Thought I would start the June thread.

Hello to tinlizzy and welcome! Have you thought about Dr Phil's book? It is a very good life long approach. Borrow it from the library to read instead of investing more money. One thing I do as far as food is when I go grocery shopping is come home and baggy things into individual servings. That way, you only have to grab baggies to pack your lunch. I do pretzel servings, veggie and fruit servings then have ff yogurt cartons, those individual mozzerrella sticks etc for lunch or snacks. Cutting out soft drinks was a prime for me and I am not sorry I did. I used to drink 8-10 a day! I now occasionally have a diet but never regular soft drinks.

Today I go to the regular dr to get a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. We will see what comes of that.

MsRD: I got into the pool yesterday. A real struggle to get in and out but it was wonderful.

Have a great day girls

Faye

HOORAY FOR JUNE!
Course I could be even happier, if the weather was more June-like.....but then, I can't have everything. Only 3 weeks til vacation.....I had a goal of losing 10 pounds by then. Well, the first 5 came off easy enough.....

Faye....great idea on the lunch-size portions in baggies! I always leave packing my lunch til the last minute, so this will be ideal! I have yet to buy the Dr Phil book.....but have gotten some good tips on his website. When I find a page that is particularly helpful (like the one on willpower or staying motivated), I save it to my favorites....then I can call it up almost instantly for a little 'shot' to keep me going.

The temperature is dropping here....should be in the 50s tonite......think I will go close some windows.

Hi all----

I have been posting on The Plan 2004, but thought I would join in here as well…..not to bore anyone if you post there, but a bit about me….

I have had quite a weight loss journey over the years, but most recently, I lost 80 lbs “just doing my own thing”. Three years ago I was 310 lbs, left an abusive relationship and dropped 80 lbs in just short of a year, just eating in moderation, eating healthy and exercising. I have since been “stuck” at this weight give or take 20 lbs. in the past two years I have tried Atkins….ICK, may work but I JUST COULD NOT DO IT!!!!! I tried Weight Watchers, great diet but, again, not for me this time. I have had success on it before, but I seem to get obsessed when I have to keep track of everything and then I end up cheating. So now I am back to just eating healthy, tracking stuff on Fitday, and “considering” exercising again.

I know I need to start exercising again, but I have had such a hard time getting motivated. I went out to walk to night and it was misting out and turn around and cam back in the house. I also have a shoe problem so I ordered some new ones tonight……I work in education and life is always hectic the last few weeks, so when I am done, I am going to make it my “job” to work out daily and get back to the habit so I can follow through again.

I enjoy logging on and checking out how everyone is doing……just a question, on Fitday I have been trying to stay between 1200-1600 calories, knowing some days are harder than others….does this seem reasonable?

Lily

The doctor appt went pretty good. I am now waiting for the paperwork for the mri but may not have any damage to my leg so keep your fingers crossed. The good news is they re x-rayed my arm and looks like it is not fractured so I am getting to leave the sling off now and I am using my leg too without the walker so I am glad about that. The bad thing is all of this stress on my body spiked my blood pressure so now they have me on meds for that, which is ok, but hope I don't have to do that very long before it is back to normal.

Lily: Welcome and I assume you are a cat lover. My cat is Butterscotch. I didn't even like cats and dh brought him home as a kitten that had been abandoned out in the woods by where he works so he is part of the family now along with my yorkie. They think they are brothers! One of the fitness experts says you should jumble around your calories during the week. For example, mon-wed eat 1600 then thur 1200, frid 1400 then back to 1600 etc. He says it keeps your metabolism up. Don't know if that is true or not. Girl, get into an exercise ROUTINE so that it is just part of your day. I do not ever regret doing it. I do 5-7 days a week during the winter and 7 days a week during the summer because I do water aerobics, which I love. I also walk and am doing some toning with weights.

Everybody have a good day. I need to get mine going!

Faye

Howdy Chickies!
Welcome Lilybutt!
Faye, hope your MRI comes back good. Anxious to hear about this fall when you can talk about it.
MsRD, where is vacation taking you?
I've been trying to talk my DH into taking a day off work so we can take a long weekend somewhere. He's not cooperating. Thinking I should just make reservations anyway....he wont let me and the boys go alone.

