Here we go!! Please join us as we continue on our journies!!

No matter where you are in your journey or how you are going about it, we are all improving ourselves and need encouragement.

Gosh, December!!

Tonight is the last night away for me and back home tomorrow - yippee. I work for a chemical company Annie, but the section i'm in is doing technical application of our products for the mining industry, so i spend a lot of time on different mine-sites trying to improve their processes. It's fun, but returning home is always good too.

Nationalparker - why not try the 'Chicks up for a Challenge' section for some support on 'doing something'. I should really 'do something' myself and join you. And i might. But i need to think about it first as i don't want to set a challenge that i can't do (December's going to be chaotic!!) and i don't want to set a challenge that i would achieve anyway, i.e. one that's too easy, so more thought required by me on that one.

Still on the low carb thing although i seem to have graduated to stuff like bacon and sausages, which whilst ticking the boxes regarding the rules, it's hardly healthy eating!!

Another day closer to the weekend. One for which I'm super ready ... we'll have fiance's daughter again Fri-Sun. He suggested waiting to decorate the trees until she's here but last year she just sat on the couch and unwrapped stuff and wasn't that much help - so I think I'd rather get it done and get the boxes away tonight. Got a lot done last night, but AGAIN ate too much. I need to rein myself in with no excuses here.

There's a part of me that's afraid to REALLY challenge myself and fail. But with 28 days until the wedding - surely I can do something for FOUR FLIPPING WEEKS, right? I just haven't thought of what it IS. With it getting dark soooo early at night, I am not getting out for the walks when he is working nights. I'm sure we can do that Fri-Sun, though. We talk on the phone at midnight when he's working nights - his "lunch" ... and I enjoy that, but need to get to bed earlier, so think the next go-around I'll just call before I hit the sack Feel like I need a solution to EVERYTHING to take away the excuses in advance. (Such as, "I couldn't get up to exercise because we talked too late, etc.")

I volunteer with a coworker every Thursday working with the same kids every week on catching up their reading skills . So lunch every Thursday is Subway on the way back to work. That is a good option, so I'm thankful for that. Let's hope I can keep this going. SKIP THE CHIPS is my motto for today

Hello ladies!! An exciting day for me as I am going to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert with my sons tonight to kick off the Christmas season!! Then I'm taking tomorrow off work to begin my decorating. NOT looking forward to driving downtown and parking, etc. tonight but am going to try not to stress about it. We'll try to grab a bite to eat before the show so I packed a big salad and all of my healthy accoutrements for the day. I am thinking of starting to write down everything that goes into my mouth for a while and recheck my calorie intake. I have not been losing for a while and so need to get back to that and get this last darn 10 pounds off!! I was really down on myself this morning and just hated those thoughts creeping into my head making me feel bad about myself, etc. Bleh! Was running way late, but still did my exercise. I just feel fat today. Haven't felt that way in a long time and wonder why.

*I mentioned this in another thread but thought I would tell you all about it, too. Last weekend we had some friends come to our place out at fiance's. The wife is one of those naturally tiny people. Suddenly, even after feeling so good for so long, I got that "Oh boy, am I a pig or what?" feeling and just felt like a tub of goo around her. I suppose it didn't help that she brought her camera and the only pic she took of me was standing at the stove, unshowered () and cooking BACON...*

Funny how those ugly thoughts creep back into our psyche and try to derail us. This is kind of a milestone day for me. Last year we went to the TSO concert about this time and this photo was taken of me...

...I remember how bloated an unhealthy I felt that evening and started my lifestyle changes not long after Christmas.

So tonight I may have the boys take a photo of me for posterity's sake and have it to compare.

Don't know why I am rambling, sorry.

Ange-So glad to hear you will be home soon. Yikes, watch those sausages!!

NP-If you come over and help me string the lights on my tree, I'll come over and help you with your ornaments!! The lights are always the worst part for me.

Try to find a good time to devote to exercise, whenever that may be. Then just do it as a regular part of the day. (Some days) I actually look forward to it!

