I'm currently maintaining a loss of 30lbs! I have 146 left to go but I know I'll do it with all of your support. My last Halloween being fat was pretty good. I ate well, slept well and drank my water. I hope no one looks at me the wrong way for starting this thread when I'm not a true maintainer in the true sense of the word, lol.

Yay for enjoying Halloween and taking no (as in NO, none, nary a piece of) candy.

We took down our veggie garden - the time came. The ground is all prepped to take last through the winter. In about two months, the seed catalogs will appear in the mail and the cycle will begin again.

Welcome to November .

I too had great success with avoiding the candy last night . I did have one small bag of potato chips (90 cals) and that was it!

Tonite is Dog Whisperer night and I'm so excited! This is going to be the highlight of 2010 for me. I will remember this evening for the rest of my life.

Great Monday all!

Dagmar

FoodObsessed! You're a maintainer of that 30lb loss so jump right in!

Bill, DH pulled out our veggie garden yesterday too.

Speaking of DH we may have found the culprit of his problem in the half marathon -- worn out shoes. I had asked him if he needed new shoes a few weeks before it and he said he would wait until after. Now that he bought new ones, he said he feels such a difference that he probably wouldn't have had a problem if he'd had new shoes. Oh well, good to know for next time.

Dagmar, have fun tonight! Give us a full report!

If you have lost one pound and kept it off you are a maintainer. Welcome !

Welcome Food Obsessed! Glad you joined us here.

I'll join the rest of you with eating ZERO pieces of candy. This is probably my 4th year of no candy. I know I can't stop with one or two so I'm better off not starting.

Jessica-- makes sense on dh's shoes. I think I may be due for some new ones too but I always find it hard to tell until I have a problem.

Dagmar-- can't wait to hear all about it! I wonder if he will have dogs there and show what he does? I would think so!

I have good and bad news to share. First the good. I found out Friday night that I passed my portfolio for my masters. Now all I have to do is finish my class I'm taking and I'll graduate in December. I am planning on going to Texas with older dd for my graduation (I'm taking my classes online through Texas Woman's University). Almost had problems at home about it because my dh and dd didn't seem the least bit impressed. They just made some snide comment like "of course you would pass-- you always get A's". I didn't know that I'd pass and I'd put weeks and weeks of work into the portfolio. I tried not to let my disappointment show but they must have figured it out because when I came home from work Saturday they had put Congratulations balloons up and other decorations!

The bad came yesterday when I fell and bruised my tailbone. It hurts so bad I almost stayed home today. I just want to cry. I am so disappointed that I probably won't be able to workout for a while. I have a very high pain threshold and this really hurts. I looked online and it could be broken but the treatment is basically the same. Either way the pain can last for weeks. Won't help me get off the stupid 5 pounds I gained (I lost one from last week but still have 4 left).

Trying to keep my chin up (and my butt down?).

Hi Bill and everyone else.

I had a great weekend. Friday night we went to see The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Like the previous two "girl" movies, it was great. Dinner was popcorn and a beer. LOL

Saturday morning was spent running errands then a relaxing afternoon while the soup simmered. I finished the first Sookie Stackhouse book and began Ken Follet's new tomb.

Sunday we went to the annual golf cart parade and did a little shopping afterward (in order to not get caught in the traffic jamb that always occurs after the parade). We didn't buy anything, though. Funny thing, though. I was in the Kate Spade boutique when the clerk said to me "aren't you Dana's mom?" Wow. I hardly remembered her--I do remember her when they were in 7th grade, though. That was at least 7 years ago! I guess I haven't changed all that much (which really isn't a good thing--it means all that weight I lost 4 years ago has returned--or at least a good portion of it). I am working on getting it off, however.

