Morning ladies! I had a good weigh-in this morning. Down 2 pounds. Some of that must be water. I was good, but not THAT good. I'll take it!

Looks like more snow due in tonight. Ugh. And bone-chilling temps coming here to Illinois later this week. That sounds like fun. Not. The word "piercing" should not be used to describe temperatures.

How does your week look?

Good morning Heather and all to follow, My week looks like a challege as always.

I am still experimenting with food to find the right combo to lose weight on and not start up a lot of negative stuff. I know what I need to be eating, but I can't have most of it. Bummer.

This morning I am sore all over. Not sure what brought that on either. Happens sometimes. I think some of you know that I suffer from a disease named dercums. It has another name that I am not even going to try to spell. LOL! My life as I knew it came to an almost dead stop with the symptoms I started having. It was a mystery for almost twenty years. Every Dr. assumed it was a weight issue, not so! It is an autoimmune disease of course. I don't know why I am telling you this. LOL! I just get really discouraged with it at times. I have a strong will to keep going when it looks as if I can't.

This morning I am vacuuming and etc. I have to quit often because of the pain, but I get right back up and go again. I have always been stubborn. LOL!

Well, That was a nice cheery way to start your morning wasn't it. Yeah, every once in awhile I have a pity party and then it is over.

I hope all of you are doing well. I know you are looking for that downward scale reading just like I am. Ta for now, Ruth

Ruth, I hear you about these autoimmune diseases. Especially when (like me) you look so big and healthy!!! But hang in there.

I hope to be better about stopping in and chatting, but it just did'nt happen this week. But I did loose 2 pounds. I have made it all the way back in the wagon yet, but I'm working on it.

Okay, off to read what I've missed.

Ruth - I think that many of us get the autoimmune disease thing. I have really severe asthma, so when I'm not doing well, I cut out a lot of milk products - but fat-free dairy is such a great source of protein. And then the breast cancer = restrict soy, so there goes more healthy stuff.

All our bodies got the memo about it being New Years, and time to start losing. So glad they're in sync.

I am also concerned about the coming cold snap. I know people think Michigan is like an ice box, and the Upper Peninsula is, but down between Detroit and Ann Arbor, the weather is usually like it was on Long Island when I was growing up, and for the same reason - all that open water mitigates the extremes. Ugh. Why can't the dog walk herself? And we are going to be broke by spring.

Well, have a good day all. Tonight I'm sitting in for DD in her first Photoshop class, as she has job training this evening. Should make for a long day.

Sue-my daughter just got the 7. Photo shop and loves it! She is big into photography at school. I hope you enjoy the class! I agree on the dog walking! Also. . . broke by spring, I'm already there. It is wonderful that gas prices are down to drive, but our heating bill is rediculous!

Heather-YEAH on down 2 pounds!

Not sure what today will bring here. I have an appt. later on this morning and should make another one. I am going to try to do that one later on in the week. I should go get a few things done. Not in the mooooood to do anything. UGH.
Penny

Ruth -- It seems one of the many problems with autoimmune diseases is that they are hard to diagnose and kind of hard to understand! Oh, I guess that's 2 problems!

Feel free to come here and rant if you need to!

Hi ladies,

Still funking around. By the looks of the weather, it is related to come kind of front coming in. Someone here at work commented that she felt the same way all weekend. Now, the thing is to work through it and not let it keep me from doing things that I need to be doing.

I did get some studying done yesterday after carpet cleaning. I also spent some time outside putting hay out for the horses, taking christmas stuff to the garage, cleaning the dog kennel, etc.

Again, a great big for the losses this week. to all!

Well, it's still morning here for a few minutes at least.

We tried a new church yesterday. About once every year or two we decide we are heathens and that we need to find a church. We'll go to two or three and none will be the right "fit" and so we stop. But the one Sunday may be a winner. It was friendly, but not TOO friendly. I hate the "OMG we have new people we must make them love us!" you get sometimes. It was relaxed, but not TOO relaxed. It reminded both DH and me of the church we went to as kids. Not an easy task, since he was raised Baptist and my Lutheran. So this one is actually getting a second chance next week.

Friday I did my first Martial Arts class. Japanese fan fighting. It was very cool and I will be going back to it too. Gosh, I'm starting to do things more than once!

