Hi I am new to the site and was wandering if there is anyone from Virginia looking for a buddy, I have lost 105 pounds so far and I still have 30 to go. Is there anyone who wants to be buddy's out there?

Hello,

I am in Virginia and i would like to lose about 100 lbs! I have just started, and you must be so motivated. I would like to be your buddy if you dont think i will slow you down!

Just moved to VA Beach myself. Still trying to lose a final few, it's just that my schedule is so hectic these days that I can't always get in exercise on schedule. But I can be a good motivator.

Hey! I'm in Virginia as well! AND I'm in search of motivation!

Congratulations to Lynn and AlmostHeaven on the losses! YOU might be the ones that could help FIX my brain!

I have allowed myself to be swallowed up by my work stress and I've regained nearly 25 of the pounds that I'd lost! I've also allowed myself to STOP exercising due to the time involved! ARGHHH! I know what to do...I just can't seem to make ME be the priority!

Almostheaven...I've read some of your posts! You ARE very motivating! TALK to me! LOL Kick me in the pants!

I have 16 weeks until I turn 40. I currently weigh 205 (Christmas was a great excuse for eating like a slob!) This time last year I weighed 172. (Which wasn't great...but I was headed to my goal....160 (which is my goal...everything else says that I should weigh less, but I figured it was a REASONABLE goal!).....Now I'm back over 200....
I know that I am in control. I just need to LIVE it again!

Thanks for listening to my babble!
Take care........

Well Hatteras, which part of VA do you live in? I'm wondering if you're close enough so I can reach you with my foot. More effective kicking that way.

I try to motivate. I'm hoping I can motivate both my sister and neice, who are both steadily approaching the 300 zone, with lots of health complications. My own motivation was just in getting out of breath trying to tie my shoes. I wasn't yet 40, I had knee problems, back problems, and just tying shoes was a strain? No thanks. I enjoy living too much to do that to myself. I decided life WILL begin at 40, and I had to do something about it.

You can do it too. Concentrate on how you felt last year at 172 and how you feel now. And when you reach your goal, you'll feel even better than you did at 172. Do you want to feel how you do now for the rest of your life? Keep the differences in those two feelings at the front of your mind as a reminder of what you are gaining from losing the weight.

Hey Heaven! Thanks for writing back! AND thanks for the words of encouragement!

I'm on the Middle Peninsula....which if you're new to the area...you are clueless about! I live in Gloucester County. I'm the better part of an hour north of you!

(Guess you, um, "enjoyed" the snowfall last week that made national news! LOL Actually where I am, we REALLY had newsworthy snow... over 9 inches in a single day...but alas, VaBch got all the NEWS coverage! Coastal Va isn't pretty when it snows now is it?! )

I am thrilled to have your boot in my butt! (While that doesn't sound, um, RIGHT... I am *SURE* that you know what I mean!) Besides being all wrapped up in motherhood (mannnn, nothing like a baby or 2 to make you to forget that YOU exist! I adore my children ...wwell..on most days! LOL BUT...I woke up about 2 years ago wondering WHO I was and WHO THE BLIMP in the mirror is?!) and having a very stressful consuming job (I teach school!) .... I had a hysterectomy several years back. I was totally disabled from that surgery (and other surgery done at the same time!) and was totally unable to exercise for nearly 5 months (not like I was really exercising, but..I couldn't even get to the kitchen easily!). When all of that was said and done, I had ballooned to my all time high of 240. I can NOT and will NOT ever see those numbers on my scale! I can NOT and will NOT ever see that face in the mirror again! EVER!

I no longer have those aches and pains just trying to move that I did when I was wearing a size 22 pants (never did get the size 22 boobs! Much to my dh's chagrin!).
I know what you mean about breathing and tying shoes being an effort!

Last fall I had the most amazing time on a shopping trip with my dearest friend (she never has had a weight problem...she is bullimic.....OMG! OTHER issues for sure! We help each other's brains!!) from the 3rd grade.... I had to buy EVERYthing new! It was truly THE best weekend of my life...well...the best weekend that I've ever spent without my dh (and family), of course! Long story short...without the gory excuses..... most of what I purchased that weekend doesn't fit me any longer!

I have tasted what thin (Ok..so 172 isn't thin...but MANNNN it was THIN for me!! ) tastes like! I am determined to fit into those pants again! I am determined to need a smaller size!

