Good Morning,

Woweee Decembers right around the corner. I just wanted to pop in to start this thread up and to say Good Morning, hope everyone is having a great Monday. Did you all survive the Thanksgiving feasts and mad shopping


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Morning all!

Still pluggin' along at trying to stay on plan, and lose the ridiculous poundage that couldn't POSSIBLY be real weight gain (you know, based on eating an extra 3500 calories to gain a pound, I would have had to have eaten 17500 extra calories over 3 days... okay, I ate a lot, but not THAT much! ). So, my ticker is off by 3-4 pounds, but I am NOT changing it back up - just counting on it getting back to where it states I am, and going from there

It dull and cold here, but we've filled the bird feeders, and that brings me a great deal of delight I'm eating lean, and focusing on running for the time being - will re-add my weights when I feel it is time... no doubt I WILL eventually feel it is time!

How is everyone else??
Heather

Hi ladies,

I'm still alive, I say again. I've been lurking but having trouble finding anything to say. I feel sort of strange posting on a weight loss sight while I haven't been on any sort of diet in almost a year now.

I stayed home for Thanksgiving and cooked for myself and the fiance. We ate leftovers all weekend. I'd done too much traveling to plan to go anywhere. I did a little shopping over the weekend, but only for myself. I've made an agreement with almost everybody not to exchange gifts this year because I haven't been working, besides most of them are on a tight budget anyway.

I need to go and get all my decorations from storage and put them up. Not too anxious for some reason. I feel like I just took them down. (I really was late in doing that because I was really depressed at the beginning of this year. I think it was February before they came down. Then they sat in the house till...I don't know March or later before I took them to the office to store. Depression is great isn't it?)

Oh well, off to finish some laundry and do some errands. Hope you all are well.

Good afternoon everyone!

Just popping in from the snowy north to say Hello!

Not much new around here. Might actually have to shovel or something tonight (I've been leaving it hoping that it will even out the driveway!) Hubby and girls got the lights put up along the driveway this weekend. They are the new LED light so not as bright as the old ones, but at least I'll have a guideline for backing out. Only a month and the days start to get longer!!! I've been using my light again now that I don't have to worry about graveyard shifts. (they found someone so now I'm off the hook and mom is back to days) Picked up some bananas and will start drinking my spinach, celery banana drinks, I took my blood pressure and it was rather high again so hopefully this will help. I've also been drinking PMS tea and warm lemon water as I gained 7 pounds in 5 days, so it has to water. I also woke up with a cold yesterday so the extra vitamin C will help.

Anyway I better go and clean a fish tank or something. The one filter wasn't working properly so things are rather dire in that tank!

Take care all and have a wonderful day!
K

Hello all! I'm glad everyone had a relatively good Thanksgiving. I ended up having 20 people (including myself and my DH). And I think I actually did somewhat okay with the eating. That changed drastically on Friday, when I came down with a really bad stomach flu. I ended up in the ER on Friday night because I was getting too dehydrated. I've barely eaten anything since. I think those donuts I ate last week have gotten their revenge.

The worst part is, after going through all that throwing up (etc...), I've lost only 2 lbs. That's frustrating! It turns out though, that of the 20 people at our dinner, 9 of us got the flu. And according to the ER doc, it was the flu and not food poisoning. It's evidently 'going around' here right now. Next year, it can just stay home. It wasn't invited in the first place.

My appetite is still completely gone, so I'm trying to make myself eat applesauce and crackers at least. Hopefully, it will pass soon. I guess it just struck me while I was already dragging from the cold I had last week. I hope this just gets it all out of my system for the rest of the year, and next, for that matter.

Sassy: I hope that your mom's Doppler Study shows something treatable. Artery stents are fairly easy and work wonders. My husband's grandfather has had several of them. And I'm glad the cost is so low. Those things are expensive. Believe me, I work in a medical clinic with a radiology department. Anything with the words Doppler and/or Study in them are usually pricey. And I hope your back is feeling better.

Hope: Please do check in. It's been over a year since I was first using this site, and then I fell off the planet. I love this forum. It's great even if I'm not dieting. It's sure a moral booster anyway.

