Hello and to the Ups & Downs Support Group thread for April 2016! Everyone is welcome to join the group. All that we ask is that you are willing to give and receive support in your weight loss journey, especially one that is complicated with mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression. We have a great core group of posters, but we always welcome newbies to the group. Please introduce yourself and feel free to write as much or as little as you want. We are here for you in both the Ups & Downs of weight loss and life.

Just popping in so I'll receive notifications - thank you for starting this, IBelieveInMe2!

I am copying-pasting this from the end of the March thread, since I posted it there today (April 1) and some of it was for another member....and because I'm new and didn't think about a new post for the new month - duh!

VermontMom, your post made me feel so happy! First, before I forget, what is the 'winter job'??

My own boss, who is still young and a little on the self-important side sometimes, bless his heart, is possibly getting fired next week. He doesn't see it that way, but he has less experience than I do...and my husband thinks that the writing is on the wall too. I have mixed feelings about this. This job is one I started in December, and it's been somewhat overwhelming all along, but the added income has been a blessing. I've told myself 'that's why it's called 'work''. I guess we'll just see what happens. Hubby and I can manage without it financially, and it would free me up if it goes away....but I don't hate it, nor do I have bad feelings toward my boss. This is just one of those things where he isn't seeing the bigger picture, and he's not in a position to say/do some things he's saying...and doing. Time will tell.

My garden used to be big, VermontMom, but then the deer came. There were a lot of wildfires in Colorado over the past decade, and a lot of displaced wildlife ended up in places it was not normally seen....so now, we have deer out on the open prairie. Since there is not a lot for them to browse (they don't eat grass, they are browsers), they really go after people's gardens out here.

My growing season is short too, and I have my best luck with smaller tomatoes too! (I love currant tomatoes, and I'm looking for seed right now for the variety I had before.) I have a fenced garden now, with a 'topper' to protect from deer (and hail). It's all DIY, and looks better once there are plants in it to distract from my fencing skills. I grow a lot of the same things you do. Potatoes do well here, so I grow 'fancier' ones, like blue ones and fingerling, and I grow a lot of lettuce, spinach, greens, kale, peas, etc. Green beans do well and I love love love them, so I grow enough for us to eat, plus some to can for winter. My garden last year was a little less than 8x12 - we called it the dog run garden. I took down some fencing near my hens (used to be a holding pen for whatever needed holding - turkeys, the dog, a bossy rooster, etc.) and this year, my garden is about 12x30. I'm super excited! It gets too cold here at night for tomatoes and peppers and such, but corn does OK, so I might put a small block of those in one corner - just big enough for pollination. My daughter loves birds and wants to be an ornithologist when she grows up, so I rai.se mammoth sunflowers for her, and we save the heads for the birds in winter. Pumpkins do well here, but take over, so I have a separate place I put them all by themselves, and I think I'll do that again this year. All around the perimeter, I grow herbs on the outside, because the deer/rabbits don't bother them. I've got lots of different things, some for pretty, some to cook with.

Oh goodness...can you tell I love my garden?

Checking in.... Weight is down The 14 year old retriever mix is at the vet as he isn't doing so well. "Boyfriend" is a mess and for my own sake I need to end relationship, but it is too hard as we have been together for a long time. He has OCD.... Work is out of control and i need to go in today to finish up some things (Saturday).

You have inspired me to get some things done around this house Vermont!

Hope all are chin up!

HELP!!!!

In the past week I lost a few long posts,which as you all know is extremely frustrating. Yesterday I decided to write a series of posts, so if any were lost, it would not be so tedious to redo. I thought it was a brilliant idea - unfortunately, I posted them all to the March thread!!! DUH ! !

I have been trying to figure out how to move them, but have no idea how! If any of you know, please tell me.

In the mean time, would you please read my posts at the end of the March thread?

Thanks!

Easy Spirit

EasySpirit: I don't know how to move your posts to the April thread, but I will go read your posts in the March thread. Sorry for your frustration! Hope all is well with you!

EasySpirit: First of all, have I ever told you that I love your username?!? I strive to be an easy, free spirit, but I'm wound too tight much of the time. Thank you for your thoughts and advice about my son. As I feared, he is up and way down right now depending on his relationship with this girl. Most of all, I pray for him and do my best to trust God with the details. I do worry about him a lot though. He was recommended for the intensive outpatient program by the psychiatric hospital who assessed him (and by his psychiatrist first). They have a 2 week waiting list. But, thankfully, even though my son was hesitant going into the assessment, he came out of it feeling good and even excited about the program! I read the handout about the program he will be participating in, and it really sounds like it will be very beneficial for him.