You are right... I don't want to feel like this ..... I want to feel the way I did the FIRST time I slid into a pair of size 12's in 20 years! (I stood in the dressing room calling one my Dearest/Meanest Cheerleader! Who cried along with me!)

"If you want to be somebody else, change your mind!"

I am in control of this! Thanks for reminding me! Please keep that boot kicking! My butt and brain both need it!

I *AM* in control!

9 inches would actually be a walk in the park, seeing as I moved from New Hampshire. Lived less than 4 hours from Canada. Now you wanna talk about some snow....

I actually had a whole day scheduled on Sunday the 26th. So, like a normal day back home, I headed out to get in a tan session at the tanning salon, pick up some items at Sally's, get a set of keys copied, and head to Wal*Mart. The keybooth was closed, tanning was closed with a hastily scrawled "Closed due to weather" sign in the door, and Sally's was closed. I said forget it and went home. Would be my luck that they closed the 24 hour Wal*Mart. LOL

I think we got about 3 feet of snow one night in New Hampshire, and I made my usual trip to Ruby Tuesdays and they had a sign that they were closing due to the weather. I believe we were supposed to get something like 5 feet by the time it was over. But what the heck...we didn't have that much yet. Must have been out-of-staters running the new Rubys.

I made up my mind as I lost my weight. I bought new clothes each time I dropped about two sizes. So it was hard with clothing for awhile, usually everything was a bit too large for the most part. But each time I replaced my clothing, I gave away all the old stuff that no longer could be worn to Goodwill. I had no intentions of ever wearing them again. And I will never settle for a larger size now. If my pants get too tight, I will have to hit the wagon hard and shed a few pounds. But I feel if I justify buying just one size larger at any time, that it will make it easier to justify the next and so on.

Much to my DH's chagrin too...the boobs were the first to go. I was in a 42D and now wear a 34B. I didn't WANT to lose it THERE. Whaaaaaaa

As for the kids, I just had one myself and she's all grown up now, and grown out. She had a bad role model. Now I'm hoping to undo that bad teaching. She has a lot of health issues herself, and weighs around 260. But she's in another state so I can't be a daily influence. I did buy her a set of the WATP tapes while I was visiting, but she admits she's not been sticking with them.

Me ..AGAIN!

I had noticed the NH in your "sidebar location thingy"....and so the "enjoyed" and other snow comments were meant in the MOST of sarcastic terms! (Sorry you couldn't hear the tone in my voice...otherwise, you'd have KNOWN for SURE how I meant it! LOL) My dh is from Indiana via Maine...and so he continues to remind me about what SNOW is supposed to look and be like...and well....coastal Virginia blizzards are NOT it! LOL He has very little patience for VaDrivers as well as places that roll up the sidewalks at the very mention of the word snow! BUT... and this is not me being sarcastic... get accustomed to everything being closed up if 1 flake of snow is falling! AND watch out because there are 2 types of drivers here.... the kind who have NO clue about how to drive in snow and the kind who are SNOW driving experts! Trouble is...the roads are not treated / plowed / yadda like they are where the SNOW driving experts come from! Things get hairy on 64 any day.... but when it snows....GOODGAWD stay off the road!

I felt true defeat this fall when I went to Walmart and bought 2 pairs of pants. Walmart...I didn't want the pants to be "good" pants...AND I had $zilch$ that I wanted to put into new fat pants. I *HAD* to have something to wear to school.... and defeated is a nice word for how out of control and sick I felt! I still alternate between those two pairs of pants..... and I refuse to buy anymore! I've got LOTS of good clothes that I will soon fit into!

WATP tapes are how I got my lard butt moving! AND they are going to be how I get my lard butt moving AGAIN! I sometimes get sick of listening to LS's syrup.... but, you know, sometimes she is the only one who believes that I can do it! LOL Sick, huh?! I am greatful that I found her tapes as I am more than sure that I will NEVER walk into a gym..... NEVER is a LONGGGG time, I know! Perhaps some day I will feel different.... maybe! NOTTT!

Yeah, my hubby was all worried about me not knowing how to drive in the snow "here". He said "this isn't New Hampshire snow." Snow is snow. It's slick, it's wet, it's cold, and it's blinding white...until all the cars mush it up, then it's even slicker. You don't pull out fast, you keep major distance between you and guy in the 4 wheel drive who thinks he knows what he's doing but is sliding all over the place, you shift down to slow rather than slam the brakes, you tap the brakes rather than slam them, and you turn into any skid. Oh...and you pray that the guy in the 4 wheel drive doesn't have a buddy coming up beside you. LOL!