For those interested, here are some pictures of the parade: 2010 Golf Cart Parade

I also have avoided all candy this Halloween (and baked goods from friends all semester, and ice cream in the cafeteria every night, and so forth).
I think the more I say "no," the better I get at it. Like everything else in life, it takes practice to be self-disciplined.

travelling michelle - I've broken my tailbone before, and I can tell you it's gonna hurt whether you exercise or not. So you might as well exercise rather than eat too much - that way you just have a sore tailbone and not a sore tailbone AND extra pounds put back on. Maybe change what you're doing so you're not sitting on a bicycle or something, but exercise will make you feel better all over, which also should help with the pain. Keep the faith - even a week from now will be much better than it is now, though the pain won't be completely gone for 6 weeks or so.

traveling michele, I would definitely NOT exercise through the pain! Pain is what tells you that something is really wrong and you should stop. I would see your doctor and ask him or her whether you should exercise.

You may find that just standing up from sitting down is almost impossible. It is amazing how many muscles impinge on or cause pressure on the tailbone.

Jay

Feel better, Travelling Michelle! Thanks for the welcome everyone! I can't wait to lose the extra lbs!

Michele, congratulations on doing such a great job on your portfolio! And well done on all of your hard work! Sorry you've bruised your tailbone. Give it a few days of pampering (=sitting on a pillow, not eating leftover Halloween candy!) and see how it feels.

FoodObsessed, welcome to the forum!

Dagmar, I hope you're enjoying Cesar Milan right now! Tell us how the show is!

Bill and Jessica, funny, I actually spent two hours Saturday prepping my garden beds, I think I can get a few winter veggies in. Growing up in PA it is still strange to me that I have a winter growing season, and in fact it's usually better than my summer season. After June it's too hot for almost everything here until October, unless your garden has a lot of afternoon shade, which mine doesn't.

Speaking of vegetables I found out that an organic CSA is going to start delivering to my town! Hooray! Hopefully I'll get my first veggies in December.

Add me to those who didn't eat Halloween candy for the first year in a long time. However I know there's still some candy left at my office, so I'm not letting my guard down.

And now off to bed, I've got a 5:30 wake-up tomorrow. Ugh.

I really enjoyed the show last night. They sold it as a seminar but it was a show. Very entertaining and Cesar reiterated all of his main training principles.

The "lecture" parts of the show were good - Cesar feels very strongly about what he is doing and the people around him.

There were things he did onstage with live dogs that were amazing. One ball-obsessed dog was diagnosed and "cured" in literally 2 minutes. He has an amazing energy that is directed at the dogs and the dogs last night immediately sensed it.

But Cesar's celebrity has somewhat overshadowed his ability with the dogs. I could have done without the blaring disco music, flashing the houselights into the audience, and the thing with the blind dog/tiny child was just nauseating (I am a cynic at heart). The show was waaay too long (but if you're paying $150 I guess most people want some bang for their buck).

I went home when Cesar said goodnight. There was supposed to be a special Q & A but there was no announcement/person to ask (ushers and security knew nothing) so I left. That was also disappointing.

Overall I really liked experiencing Cesar's energy and seeing what he did with the dogs "live".

I still have a great respect for the man.

He does need someone to write a better live show though.

Great Tuesday all!

Dagmar

For those in the U.S., enjoy you opportunity to Vote.

For all world wide, Happy Cookie Monster's Birthday!!! For those on rational eating plans, celebrating with an apple will, certainly, suffice as a substitute for the obvious.

I was wondering if I could join in your chat! I'm teetertottering between deciding on maintinance and losing five more pounds, but my theory is that if I'm making that choice, at least I'm not gaining!

My Halloween was fine, we got raisins for the kids, so no temptation there. I am being a sneak about sugary stuff though, it's right before my period and I have the WORST time about sugar the few days before. I've always had a problem sneaking food, so my new rule since I started losing weight was that I had to confess everything to DH that I tried to sneak. I had a couple of confessions this weekend... LOL!

Alinnell--I've read all the Sookie Stackhouse books and love them! They get pretty wacky as you go along, but they're a fun read!

Mudpie--I'd love to see Cesar! My DH thinks he's a chump, but I love watching his show. How fun you got to see him!

Hope you ladies have a good Tuesday and I'm looking forward to getting to know you!