I only went to Curves one day last week and so far none this week. We've been booked with appointments and sporting events. If I don't make it there this week, I promise myself I'll be back there next week full time.

Yesterday I got my haircut and today my boys have appointments for cut and color. Boys and color....never would have thought that. They get blonde tips. I only let them do it a couple times a year.

News on my Dad, he's going downhill. He still goes into work a few days a week. His voice is down to a whisper. The doc suggested he call hospice. My mom called and a hospice person is suppose to visit Thursday evening.

Has anyone seen our Jello?
DNW, glad to hear from you!
I'm off to wake the little monsters.

Tigerlily, I can't say enough about the good work hospice does. They helped with my mother-in-law. I'm so sorry about your dad.

Faye, hope everything comes out okay. Doesn't sound like you are having any fun at all.

Welcome, Lily - glad to have you aboard.

Anyone heard from Jello?

I am still having pain and boy oh boy sweeping and mopping today was really tough, but I got my house cleaned. I have one of those sponge mops that you push on the handle to make it squeeze out and I have very little strength in my right hand to hold onto the mop so I was trying to hold the mop handle between my legs tight enough to push the handle with my left hand, which is badly bruised from the IV mess so it was pretty comical. I am sure my house is not as clean as it should be (well up to my impossibly set standards anyway) but it looks clean so that is all that matters right now.

My dd took me to the dr yesterday and neither she nor my gs had seen the condo since we got finished. DGS said, Nonny why did you change everything? It doesn't look like it did before. You put the microwave in here and the table and it used to be in the kitchen. He is one of those kids who freaks out about changes and it seemed to bother him a bit that my house was so changed but God bless him, when we left to go to the dr he took my hand and promised me that he wouldn't let me fall down!

DH and I are going on a date Friday night to dinner and then to a movie. I am going to make sure I go someplace I can stay op with and I think then I can sneak a lowfat snack into the theater and buy a diet drink rather than fattening nachos or whatever. I have problems with popcorn kernels getting stuck in my throat and then infecting the lining of my throat so I rarely eat popcorn anyway. I am a hot dog and nacho girl.

Everyone have a super evening. We miss you girls that have been absent! Hope you are doing well!

Faye

Woohoo! Friday AND I made it to Curves this morning.

How ya feeling Faye? Have you been back in the pool? It's been too chilly here for swimming, but weatherman saying 90 next week.

Quilter, I haven't talked to my mom since hospice visited. I know she's feeling stress keeping all his meds right and she does the feeding tube. But I also know he wasn't ready to call hospice...knowing it's the last step.

After missing a week of Curves, I was scared to weigh myself this morning. But to my surprise I was down another pound! 10 pound total loss since starting Curves. I keep thinking how great I'm gonna feel when I loose another 10 so I gotta keep at it!

This evening my youngest son has two baseball games back to back...probably get over around 9pm. And then tomorrow he has two soccer games...the first one starting at 8am. (Faye, soccer is in Argos) And then for kicks, another soccer game Sunday afternoon. I'm glad to say soccer is finished this weekend.

Lots to do today. House work, yard work, pay some bills.
Have a great weekend Chickies!

Tigerlily, the hospice people know most people aren't ready to call them and can deal with that. They are so kind and supporting.

Faye, hope you are on the mend. It has rained every day since the pool opened and cooled off by 10 degrees so I haven't been yet. After I was all psyched up, too. Darn!

Have Quilting Bee tonight (hope we have something decent to eat) and tomorrow 4 of my friends and I are going to Chantilly to a big quilt show. I'm really looking forward to that. Means Sunday is housework and grocery shopping--DARN!!

Hello All!
Whew.....Friday......we made it!

Tig....it must be a very hard time for you and your family. Hospice provides such extraordinary services. Make sure you Mom signs up for all they have to offer....they are wonderful with bereavement counseling and will check in on her for a year afterwards too.