K: It's supposed to snow here, too, tonight and the rest of the week. I'll throw you a snowball. And I hope you get to feeling better too.

Take care all! And stay well.

Good Morning,

Heather good for you for getting back on track Could the weight gain be Aunt Flo paying a visit soon? Its funny, when I was in my 20's I never gained weight due to TOM, but NOW UHHHHH I can gain up to 6 pounds over night.... It just amazes me how much the body can change..from one extreme to another.

Hope, you know there are some years when I want to go crazy with decorations and some years when I don't. Why don't you put out just a few things instead of the whole schbang.... then it won't feel so overwhelming. Hang in there !!! Don't feel strange posting because your not "dieting", my stars, I go up and down like a rollercoaster and even though my avitar says I've been posting since 2001...not so, I've been posting since 1999 or before LOL 3FC is MORE than a diet....its friendship, bonding, support and anything else you want it to be. I'm sorry but I can't talk about dieting 24/7

Buddly good luck with your spinach banana drink (eeek) lol. Everyone here is getting sick too, my DH slept on the couch b/c he can't stop coughing, I have some sort of stomach thingy going on and a lovely cold sore right dab smack in the middle of my lip... yeah it look dang right purdy. Feel better sweetie

Robin, wholey crud, you too ??? Just make sure you drink plenty of water and stay hydrated, last thing you need is another trip to the ER...egads. How are you feeling today?

Sassy.....whats happening chickie? How's Mom?


Well kiddo's off to do some reading and catching up.

Have a wonderful day and stay well, chin up and remember your a great person.

BOO! Remember me?!?!?!? Thought I would pop in here and try again to leave a quick message…..

Sooooooo Good Morning Gang

How is everybody doing? I’ve missed chatting with everybody!

Leenie – thanks for keeping everybody posted on my Mom.

In case anyone missed it, my mom had surgery to remove lung cancer and then had some heart problems (which is putting it lightly) and they had to put in a pacemaker. After 2 weeks in the hospital in Houston, TX, they finally sent her home and me and my sis and bro are taking care of her at home. She is doing better but it’s gonna be a slow process. She has a nurse and physical therapist that comes in 3 times a week to check on her and get her moving, and we do the rest.

Needless to say, I am even busier than usual. Honestly, I feel like one of those people that you see with all the spinning plates on the poles - ya know - running from plate to plate and spinning just as fast as I can to keep everything up in the air and balanced .... and I feel like I'm starting to slip ;-) I’m trying to take things one day at a time and not think ahead but still I’m running from plate to plate. The pressure of the holidays is a couple of those plates.

If it were up to me, I would not put up the tree this year, I would just decorate my living room without it, but my dear sweet hubby will have none of that. Thankfully when I got home yesterday he had the tree down from the attic and put together and sitting in the living room waiting for me. That is about a 2 hour job and I’m grateful he did that part without me. ;-) But tonight we will have to drag down all the decorations and get the lights and the ornaments on the tree and get the living room decorated.

I have not bought the first Christmas present yet – man am I behind, but I did print out my list yesterday so that’s a start. I have 3 friends that told me they are finished – they have everything bought and wrapped and under the tree. I tried to give them my list but I couldn’t get any takers ;-)

Joanne - I read your message last week where you said that your son will be home on Dec 3 after 3 years. I remember the day you told us he was going. My goodness it’s been 3 years. I’m sure it has been very long for all of y’all! I do pray for him and y’all and will continue to do so. I pray that each of you will be able to adjust to him living at home and that it will be a great and positive thing for each of you and that he will be able to make a fresh new start in life and be able to use his trials as a witness for the Lord one day!

Hey Leenie – I don’t leave the house on Black Friday either. It’s crazy out there ;-) I try to do as much shopping online as I can for Christmas. It is just so much easier to have UPS deliver exactly what you want to your door and no fighting crowds ;-) did anyone go on Friday? And get some good deals?

Hey Heather – it sounds like you are back on track and that’s awesome! How cold is it where you are at? You run in the cold? That’s great! You go girl!

