Good morning on this last day of August. The days are getting shorter and the kids are going back to school. I have the end of summer blues.

I'm going over to Cindy's early to watch the kids get on the school bus, but then I don't have to go back until after lunch. They have piano lessons right after school, so they'll probably be exhausted this evening. I wonder how Maggie will fare with being in school a full day for the first time.

I think I'll do a good housecleaning since I'll have the extra time today, and start supper prep so it will be all ready whatever time I get home this evening. It's going to some time for me to get used to my new schedule with the girls in school all day, but I think I'm going to enjoy having more time at home. I'll just have to adjust to the smaller paychecks.

Quick good morning this morning as I'm running late. Woke at 6:15 after a nightmare-filled sleep and had to scrub the floor in the back room first thing! Looks like Disney's digestive upset is back.

The lunch at Joan's went well. My devilled eggs were gone pretty quickly. The rain held off for most of the time so fun was had by everyone. There was a great scavenger hunt with pictures taken instead of the items. Each team had a camera. The charity soccer game was rained out so I was glad to be home before five.

Gym this morning at 7:30 and then I meet with Paul to figure out this week's work schedule. I have a quilt biddies session today but won't be getting there until after lunch.

Gotta dash as I'm not dressed or fed and leave at 7:15.

Happy Monday! Cottage, try very hard not to let the girls see your tears!

Good Morning, Cottage. I can't believe summer is over either. It is still pitch black outside. We've had some fall-type weather lately, which is highly unusual for Alabama. We usually steam around here till mid-October!

This is a jam-packed week in the office. Our Therapist is taking next week off, so this week is going to be busy. When I sent out reminder cards last week, we added a label that said, "If you or your child are sick, please call to reschedule your appointment." We've already had two sick children come for appointments. We sent them home. If the therapist gets sick, we've got bigger problems! We are going to be Kung-FLU Fighters! Wash hands, Grasshopper!

On that note... Happy Monday!

Ruth, Nothing like digestive problems to start your week off right!

Good morning It's back to work for me Ah well, had to happen eventually.

Cottage - Hope the girls have a good first day back.

Ruth - Poor Disney and poor Mom. What a way to wake up. My parents dog could only eat one brand of lamb and rice food most of his life because of a tummy thing.
Have a great gym time!

Chelby - Seems there are cruddy flu bugs around already. Usually they hold off until we close our windows. Yuck! I'm not a big believer in antibacterial products but I do keep hand sanitizer in my car for the times I visit child care programs and can't wash my hands for awhile (I need a car sink!).

Looks like this will be a crazy week at work. Today is just office catch-up but I have a 3:30 massage appt. so get to escape early. Tomorrow morning we are going to get our marriage license. It's the first day we can and we aren't waiting! Then Wed. it looks like I'll be heading up north for a meeting and back in Thursday trying to catch-up. This is the time of year things really kick up at work so it will be busy until the holidays.

Meanwhile at home it's dehydrator season. If that thing isn't running every night I feel guilty. Yesterday it was more zucchini and eggplant (DP discovered that thin dried eggplant chips are apparently quite tasty if you like eggplant! who knew) and last night was green peppers and tomato slices with garlic & basil. I'm going to pick up a flat of blueberries for the freezer on the way home and some more peppers & eggplant for the dehydrator. And then there's the wedding Like i have time to worry about that

Hope your Monday is more mellow than manic

Good morning chicks!

cottage - tis sad, huh? My DS starts school next Tuesday (the 8th). DD doesn't start kindergarten for another year . What are you going to do with the extra time?

Ruth - lucky you with the mess!! Hope your day goes well.

Chelby - People sometimes don't think, do they? We have people come to work puking, and I'm like, "****-O!!!! Go home!!!". Some of it (well, most) at work is they think it won't go well without them. HA! But we don't want to be sick too!! (someone actually did this 4 days before my vacation....thank goodness, I didn't get it. She looked horrible!)

Cyndi - We finally got rid of the dehydrator a couple of years ago that my DH had. Should've started SBD before we did that, huh? Wish we had it now!

Me - Sigh. Back to work. Stupid paycheck!! Our vacation was great, and now back to reality. Not quite there though, since I finally scheduled the message my DH gave me for Mother's day today!!!

Already did the treadmill thing today (only walked...for some reason, I've developed plantar's fascitiis in the last month...don't know why all of a sudden...), and sipping my coffee. Planning on dropping grains for a few days, and only a little bit of fruit, to help cut back on some bad habits picked up on vacation. Funny thing is, I didn't gain weight , but I'm still a couple above last winter, and I don't want it to do the creep!!

Have a great day!

Hi Everyone

Chilly here, Cottage, I too, have the summer blues multiplied by a sick dog. Good call cleaning the house, though...burn off some energy and it will look better when you start feeling better.

Ruth, I hope Disney's digestive problem is short lived. I enjoyed hearing about your family time yesterday. Sounded very nice. Thanks for sharing.

Chelby, take care this week. I wish more places would send sick people home. Thanks for chatting last night.

Cyndi, Twynn, hope your ease into work isn't too painful and that you both enjoy your massages.

