait on the red meat for a few days but still had the mashed potatoes and an ear of corn. I did grab 1.5 pieces of chicken thigh with the skin on it and was irritated to see it is supposedly 20 grams of fat per thigh! That is rediculous!

I had a grilled cheese yesterday for lunch and smoothie for breakfast. I think I would of been fine if I would of stopped there. But we were watching movies and I wound up having 5 cups of popcorn with butter etc...And I don't feel bad about it cause I did lose my 2 last week and I do allow this eating to be livable and all that but I just need to get back on track already and back to losing! I know I can and will. I just need to make us another pot of chili beans. Those days are low cal days for sure! And my "real b~day" is tomorrow and I am already wanting to go out to eat again! You see that is the problem with the white flour, you have it, then you crave more! DOn't worry though ladies, I will be back on track if nothing else by thursday. As long as I can maintain and get my b~day out of the way I will then still have 4 days left til x~mas!

I wanted to start by saying I'm sooo sorry for everyone struggling with difficulties this holiday season. I know things can get really hard, and it sucks that it has to hit us at this time of the year... you'll be in my thoughts.

On a lighter note...

WOOT! I lost the 2 lbs. I gained, then an additional 2 lbs. to boot! So a total of 4 lbs. this week. If I can hit the 170's by Christmas, I'll be a very happy girl! I'm loving the changes in my physique I'm seeing... my tummy is getting flatter and my thighs and hips are slimming out. It's a long road, but I'm almost at the half-way point! I know I can do it! I just have to take it one day at a time.

Ennay ~ So sorry about your DS. I hope things get better soon.

LoveandLaugh ~ 27 degrees?! Geez! And no snow? What a crock!

Dolly ~ I know what lipgloss you are talking about. One of my best friends uses it all the time. But I haven't been to B&B in a while and my mama always has a jumbo bag of peppermints so..... My teeth have gotten really sensitive since I'm in the process of getting like 11 cavities filled so I have to carry around a toothbrush and toothpaste and brush as soon as I get done eating. When the peppermint is gone, I usually rinse with warm water, otherwise my teeth would be hurting so bad!

Jeni ~ My main weakness is the muffins and bacon they serve at my job. I get weak just thinking about them.

Congratulations Calejo!

Well hello again to all!!

Jasonlea and Jcat-Although I didn't work in a restaurant there was the cafeteria close by and my main weakness was their breakfast burritos. They were so tasty. I thought I was doing good with ordering one scrambled egg 1 sausage 1 piece of bacon and veggies later finding out they used butter in the veggies and on the grill for the flour tortilla. Still it was extremely hard to stay away. i later had to either avoid them or bring some homemade ones with low calories. i still crave them today not being at work for 8 months. its crazy!!

Calejo-Awesome 4 pounds right before christmas!!!!!!

Dolly-congrats on the 1 pound loss; that is awesome!!!!

Had to give you both the same amount of carrots because you both are worth it!!

martiniforme, jasmine, stopeating, and anyone else struggling with food like me this week-it is the long term we are after; I have to keep reminding myself. We can do this!! and at the end? Well there is no end because we still have to be healthy!! We'll just be a little Hotter doing this than before. Hot & healthy that is what this is all about.

dollypie: Way to go on getting so close to your goal this soon! You can totally do this! 151, that is great!!!

stopeating: I know what you mean about being stuffed. In the past I haven't felt the true effects of being "stuffed" until after I've finished eating, but in recent months, it's started to come on, and now all I have to do is actually STOP eating (no pun intended!) when my body says so.

Jasmine: You do so well as it is, I'm not all that worried about the splurges However, I do agree with you when it comes to listening to your bodies. On days when I ingest about 1300-1400 calories, those are the days I am less likely to binge. It's a comfortable place for me, and seems to work. I'm not a compulsive overeater, being I don't eat large amounts on a regular basis, so my body is already used to ingesting less calories than is healthy, it's those occasional binges that kill me! Finding that happy medium has been a huge thing for me. You've got time to work out a comfortable eating habit, and because it's a life goal, test different things out to figure out what works best for you

Calejo: Way to go on the loss!!!!

loveandlaughalways: You are so very right. Just because we messed up this last week/weekend, doesn't mean it's all over. We've got a life time in which to work out our niche in the world of food (not exactly a life time, but you get what I'm saying). And really, I feel hotter not for every pound I drop, but for every good decision I make

--
Today was... interesting. Haha. MIL and I went to go out of town to pick her dogs up for the kennel (she was out of town for the weekend, and I was unable to dog-sit). They were sooo excited to see her. Now, keep in mind I live in the boonies. So when we go out on a "backroad," it's a lot more "back" than most backroads! We ended up taking a wrong turn, and ended up on an unplowed Rdg Road. We were driving a little 2004 Lancer, so this poses some problems. We managed to get turned around and out of there. Then we stopped in a town on the way home for the bank located there, and got stuck in the snow on the curb! Some man walked by and laughed, but there was a guy decked out in army gear (reserves), and he came to our rescue. Thank goodness! MIL was completely raging at that point. It was a little funny in hind sight. Ended up working at the shop, so missed my lunch, but made up for it with a more "boned up" afternoon snack. Not too bad today. Actually planned my day, which was huge for me.

I think I'll stop by the flower shop on my way to work tomorrow and pick up some flowers for her. Have something nice to look at to boost her spirits/mood.

Trying to learn how to use a 3D Mesh tool (MilkShape 3D). It's driving me crazy. ARG! Haha, but I'll eventually get it. It will be worth the things I can create.

I'll be going out of town on Wednesday, and arriving back home on the night of Christmas Eve. Going to spend some time with my mom and step dad, which will be nice. Got a call from my dad, which are few and far between (he can't help it, long story there). I love hearing from him, I miss him so much. And he's always so down, and I like to think when he talks to me he perks up a bit.

Anyway, this has turned from an update in to a rambling.

Goodnight! Hope everyone had a good day, and has a good day tomorrow!
~Mande

Good morning all,

Last night we had a neighborhood Christmas party. It was our first one since we just moved in. One neighbor brought out is outdoor fireplace and we roasted chestnuts. First time for me, they tasted like sweet potatoes to me, but they were good. Everyone brought candy and cookies, I kept my hands away by drinking some hot tea. All the neighborhood kids and then the adults had a Texas snowball fight (we used socks, no snow). Lots of fun and got to meet all of my neighbors.

loveandlaughalways: Thanks for the congrats, it was a total surprise for me wasn't expecting a lose, but I will take it anyday!

martiniforme: That is so sweet of you to get your MIL flowers, they will cheer up anyone

Calejo: Congrats on the non-scale victories and eary Christmas presents! All of your hard work is paying off, you can make to your goal! Keep up the hardwork!

Jasmine: Grilled Cheese sandwiches w/ tomato soup is my favorite comfort food!