I'm still OP. That's nine days in a row for me! Got up late today, but did my elliptical. Of course, I'm at work, even though the office is closed for Inaugeration Day. That being the case, I should probably get to work.

Lilion -- Does Missouri have a state inauguration?

Very cool on finding things to "do more than once!"

The Biggest Loser Challenge results are in, go check it out!!

toodles
Debbie

Food is good today..water is good today and exercise was a little light but its hard when you have 3 kids trying to help you do your walk...crawling thru your legs and hanging on while doing lunges.LOL THey are good however at marching in place. I bent down on all 4s to rewind a tape and one kid said look at her big hiney...out of the mouth of babes!!LOL I couldnt help but think its so much smaller than it use to be...but it still has a ways to go!!

WE are pretty cold here today and this is our warmest day of the week. BRRRR
I will try and get another walk in after kids go home. I might even get the minitramp out and have a go on it. Nice change of pace.

I tried Kashi go lean hot breakfast cereal today...yucky..it needs some help.I will have to dr it next time..but each bowl has 7grams of fiber and 9 grams of protien. I will try it again tommorow and try to make it edible with cinnamon and splenda.
I went back and looked at all the photos posted in the sticky. Its so nice to have faces to go with names. I will post another pic of myself after the wedding.
hugs

Heather - MO makes a big deal out of the Governor's inauguration. I know a few other state officials were sworn in today too. It's quite normal for them to close all the state offices in Cole County (the one the capital is in) for the day. Not sure why they do that to tell you the truth, other than to free up parking spots near the capital and they figure they can't just close the buildings around the Capital building itself? Beats me.

gramie - WTG on walking with the rugrats! I bet you burn even more calories with them in tow.

Morning ladies,

I had to chuckle about the inauguration. I was puzzled at first because I wondered how the heck I missed that the presidential inauguration was yesterday but yet I didn't think I had lost my mind quite yet. Then I read Heather's question about state. Ahha. Forgot we elected a governor in November.

Yesterday was an okay food day. I logged everything in CalorieKing. I was over a little bit because I decided that I wanted to lower my daily goal to 1600.

In my quest of as Dave Ramsey would say, "changing my family tree", I have been pondering food similar to how I have been looking at our budget. I have bad money habits that I acquired from watching my parents and how they handled money. Even though I "know" better, I still have those habits. Same way with food. I don't know if they are still "issues" because I think I have tried to recognize that I had issues develop during my teen years and I've tried to let go of the "issues". However, I think what I've left myself with is bad habits that developed years ago.

This line of thinking kind of started a few weeks ago when talking with my sister about joining Jenny Craig. Her son and his wife spent the $$$ and have been eating the food for more than a month now. Because they had joined, my sister gets to join for just $100 plus the foods. I had contemplated but rejected it pretty quickly because I couldn't justify spending the $$$. She's on a 1200 calorie diet and her foods are all allocated out to meals. My question to myself is why I can't think of foods the same as I'm thinking of our money now? I get a budget of calories and that's it. Since I am liking the "envelope" system for money, I'm going to get my food budget set up similarly (is that a word?).

Sorry for accountant-brain rambling. Unfortuantely, I'm one of those people that has to have structure or else I have no concept of calories I've taken in (or money spent).

Okay, better get this posted and on to work. I've just spent 10 minutes negotiating a deal of being able to borrow a PC monitor so that I can fire up my old desktop at home so that I can give the desktop tower to a friend who doesn't have a computer. I've been wanting to get rid of it for awhile but have been hesitant about how to do so without personal information getting into someone's hands smarter than me. I know she won't try to glean deleted info from the harddrive and she needs it to do her budget and debt snowball stuff too.

to all!

Terri, I think the "food budget" makes perfect sense. Good for you getting back OP and (I hope) out of your funk.

I was OP yesterday, even had to eat a peanut butter sandwich to get close to my points. Don't know how I managed that. I am doing well today and got up to work out again. Well, actually, I run late every day because I don't get up early enough to work out, but at least I'm doing it!

I met our new division director. He remembered me from law school. I'm sure from my blank look he could tell I didn't remember him at all. I really should have faked that better, huh? He was two years behind me, so that explains why I don't remember him and I'm taking it as a compliment that he remembers me from one year in the same school 20 years ago. I must be better preserved than I thought! Hopefully, I was nice to him, huh?

I need to get my lunch ladies. White Chicken Chili. Perfect for this COLD winter day!