Me, made it to my mountain home. Rainy and cold here. To compound the misery, Lexxiss is going downhill fast. She did make it upstairs last night. I'm going to see if I can coax her down, then I think we're going to start sleeping on the floor downstairs. It's only for a few nights this time around. My mom has an eye appt in Denver and my Sis flies in from Vancouver several hours later. We had all these peach projects planned and the cases of peaches we bought aren't quite ripe. Hmm...maybe go buy some riper ones. I'm sure the answer will come with coffee. I'm grabbin' a cup.

See you all later.

I got... nothin'. Monday - bleh, telecons - bleh. I know you've all heard my usual Monday morning whining before. You can replay it if you miss it.
However, totally on-plan these days and even exercising, go me!
DH and I had a nice long walk to start the day. It is lovely, cool, and fallish. I think he is done on the ship for now, so he will probably be home for a couple of months, then out for a 4-mo rotation somewhere. I've got two trips in Sept, so that will make things easier at home.
Here's to an on-plan, productive week - Have a great Monday everyone!

Good morning everyone.

This is my first day since joining yesterday, and my very first post. I am so glad I found this community, and now want to learn how to use it effectively, as I see there are many who have achieved their goals and others who are making steady progress toward their healthy happy weight.

I always say "I dieted my way up to 200 pounds" (245 now) because every time I lose 20, I put on 30; if I lose 10 I put on 20, when I lost 45 I gained 60. SO frustrating! I will be 50 next year and want to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle so I can enjoy my life, my friends, and my son. He starts high school this year, so I am right there with you, all you melancholy moms. Seems like yesterday I was taking him to his first day of Kindergarten.

I would love suggestions on how to get started with this site, with eating plans, journalling. Anything that has worked well for you, can I borrow your strategies?

Thanks!

Julie

Howdy,

Sorry to hear about yucky morning discoveries and cold weather this morning. It's sunny and cool here, which is fine with me. DH has taken DS to his first day of pre-school which is only an hour long as part of the "transition" phase. I teach today, but I take him in tomorrow, and by Thursday he'll be there a half-day. We'll see how this goes because he does seem to have a slight cold. No fever though. And MIL is still trying to get over her various throat and ear infections.

Well, today is the first day of Phase II for me, and I'm terrified, not introducing anything new this breakfast. I have some tiny whole wheat pita pockets and one of those will come with me for lunch, but I'm scared about the whole fruit thing. I'll be on campus and there's a little store down the hall from me with candy bars, cookies, big sandwiches and the like. Eek.

Is a loss of 6.5 during Phase I okay, or am I underperforming?

Mornin' Daisy! 6.5 is great! We're all different. I tried on some old clothes this AM. I fit into a dress I haven't worn for years. I'm only 10# under my lowest weight exactly a year ago before I put on 20 during the winter (NOT SB) I was thinking that I am way slimmer for this 10 # loss. I think it has to do with the healthier foods shrinking my physical body. Just keep going! I also notice that the weight loss and the inches lost don't necessarily come at the same time.

Schmoodle, hope you make it through your Monday. I'm working on that too. Super duper staying OP. I'm still sticking pretty close.

Julie, welcome! My best advice for you is to be vigilant for awhile. It really does work but you have to eliminate the foods that cause cravings. I still read old posts. There are 500 pages of them. There is a wealth of information about what works and what DOESN'T. Ask us questions. If you're hungry, ask, tired, ask, moody, ask, thinking of eating bad stuff, ask. I think you get the picture. This is a great group and I would not be as successful if I didn't get in here every single day. The support here keeps me thinking....and I am thinking myself one day at a time into smaller clothes-not to mention a healthier body.

I'm off to my peaches. Waiting for my Vet to call. Denver later.

Good morning everyone,

Cottage- I already had those back to school blues but it will be nice to have extra hours.

Ruth- sorry to hear about Disney- hopefully short lived

Chelby- wow sounds like you will be busy this week.

Cyndi- first week back at work is the hardest- yeah to getting marriage license this week.

Twynn- My arches have been hurting a bit as well, I've bought arch supports for all of my shoes and have been wearing a week and that seems to have done the trick.

Debbie- sorry to hear that Lexxis is going down hill.

Schmoodle- Great job on staying op and working out!!!!

Julie- welcome on board! I would read the Phase 1 thread and the FAQs great information

Daisy that is great loss for Phase 1, just take it slow and you will be fine.

As for me, trying to get caught up at work with backlog of reports- and at home still have to find shoes to go with DD1 dress. Went to Trader Joe's and picked up some ezechiel bread and natural pb- it tastes great and hopefully will work for me and allow me to continue losing weight on Phase 2.

Have a great day everyone

Pearlrose
I love Ezekial bread. I keep it in the freezer because I use it so slowly. Hope your reports get done and you find the perfect shoes! Have a great day.

Thank you Debbie and Pearlrose for your thoughtful replies!

So I see that I posted on the South Beach area...don't know that I even want to go that way, but when I clicked on posts first thing this morning I saw "Monday Musings" and just went there.

I appreciate the encouragement and congrats to eeryone here on your awesome progress. You're my heroes!

hugs ~~ Julie

Good Afternoon Ladies! I had an awful awful day yesterday diet wise... I am back on track today but dang- I don't know why I put myself through that mess!!! anywho- not much time here today but will check back in later or tomorrow when things settle!