Faye....hope you are getting some good reports back from the doctors. I didn't know you were a cat lover too! Our resident cat is a yellow tabby named Jackson.....he just showed up on the front porch last summer and cried until we couldn't stand it any longer....lol! (and just for the record.....DH caved first!)

Lily....I know how hard it is to plan and stick to an exercise program. I was doing pretty good....mostly low impact aerobics....but extending the exercise times, more times a week.....and then I 'fell off the wagon'. This week was terribly hectic, and I just couldn't (didn't) fit the exercise in. I think I made up for at least part of it today though.....we went to a car show and I nearly walked my little heels off!

Have a great weekend!

Stray cats do have a funny way of sitting on your porch screaming, "I'm a HOUSE cat damn it, let me in the house!"
I had a hard day at work today and the thing is, I can see my workload at the start of my shift. I can't get off work until I'm done (usually 9-10 hrs). I am always optimistic that i can "beat it", but an hour or so into my day if it becomes apparent that I won't be off work in 9 hours I start thinking of snacks. More specifically a fast, fattening, flavorful lunch and an icy cold pop followed by a piece of refrigerated chocolate cake with frosting. The self-talk is that I deserve it. I work hard. Well you're unhappy in your job you think. That may be true but, I am bound to my circumstances just as surely as any housewife is bound to her children. Besides, my circumstances have been different yet my weight has always been an issue. I haven't broken my diet rules of no pop or convenience foods but I have to get rid of the notion that food is the cure for what ails me or I am bound for failure. This is where I always get stuck. Feeling that this diet business is way too difficult on top of my hectic life. I deserve to be happy while enduring the daily grind. I'm sure not happy growing out of my pants so why do I not see the forest for the trees?

Hi to All:

Got on the scale this morning and I am down another pound for a total loss of 21.5 pounds since I started posting on 9/11/02!

I tell you between posting on this thread (albeit I have been a bit MIA since Bob died last Sept.) and sticking faithfully to posting ALL and EVERYHTHING I eat daily at fitday.com; seeing a therapist for food and grief issues over the past 20 months, and not giving up I see that little steps do make a big difference!

I no longer beat myself over the head for ONLY losing 21.5 lbs. in this time period, but I am rather proud that I made the effort at all...given the challenges I've been dealt.

This is what I know for sure...trying counts and time passes...and wounds begin to heal...I will never give up on me!!

Much Love To ALL!

Carol

Good for you Carol
Do you ever watch I Lost It! on the Discovery Health channel? There was a story on there this week of a women who lost 75lbs in 2 1/2 yrs. That's a 2.5lb weight loss a month! Hardly anything yet it all adds up and time passes anyway so who cares how long it takes. I thought to myself that I bet she keeps it off permanantly too because she changed her eating habits for so long.

Carol, slow and steady wins the race.

You see people who lose fast and regain faster - 95% of people who try to lose weight fail. Despite all the diets, lifestyle plans, etc., that percentage has remaind constant. Those who are in the "winning" 5% say they lost it slowly, made changes that would be forever like learning to eat new foods, doing without snack food, having dessert only occasionally, etc. Something to think about. Dr. Dean Adele was talking about the low carb "substitute" foods that have come out. One of the big Universities did a huge study on low carb and low fat dieters. Low carb lost faster because they had more statisfying foods and ate less. However, when they started using the low carb breads, cereals, snacks, ice cream, etc., they ate more and lost that edge. Same thing with all the low fat snacks that are touted as being "good" for us - we eat too much of them, they have way too many calories, and we don't lose. Those who did best cut out processed foods except for the rare occasion, at whole grains, lots of fruits and veggies, meat, dairy and good fats.

Wow Quilter you are at goal...how exciting is that...I know how you have been struggling to get there...and thanks for your good advice....since my glucose has started to creep up a little bit that is my focus for losing weight...not to have a flat tummy...

I am so glad you're still with us...anyone heard from Semo, Jello, and the rest of the old crew here at Doing your own thing...by the way I am thrilled at seeing all the new members too...thank to all of the newest members for a warm welcome back...

Love,
Carol