Have a healthy day everyone!!

Annie - Have a WONDERFUL time tonight at the concert. What a great way to kick off the holiday season! Yes, definitely do take a few pics! How exciting. Where are you thinking you'll hit for dinner? I could be your chauffeur for the evening because I enjoy big city driving MUCH more than country driving.

I survived my Subway without chips and soda. Easy to get into that routine if they're "packaged together" in the price ... not that I drink regular soda. The last time was in Italy when the diet coke (coke light) was nasty and I decided if I'm paying, I'll pay for real. Walked everywhere and lost three pounds over there. Now we're going in two months and I'm NOWHERE fitting into what I'd like to wear there. The heck with motivation, I need commitment, I keep reading on here. I'm going to be handling it a meal at a time.

Ange - I guess you're sleeping now as it's night there - but have a good Friday when you're up and rolling! What are your temps there now?

This is my day to get things squared away - got a message that I was delinquent on a medical bill (they had tried to contact me several times, they said) - called and they sent the bill two weeks ago and rec'd payment on the 29th of Nov. WHY call me? An error. Oh. So then I tackled Dish Network - a nudie flick appeared on our billing and I said it wasn't us ... and it was dated Feb. 10 ... After going round for quite a while, they said oh, okay, it was an error. OK. Now I'm like, "Bring it on!"

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!!

didn't realize this is what the Dec. thread was. How cool. So nationalparker your getting married how exciting.
I am keeping on one day at a time, one meal at a time and, my weak time can be 2-3:30 in the afternoon at work. I am tired of food controlling my life and how I feel. I was a single mom for 10 years and was very lonely for many years and food just filled the void. this might sound dumb but weekends I often would have nothing to do and when i eat right I feel really good and I would get bored and very lonely then I would just decided to go rent some movies and get some junk food and when I ate to much I did not care that I was bored or alone because I had no energy to go anywhere.
And this is even dumber but it scares me to feel so good still, I don't know why, I am married have a full time job I enjoy and three wonderful grandkids and another one on the way. have the grandkids sleep over on sat most weekend, have an amazing hubby to go out with and hang out with. But my first marriage was horribly abusive and that is where i gained the weight. I was 135 back then and in my 20's and my ex always made fun of me or was physically abusive and would tell me who on earth would want me look at me. So that kind of hung on for a while. I have not seen nor heard from him in over 14 years and have a wonderful husband now but I have a fear of being 135 again. But like you all here I will not give up and my short term goal right now is to get thru this day on track, (which I am) and then thru the weekend. I want to weigh myself on Monday (which I am a little afraid of) but I need so see some encouregment onthe scale. I also worked out 5 days this week, although yesterday I actually thought should I exercise at lunch or sit at my desk and eat fries. I exercised (yay).
For any of you who struggle with excercise it does get easier with time. If I go even 3 days without it my body craves it, am I the only person on the planet who can crave exercise one day and a good all out binge another day? I feel like I am across between an athlete and a compulsive overeater, but I am on my way to leaving the compulsive overeating a thing of the past! Sorry for the length of this but I have never really talked about any of this before in such a personal way.

Ashley - I'll join you in weighing in on Monday. I used to weigh on Friday and Monday to keep myself semi-on track on the weekend. So that will be front and center in my mind this weekend - hopefully. Don't feel bad for sharing any feelings/thoughts at all. Hey - with the things so many folks have been through, it's amazing we're still chugging away Great job on working out so much! I used to crave it but now ... I'm lazy, I think. Especially with the cold - and you're sitting in freezing Canada calling me a whiner, I'm sure!! ha ha.

How nice to have such a supportive and loving husband. Sounds like you deserve someone like that to share your life after what you went through! Any holiday plans with the grand kids this Saturday?

Annie - Looking forward to hearing how the concert was last night - I hope it was superb!! And let us know how the decorating is going.

We got started on our decorating in earnest last night after a nice dinner out and quit around midnight. I think we're going to go with just one tree (usually I do a few - they're not HUGE) ... as we're going to be gone in less than two weeks, then a quick turnaround when we get back after the wedding toward a get-together here and Italy trip planning.