But I actually only saw one minor (1 truck) accident that day. There was a much worse accident yesterday that had nearly all 8 lanes of Independence Blvd. shut down. And that's on clear roads. People here seem to drive like they're in the Indy 500 or something.

Happy New Year!

I overindulged this morning. I stayed in bed way tooo long this morning! It was nearly 9:45 when I decided to MOVE and get a shower! Yummm.... My vacation will be over very soon (Monday!) and this late morning will be BUT a sweet memory! I will begin counting my days until Spring Break soon! LOL

Made it thru last night with zero alcohol! Nibbled on a "bad for me" tray for 5 bites and then said "Enough, thanks!" I had planned to nibble, did, and stopped! I also got in all of my water yesterday! (And spent considerable time in the bathroom for it! I know! I know! My body will get accustomed to it! LOL)

Yes. Every thing and everybody goes 10000 mph in your part of the state. I grew up in Newport News........and while it isn't VaBch...it is MUCH crazier than it once was! Where we live is not like that. In fact, it gets frustrating sometimes that people won't go fast ENOUGH! We live in an area at least 75% more rural than the MOST country sections of Pungo! I am a total spazz when I get in THAT VaBch/Norfolk traffic! Watch out for the crazies over there!

I am going to try a new "whatever". I am a scale freak. Tell me to put the thing away until the end of the month OR some other long amount of time! I am not too sure that I can do it.... BUT I've heard that getting the scale "off my back" is a good idea! Whatcha think?

Today I dust off the WATP tapes. It won't be pretty, but I WILL do whatever is 30 minutes! (1 mile, I think!)

Anyway....thanks for the chatter! You're keeping me honest!
take care!

Ok, so...put away the scale. LOL That's easier said than done. I jump on it too much too. But if it's up out of sight, out of mind. You can get depressed watching a scale too closely and not seeing it move "fast enough". But if you only weigh in say weekly or bi-weekly, you'll see a bigger progress each time, which will lift your spirits. Hmmm "lift your spirits". Now that sounds like something Leslie would say.

As for 30 minutes, that's gonna cost you a two mile walk.

I had to wait until I had done my "homework" before replying....

Water - YEP! (Just how much am I supposed to drink?!)I've been drinking 6 to 8 glasses?!

TwoMilesWATPwith2poundsInEachHandWhenDirected! - YEP! Sweating like a piggy BUT GRINNING from ear to ear!! (It had been since April.....so it wasn't pretty! LOL)

ControlledEating - YEP! Lunch got a wee bit out of hand...but I reeled it back before it was a total MESS up!

and finally - Scales put away until January 13th! THAT one is gonna be hard!

Tomorrow I attack planning for the week AND journaling! I also need to get a new battery for my pedometer and unfold (and dust!) the treadmill!

I also need to organize my collection of exercise tapes! AND find the tape measure!

I've got a lot of stuff to do, huh?!

Thanks for listening! I keep looking at your stats! You've done sooo well!
again.... thank you!

take care

Hi all you Virginians:

I am a true Virginian. Born in Newport News, Virginia. Moved to Phoebus, which is now called Hampton. Only lived for a short time in Williamsburg, Va., and in Grafton (York County, Va.).

Was a WW for over 3 years and never reached goal. Then joined a Hampton TOPS group. Still yo-yoing. It gets harder to keep it off as one gets older so you young chicks, get to work!

Freddie (an elderly female)

Hey Freddie!

I was also born in Newport News...as was my mother! Don't meet too many of US!
Did you graduate from a N.N. high school? Do you have the wonderful N.N. accent?! LOL My inlaws just moved from Grafton to Williamsburg/Florida (They've become snowbirds!) *small world!*

So tell me about TOPS. I've got a cyber friend who is being VERY successful with their program! I'm trying to get out of the YoYo cycle.... THIS time IS IT!

Thanks for your words of wisdom!

take care

I never watch my water. I pretty much switched to water as my main drink of choice. I'll drink a diet soda or ice tea as a treat with dinner on ocassion, but I mainly drink water all the time. So I don't measure it. I do know I go through anywhere from 3 to 4 24 oz. sport bottles a day.

Freddie, my hubby's from VA. We just took a drive after church this morning out one of his old haunts and well...they tore it all down. I keep hearing that "They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot" theme song. The club he used to play drums at is gone. All his old friends, moved away. And seems everytime he decides to take a short cut...they've closed off the end of that cut through. LOL We've run into more deadends that way.