Morning All

Let's get those veggies in and try out some new ones; lots of healthy fluids for summer - anyone discovered a new "must have" for iced tea? Recipes for sorbet? Keep up the exercise and let's make May our gateway to summer.

Pour boiling water over Celestial Seasonings Berry Zinger tea bags, store overnight in the fridge, then pour over ice cubes. Use an extra bag 'for the pot.' Intense fruity flavour, no sweetener needed!

Liana

The May theme definitely fits my situation right now.

Work mayhem - Work wise, I am in a hurry up and wait state. I finally had my 2nd customer contact me to move forward so I'll be in California next 2 weeks to prepare to demo our solution and hopefully move quickly to a contract from those efforts. My NJ customer is moving forward but not as quickly as I'd like. Another key milestone attained as our business executive sponsor confirmed to move forward and is pushing to get a contract in place asap, but it takes time for large corporations to move
So, this month should be critical for my new company such that this should be the month we get our first contracts for our solution. This will be very helpful in my weight loss journey to have peace of mind on the professional front because it is quite unnerving to walk away from an executive position to venture out on one's own, but I did this because I am confident me and my business partner have a very marketable solution. It is one thing to strongly believe that and another for that to be a reality. Also, with more travel coming up by having customers coast to coast, I will even have to be that much more prepared and organized on IP not to get tripped up due to a lot of travel.

Sunshine - I am golfing in morning. I met a new group of people and we are golfing as a group for first time tomorrow. This is nice for me and so out of character. I am an extreme introvert but agreed to do this (in fact, participating in this forum is unusual too - I am usually not a "joiner" but so glad I did and found all of you). This lady approached me at Whole Foods on Easter when she saw the golf clubs in my vehicle as I was loading groceries and told me about their group and wanted to know if I wanted to join them. It should be interesting as I don't usually get along with women lol I have 6 brothers and seem to relate to men much easier :-). I don't know if this is true for you, but I find myself more social the better I feel about myself and tend to isolate myself when weight gets out of control so looking forward to more social things.

Plus, in regards to sunshine, I am celebrating my bday in Vegas in 2 weeks, and it will be first time I wear my size 8 bathing suit!!! I have 3 weeks (counting this one to get about 14 pounds off for this so I am ultra-motivated on P1 right now!).

And, metaphorically speaking, I feel I am coming out of 2 months of cloudiness, not sure what was wrong with me, to having a diagnosis and feeling better so feeling light has been shined on situation and my overall outlook is much more positive/"sunshiney".

So, let's get this started off right. I am super-motivated and hope you are too! Big weekend plans - Annual Derby party tomorrow which will be lots of fun!

And, btw, in terms of veggies...I bought the Veggetti at Target today, and it works great! I made zucchini noodles for dinner. I did 4 zucchinis in about 5 minutes and have the rest conveniently stored in fridge.
Plus, I learned how to rice cauliflower this week so that is conveniently stored in fridge also.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and great start to the new month, which just happens to be my bday month

Happy May day everyone, and TGIF!!

Looking forward to the new month with all of you, let's kiss some pounds and inches goodbye!!

Happy May, we still have between 3-5 feet of snow covering our entire front yard, but it is going down every day!! And it's not that bad everywhere, it's just from our snow clearing, we can see brown grass patches in some places!!! It'll be awhile yet before any buds appear thought.

I'm hoping the bike trail will be open soon. We are so close to hitting the double digits temp wise and I am looking forward to this new activity especially with ball hockey and soccer ending for the season.

I've never been a coffee or tea drinker, and my iced tea has always been the powdered kind. I know can't go back to that and Liana that sounds like something I should try I nice smart treat with for the coming heat, maybe blended with some frozen berries on occasion...

Ro22, your new venture sounds like it's moving along in the right direction, even if it's not as fast as you like. Hopefully it'll move along faster and you can relax a bit about it. Enjoy your golf game, I totally understand about the introvert thing. I find socializing very stressful, even with people I know. My husband doesn't understand it. He always tells me I do great, very polite, people like me, but he doesn't get that it's mentally exhausting and stressful for me. It's like work, I don't feel totally comfortable so it's a bit unnatural feeling and forced... Don't get me wrong, I like to socialize every now and then, but I prefer the comfort of home and my husband, heck sometimes I just prefer the comfort of home without the husband

Sue how exciting and probably a bit nerve wracking for you in regards to your DS getting his license!