Found out that the pothole my fiance hit the other day going to work is going to cost $900-$1,200 to have the damage repaired. YIKES. We definitely don't have that laying around right at this time, after the court issues and with the wedding/holidays coming up. Always seems to be one thing. He was down about that and apologizing, etc. - but it's not anyone's FAULT. He's like why the bad karma? I said it might be GOOD karma ... it might have been hit the pothole or have a serious accident. And you got the pothole karma. SO ... dealing with that today, as well.

I promise I am going to check in tonight! Just getting ready to put the lights on the Christmas tree and then I will check in!!

I'm going to have to catch up tomorrow, friends. I'm very tired after the tree lighting ordeal. Love to all!!

Hello everyone! Hopefully you had a good weekend, though it must have been a busy one for all! I know we were tackling a lot of projects.

We're celebrating Christmas with his family this weekend, so wrapped up some wrapping and shopping for that. Have two gifts on order that I'm keeping my fingers crossed will arrive in time. Things have been coming in earlier than expected, which has been wonderful.

COLD here today - was 7 this morning with wind chill of -10. I'm NOT going out much at all today. Got in to work and will eat at my desk and read a mystery and mentally check out for a bit... at least it's sunny.

Had written a note about a frustration I'm having but need to retype it in a more generic way in case it's read at some point down the line by anyone I know... haven't "edited" a note before so we'll see what this does

Good Monday Morning, nationalparker, I understand you having trouble with being around your fiances's daughter when you are use to being alone. sounds like you are doing a great job though, congrats. Even though my kids are grown by the time I got married again at 40 I was not use to having little ones around and them my hubbys extremely mentally ill 6 year old came to live with us as even hubby did not know as she lived most her life with his sisters family till they could take it no more . No one told me of her behavior problems and severe mental illness. She went back to live with his sisters family almost a year ago now, which is where she had come from. She caused me to have a severe concussion (which caused major memory loss) and cost me a job due to the stress of living with someone with severe behavior problems. If she had not of left us I would have had to move out. It is real sad though as none of these problems were her fault. She was bi polar, had fetal alcohol and reactive attachement disorder and new thing I never heard of before of oppositional defiant disorder, meaning no matter what you say or how you say it there is 99% defiance all the time. She was hospitalized for violence and running away and we almost got charged by the police for negligence as she ran away twice in one week at 5 in the morning in her pajamas and went knocking on neighbours doors telling them her parents were dead. Needless to say we had to nail her window shut and put alarms on her bedroom door Unfortunatly my way of dealing with the stress was eating and I gained 25 pounds during the time with us. She also threatened to kill my grandaughter so then my daughter and her family would no longer come to my house, I could go on an on but I wont. I also went on anti anxiety meds but could not take them during the day as I had to work. Hubby is bi-polar also and was on SSD.
So anyways thanks for letting me vent on that issue, it was the hardest 4 years of my life and I wonder how I held on for that long and hubby had drinking issues during that time as well and could not care for her or himself all the time. It is a miracle we are still together. After I lost my job I was off for 5 months before I got another one and it literally took me that long to recover emotionally and mentally and I still was not ready to go back to work but had no choice.
So now I struggle with the wieght once again and I had a crummy weekend foodwise. Sometimes I let myself get too hungry and throws me into an all out binge and I need to stop doing that. The only good news I have today is I am not going to give up. I won't go hiking if it is below -20 but even then I have an eliptical at home so no excuses.

Well, I'm finally checking in! Looks like everyone has been fairly busy. I had an awesome weekend preparing my home for Christmas and doing some baking.


Weird, but I am feeling a bit odd today. Sort of disoriented. Not sure why, it is probably just from not getting enough sleep last night. Stayed up way too late. Sure would love to go home and take a nap but that isn't possible.

Ate some off-plan things this weekend but did try to watch portions. Had to taste test the candy and banana bread I made last night.... Didn't do any exercise over the weekend either, but got back to it this morning.