Hey Hope – sounds like you and me are feeling about the same on the Christmas decorations this year ;-) I’m so glad I’m not the only one. For me, Christmas is not about all the decorations. Of course, they are beautiful, but dang they are a lot of work – but I could have “Christmas” without all the work ;-)

Hey Buddly – I wouldn’t even know how to act in snow ;-) I think I would enjoy it for a day or two especially if I didn’t have to go anywhere. I don’t know how y’all get around. Are the lights on your driveway Christmas lights? Or just regular lighting so you can see where you’re going? I’m also taking extra Vitamin C everyday. I just cannot get sick and be around mom so I really need to fight off everything that I can. I sure hope it works!

Hi Robin – it’s nice to meet you! I’m so sorry you’ve been so sick! I hope you are feeling much better each day!

Ok gang – I have got to get back to work.
Hope everybody has a blessed day!
hugs,
Cathy

Hi to everyone,

I've missed so much while being away. Cathy, I am glad to hear your mom is doing better and is now home. Don't overdo it yourself at Christmas. A few less of everything (baking, treats, decorations, etc) is not going to be missed and certainly will be understood!

Joanne, I am glad to hear your son is going to be home. I agree with Cathy, it will be so wonderful for your family.. and for him.. to be home.

Leenie, you are such a positive person! What would we do without you.

I've been peeking here now and then. Life has been hectic. We seem to get one huge hurdle out of the way and another appears. I found a mole in August that made me mighty suspicious. Sure enough, it turned out to be malignant melanoma. I had two surgeries to remove it. The last tissue removed came back clear of cancer cells, so I consider myself extremely lucky as my mole was teensy tiny and didn't meet any of the criteria they tell you to watch for.. except it got very very dark.

23 days after my diagnosis of cancer came, my husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma at the end of Sept. It's a form of bone marrow cancer. It's incurable, but treatable with a bone marrow transplant. We just got home a few hours ago from teh Cancer clinic in the city (3 hours from our house to the clinic). The transplant will take place in the New Year. No definite date given yet as some more chemo has to take place. The life span is not long even after the transplant. We haven't told the kids (adults really.. 19 1/2 and nearly 25) that piece of news. They know dad has cancer and it's treatable.. that he will be having a bone marrow transplant and will be very sick and away in the city 2-3 months. We figure there is no sense upsetting them at this point. When the cancer returns, and it will they have told us, then we will cross that bridge.

Anyway.. afraid the diet and exercise have gone by the wayside. Can't afford the gym membership with all the meds and upcoming time off work for us both. I go walking 2x a week with a friend who is a breast cancer survivor (and 3 dogs between the two of us.. a regular circus!). She has been a wonderful support.

even if i'm not posting.. i'm lurking here in the background

Morning all!

Hello Robin! TWENTY people? I have great respect for you - I am not good with lots of people, and that would have sent me RIGHT over the cliff! Good for you!!

Cathy - great to see you - so glad your mom is home Run int he snow? ME?! No way - I am having a love affair with my treadmill!

Judomom - you have a lot on your plate. Thinking of you and sending prayers and good wishes your way, girl

Buddly - your drink sounds revolting - come on, 'fess up - what's it supposed to do??

Leenie - you know I love ya!

Okay all - off to aim for a productive day... well, at least I am AIMING for one! hahaha
Have a great day all -
Heather

Hey JudoMom - gosh it's good to see you! but my goodness y'all have had a LOT going on!!!!! I am so very sorry for all that y'all are going thru. I'm really glad to hear that your cancer is gone! that is a Miracle in my book! We'll pray for a Miracle for your dear hubby too! Please keep us posted on everything and I promise I will be praying for y'all!

I have a little story to tell about trying to decorate my tree last night but honestly, it sounds very trivial after reading JudoMom's post.....so I'll try to keep it short....