I really enjoyed your story about overcoming procrastination. You sound WAAAAY more disciplined than me!!! I am a big list maker, but following through with completing my tasks on each list is another story. I let so much time pass before getting certain things accomplished, rather than getting them done and overwith, and off my mind. I drive myself crazy with procrastination! I do have to give myself credit for taking some baby steps in the right direction more recently, though. I just have so much room for improvement that it overwhelms me at times. Certain big tasks, like clutter, REALLY overwhelm me, and I put it off indefinitely and just become used to the clutter and don't even consider that it could be any different. Does that make any sense to anyone? Can anyone else relate to what I am describing? I truly think my physical clutter is related to my body clutter... and vice versa.

So sorry to hear that chocolate and sugar still have their grip on you. That must be so frustrating. I do applaud you for throwing away your Easter candy. Be sure to feel some sense of accomplishment about that. It is a step in the right direction.

It was so good to hear from you!

Thanks for the April thread Kathleen!

Nothing exciting here, started new medication on Friday, waiting to find out what the side-effects will be. I am nervous in case they make me gain weight, I am already the heaviest I've been...

Can you believe it's April already?

EasySpirit, if you copy/paste, you can move your postings here, if you want to do that. That's how I moved mine up above.

LisaLuvsHearts, thank you for your kind words. I'll share my plant list once I get it sorted!

I am tired today. It was a busy weekend, and I'm stressed about some things that are going on. I am very, very grateful to my sweet husband, who listens to all my 'stuff'. I listen to his too, so we help each other.

I'm struggling with a huge attachment to sugar, which is leaving me zapped emotionally and physically. If anyone has suggestions, I would love some guidance and support. I have to make some changes, but I'm convinced I'm not strong enough...and I know that is the problem, and I'm so, so frustrated.

In other news, I've been syringe feeding an ill hen for several days. I didn't know if it would help or not, but I made some yogurt, and I've been straining off the whey and mixing it into her chicken feed with vitamins. (I made the yogurt for me, and wanted Greek style, so that's why I'm separating the whey). She actually does seem some improved, and I found she was drinking water on her own today, so I'm hopeful she's going to get better. I am not certain what is wrong, but it she was lethargic and wouldn't eat. I'm hoping to see her eat on her own tomorrow.

I've also managed to dig (actually, Hubby helped me) all around the outside of my fenced garden and I edged it with stones. I can plant (some) flowers and herbs outside the fence and the deer don't bother them, so that's a way for me to grow a little extra. The new area of the garden has to be dug, and I did one of the 15 'squares' of it today. We can't safely plant outdoors for another 6-7 weeks here, so I'm just doing a little at a time to get it all ready.

My eating today was not good...part of the reason I'm tired. I didn't exercise, other than puttering in the garden and tending animals and such...another reason I'm tired. Why, oh why, do I do these things, when I know better? Sigh....I know my depression is seeping in - I can tell, but I can't seem to turn the ship. I'd love to go see the therapist I saw about 2 years ago, and she's good with me coming back, but our insurance is awful, my husband just learned that the overtime he's been getting is going away soon, and if my boss loses his job, I imagine I will too, so I not comfortable with spending the cash for private pay therapy right now. Argh.

I hope you're all doing well. Thanks for listening. I don't mean to be a killjoy.

I got in a 25 min. brisk walk! I just wish it hadn't been in the middle of the night because of a panic attack. At least it was some cardio.

Here are EasySpirit's personals -

I have to get ready for work now but I will come back tonight!

for newbies, my winter job is from late October to April, and it is a convenience store in a tourist town, and I either assist in deli or am cashier, it gets very frustrating with dealing with the public, and my boss is a Rat B@stard but in early May I start my summer job that I love.

Holly, thank you so much! I was going to get online to try to figure out how to cut and paste from one page of the thread to another when I saw that you had done it for me!! You are terrific!

Cat, I have the same sugar addiction, and it is out of control right now. I have gone without it by going on a South Beach type diet, but after a few weeks or months, I cave. I keep reminding myself that I have to get back on track, but I am having a terrible time - I am up 9 pounds, and that is not as bad as it would have been if I had not upped my exercise.

Kathleen, I picked the name EasySpirit from my sneakers! I had just joined 3Chicks and was trying to think of a name when I noticed the name of my new sneakers and thought it was perfect! I had to start writing lists and timing chores because my procrastinating was completely overwhelming me.

Hello to everyone else...let's keep fighting the good fight.