NP-The concert was AWESOME!! We even got to meet some of the band and get autographs after. I took my camera but the batteries died so did not get a pic to compare to last year's.

So sorry to hear about the car costing so much to fix! I hate doing things like that.

You are SO busy lately. Just try to enjoy as much as you can.

Try to stay warm!!

Ashley-Hope your weigh-in went well today. I never weigh on Mondays. My day is Thursday or Friday....whichever I like best! I love exercising, too. I feel so good now that I do it regularly!!


Have a good and healthy day everyone!!

Whew - Ashley - you certainly make me thankful to NOT have to deal with anything remotely like that. The issues with his "ex" are extreme and ridiculous, but I'll get through those (but I'm someone who eats with stress, too). How has your food intake gone today? Back on track? I didn't do poorly over the weekend, but I've learned again that I absolutely cannot have the Target archer farms brand of Hummus Chips in my desk drawer. The whole bag is like 1,040 calories and while I've split it up for days, that's STILL a whole lot of crapola. NO MORE.

I didn't get to any of my baking and that's been relegated to evenings this week or on Saturday, I suppose. Sounds like you had a very productive weekend, Annie!

Ange - are you back at home now for a little while, or back on the road again?

I'm trying to get the final (?) preps for the wedding down - meal selection, drinks, how the ceremony will go, etc. Think we'll hammer more of it out this evening... Will stop for a few christmas gifts on the drive home and then do a quick dinner and work on some projects. Have a super evening!

Hello to all the oldies, and welcome to all the newbies! After a grueling bit of work, I am back for the winter. Show season was finished for the year as of yesterday, so I can once again eat properly and exercise.

I will get caught up on the reading and personals over the next few days. Meanwhile, I walked an hour and a half or so both yesterday and today, with new hiking shoes, bundled up good and snug..and IN THE SNOW!!! No excuses here. For those of you who are new, when I started this journey in Feb., I couldn't walk around the block without stopping to rest multiple times. I progressed to 6-mile hikes with a lot of varied terrain on the weekends, and at least a couple of miles daily in between. And if I can...anyone can!

I would never have guessed how much I would miss the outdoors these last few weeks. And how much of a difference the exercise made in my disposition. Amazing.

I got brave and stepped on the scales a few days ago, and the news was pretty good. Only gained a couple of pounds even with the poor diet and lack of exercise, which is better than I would have guessed.

Tonight's dinner is a lentil soup with a whole grain roll. I love the frozen ones from Rhodes with all the seeds in 'em and glad I can take out just the number I need for that meal so I don't end up eating the whole sack full!

Barb

Hi everyone. I've just eaten a muffin (large!) and feeling guilty.

Why couldn't i figure out before i ate it, that i'd wish that i hadn't eaten it afterwards, and therefore stopped? My diet and exercise discipline isn't too good at the mo.

I think it's possibly because i'm finally home (thanks for asking Nationalparker!) and i'm feeling relaxed. I'm flying to Melbourne for a couple of days tomorrow morning for meetings, but after that i'll be home again until Christmas Day. Hurray!!!

The renovations continue at home and we still won't have a tap in the house until next week some time (keep nipping out to the tap in the garden to clean teeth, fill the kettle etc, not too convenient really).

But we've started on the painting which is fun! This weekend we did two coats on ceilings and coving of lounge, dining, kitchen, laundry, bathroom, ensuite and bedroom. And also the woodwork and doors of the new wardrobe and the old walk-in-wardrobe so that they're ready to fill with clothes again which will be great when i get round to it.

Off to see Blondie and the Pretenders in concert tonight, so that should be a blast from the past!

Ashley, that sounds like a terrible time for you - i can't imagine what living with someone like that would be like. You must be a very strong person to have dealt with it all.

Barb - great to have you back again and good that all that exercise you did paid you back.

Annie - hope you're feeling better soon and that you have a good sleep-session tonight. Jealous of you seeing a Trans Sibe orchestra - did they play pieces by russian composers, or was it christmas music?