I didn't get to do any of my Christmas decorating last night bec we had friends in our house when I got home. After everybody cleared out we did decide to at least put the lights on the tree. Our tree takes at least 10 strings of lights and some of those strings have 200 lights on them - that is how big and thick our tree is. I apparently plugged too many sets into each other and just as I got to plugging in the last strand to finish the top of the tree, something blew and all the lights on the tree went out. Eventually we changed out some fuses in the sets of lights and they came back on.

But when I went back to turn everything off to go to bed most of the lights had gone out again and only the top and bottom lights were on. All the other 8 sets of lights in between went out. I could have cried! I still might

Normally I would have stayed up half the night until I got the lights straightened out, but I just unplugged the dang thang and turned out the lights and went to bed. Figure I'll tackle getting the lights working again tomorrow night bec we have youth services tonight. But I sure hope I can get them working! If I have to take all those lights down and start all over again with new lights there is no telling what I might do ;-)

I hope everybodys decorating is going much better than mine

hugs,
Cathy

Hey Heather - we were posting at the same time! just wanted to say Good Morning to you too!

running on your treadmill is GREAT! you go girl!
hugs,
Cathy

Hello everyone.

Cathy: I haven't done any Christmas decorating or wrapping of gifts yet, either. So, don't feel bad. And it came too early this year. I'm not yet into the Spirit, but then I insist on waiting until Dec 1 before I decorate anyway. It's my way of fighting the commercialism, I guess. And I hope your mom continues to improve. Also, have you tried the LED lights? I know you don't want to restring the lights on your tree, but the LED lights draw only about 1/10th of the power that regular lights do. It might save you a few blown fuses.

JudoMom: It's very nice to meet you. I'm terribly sorry about all the cancer problems you and yours are having. I'll definitely keep you in my prayers. Miracles can happen.

Heather: I'm actually a real social recluse. I can't stand being in crowds, especially like parties. So, it is kind of ironic that I would host a party of 20 people, but with that many people, I stayed busy in the kitchen. And most of the people are close family, so that's not too bad.

Everyone else: I hope you're having a good day/night.

I'm still bloated, and can hardly eat anything. I had a positive test for blood in my stool, which means that I'm bleeding somewhere in my stomach or intestines. My doctor thinks it's a problem with my acid levels in my stomach. So she put me on something for the acid. I hope it fixes the problem. I hate this bloated feeling. I feel like I have a bowling ball in my stomach. I have to go have another lab test in two weeks after I've been on this medication for a while. Oh well. At least I'll be able to avoid gaining weight this season.

Take care.

Hi girls,

Wow. I'm sorry to hear about so many troubles for such great people. I'll pray for all of you and your families.

I'm getting ready for bed now but just wanted to pop in and say I'm thinking about you all. Tomorrow I actually have an interview, believe it or not. It's a preliminary phone interview that will take around 20 minutes or so. It's in the morning so I'll check back in and let you know how all the B.S.'ing goes. If you have any extras, I'll take a prayer or two as well!

Chat soon.

Morning! No news here... Hope - don't know how I missed you form yesterday's post, hon - sorry! Good luck tomorrow, and let us know how you get on!!

Everyone else - have a great movin', shakin' day!

Heather

*Warning: Slight Vent Ahead *
Hi All!
So sorry I've dropped off the face of the earth recently. Depression is resurging in a major way. Possibly worse than ever. My therapist thinks between my screwy chemistry and STRESSFUL living environment, I'm having a major "flare up". New psychiatrist put me on Remeron along with my usual Zoloft and Seroquel (a fantastic help for my weight issues). Anyone had any luck with Remeron? Plus I weighed myself and I'm at my highest weight EVER; all of the stress and depression have me hungry and wanting to binge all the time. I don't mean to be a downer and I don't mean to dump it on all of you. Feel free to simply disregard this post, I just needed to let someone who knows what this is like (like all of you do) know how I'm feeling. Plus, I miss you all and I wanted to let you know that I'm still hanging in there. I'll try to post something more positive and not so self-centered soon, I promise. Thanks for listening and for being so open with your struggles that I feel comfortable enough to share mine. It really means a lot. As you all know, when your depressed and battling your weight the last thing you need is to feel even more alone.
Wishing you all a cheerful day!
~MorningJoy