I hope everyone has a great weekend

So interesting and helpful to see you guys writing about this - had a realization during my lunch break after reading your sharings, that I think some of my eating behaviors came from not trusting how much quiet time I needed. During P1 because I was on a protocol I really started to trust when I needed rest and time alone - and the habit was developed enough that I just naturally do it in maintenance.

Introverted? Here!

Sounds like everyone is fired up ready for the weekend. GJ team Summer!


Found a recipe in a magazine at the Army Wellness Center this morning while I waited for hubby's diet review appointment to finish.

1 lb partially peeled cucumber finely blended into a juice. 1/3c of squeezed lime juice. Mix well. Serve with ice. Sounds like something I could do.

Nearly had a big oopsie moment tonight while shopping for my asparagus - I was *so* tempted to buy the pre-sliced mango packet. I absolutely ADORE mango and it's a real hardship not to have it when it's so fresh and beautiful. Of course, that would be the slippery slope, because then I'd have to buy raspberries to go with it .... and then cream .. then some wine ... I'm sure you get the picture. LOL

I was just looking back at my monthly weight loss numbers. My results seem to be fairly typical for IP dieters -- still incredible to my eyes.

Sep = 13 lbs
Oct = 14 lbs (Total 27 lbs)
Nov = 17 lbs (Total 44 lbs)
Dec = 13 lbs (Total 57 lbs)

Jan = 12 lbs (Total 69 lbs)
Feb = 06 lbs (Total 75 lbs)
Mar = 10 lbs (Total 85 lbs)
Apr = 11 lbs (Total 96 lbs)

My best month was November, with 17 pounds lost, probably due to it being the first full month of my new walking regimen (3.5 miles a day) and me still being close to 300 lbs -- making my walking more intense exercise.

February was my worst month, with only 6 pounds lost, due to a bit of a cheating episode right at the end of the month. (I call it "hitting my six-month wall"). Still how can I complain when in my "worst" weight loss month I still managed to evaporate 6 pounds.

I don't think I could have lost this much weight, this fast, on any other diet.

Very interesting chat about introverts -- there is a great book about it called Quiet, the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking. Susan Cain is the author.

I am an introvert too -- I like people and socializing but have to do it in smaller doses than some people. I need a lot of alone time to feel even-keeled and the book really made me feel ok about that. I'd highly recommend it.

So Yuck on the snow! LOL the weather here is finally nice and I am enjoying it when I can. I am the total opposite..Always the outgoing funny fat person LOL...Now I guess without the fat. My feeling has always been take it or leave it. I would much rather be with people then alone. Dont get me wrong I do like the occasional alone time, but prefer to be with people. Guess that is why I am in the career that I am!

Ah I know that slippery slope well.

You are doing great... That is a nice way to break it done for some grounding. I get hung up on the slow months, but really who can lose that much on their own. Its a process...

Off to work for me this morning. I have an early appointment and lots to squeeze in. Need to be at my Neices birthday party this afternoon and I am bringing the salad. Stopped last night after work at 8pm to get the salad stuff. At least then I know I have something to eat. I will flip my 3pm snack till tonight and do my dinner at 3 when I am at the party. The cake doesn't even tempt me so that is not the issue. I just hope my brother has a protine I can eat LOL..

You are doing great SGRealtor1 ... you must be feeling so much better being down 81 lbs.

Alexandra - your steady losses absolutely amaze me. You are SO consistent and it's great to see your dedication to "getting it done" showing such fantastic results. Keep up the excellent work!

Sue - can your brother pick you up a rotisserie chicken or something?

Kitty transport day for me (well, today AND tomorrow - about 17 hours driving in total) with two little 6 month kittens going to their forever families, both from rescues. One was abused and one was abandoned by a feral mom at just a few days old. So lovely that these kittens will get to have (hopefully) long lives.

My food bag is ready - I have six water bottles (just in case of emergencies) and I've done my exercise for this morning (a 3 mile walk and 1 set of my dumbbell exercises). Helps not to be too full of energy with so much sitting in my immediate future.

Have a wonderful weekend, Ladies.

Amanda I hope your trip goes really well.