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Welcome all to a thread full of wonderful women taking on the responsibilty of raising a family and trying to take care of themselves too. We look forward to a new day with members, new and old! Please feel free to jump right in and say hello Here is a little bit about who we are ...

MichelleRae: Michelle sahm to Taylor 8-25-01 & Teagan 10-13-03 Married 2 years to Zhaun. Plan I'm following is a combined WW and South Beach Diet

Spryng: 24 y.o. married 6 years. Kids- Ava 4, Bubba (aka Joseph) 3 & Tanner 1. Currently on ww, hit goal in April.

Mompen: Penny 23 y.o. Happily Married & SAHM Momma to three active boys, Hunter 5, Nicholas 4 & Andrew 16 mo. Weight Watchers and a bit of South Beach is my way of life.

Loveliam: Leigh SAHM to Liam 10.21.03 & happily married for 2 years. Doing the Weight Watchers thing

Sydsmom: Kristin SAHM to Sydney 09-27-01, married almost 2 years to wonderful dh Began Weight watchers mid-July

Cheri: married to Donald for 8.5 years, SAHM/homeschooling momma to Nathan, 5 (9-11-98), Daniel, 3 (8-29-00) & Elijah, 1 (10-16-02) & doing the low carb thing kinda, lol

Cindi: Mom to 6 boys & 1 mean girl. Plan.. No diet for me! Portion control, exercise & lots of water (most days)

Chubba: Geri..Mom to two boys, Will (3) & Tony (1)..married for 4 years to a great guy..following Dr Phil most days!

Crystal: 27 yo sahm of 3 almost 4. Alisa 6, Ally 3, & Andrew 22 months. Due Feb 1st. Married 9 years, live in Texas & homeschool. My plan, when on it, counting calories & exercise.

Ricci sahm to two boys 4 and 5, married 7 years, doing ww

Jaymi: 2 kids, 20 mo Girl & 6 yo boy. Been married to DH for 2 ½ years. WW Core Plan is my way of life.

Jill: SAHM of 1 daughter, Bayley, born 9/19/03. Currently trying to lose some of the baby weight I gained with her & need some extra support to help me do so.

Melissa: SAHM of 1 girl (4) and 1 boy (2). Currently watching what I eat and exercising 4-5days a week.

Deana: SAHM of 3 boys and 1 girl. Counting calories exercising, and drinking lots of water

Chris: SAHM of Tiana, Kayla and Nicole: ages 11, 5, and 2. Married for 5 years. I live in Billings, Montana. I'm a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer and trying using WW Flexpoints to lose weight.

Hey everyone sorry I was MIA all day, I tried to keep up with the posts but just did not have time to post myself. I had TONS of homework due today and one paper was a little harder than anticipated so I took longer than I wanted to on it. But anyway I got done and did well in class tonight. I was "King of the Ring" and I think I got extra credit for staying in so long. I just had to answer questions out of the chapters we were supposed to read. Anyway it was fun. Had a coffee though and now I am up and I don't feel signs of getting tired yet so that's why I am posting so late! LOL

I feel bad that I have not been around much. I feel like I'm not in the loop as much I'm going to be here tomorrow though so hope I can keep up!

Did good OP today. I had breakfast lunch and dinner and didn't eat after I left for class at 5 so I know that will help. I am a late night snacker and even though I try to keep it healthy I know that not having anything is better. I only had 32 oz of water though cuz I forgot my water bottle when I went to school. I will do better tomorrow though. I did get my exercise in today so I was proud of that. I REALLY did not want to be there so I was proud that I actually went and made an effort.

Some of you asked about sharing our family pictures. I am hesitant though cuz while Bayley and Ron looked good my face looks HUGE!! I think it's just cuz I was smiling but I was also having a bad hair day so that didn't make it any better. I promised myself I wouldn't get down about them and just thought to myself that when I get to my goal weight that we would have them done again. Sounds like a good goal right? I will have my mom scan the pics in the next couple days and get them on the MSN site soon, I promise!!

Kathy sorry about last nights setback but I know you can break through and do better. Don't get down on yourself just keep trying and eventually you will fall into a routine. You have to really want it first and then it will fall into place. Try something small to change first like try not to eat fast food but once a week. That's how I started and I just kept adding stuff when I thought I could handle it. Small steps will help you maintain a new lifestyle. Hope this helps!

Jaymi cool about the new friend. I love making new friends, makes things interesting again, huh? I know you can get back on track too. You did so good for so long. Just need to get your motivation back. Maybe if that scale starts to move down again you can get back your motivation. Keep it up!!!

Deana as usual you are doing great!! I was just picturing you in 9 months when you are down all the weight you want to lose. I can so see you making your goal and I am so excited for you! You are so awesome at resisting all those tempting treats! Has dh noticed a difference in you? 20 pounds gone he should have!! My dh says he can tell a difference when he holds me. He always says I feel skinny so it makes me feel good. I'm so proud of you!!

Spryng you are so motivated with your house! I have been so bad lately. Not keeping up with flylady at all! I think I just need to get into another routine now that I am in school. I'm just not used to not having the whole day to do whatever, whenever so I am being lazy. Anyway what do you eat for lunch everyday? I have been having a hard time finding things to eat that are CORE. Don't ask me what I did a few weeks ago cuz I seem to have forgotten LOL! I was thinking of making a big pot of turkey chili and eating off that for a few days. Any ideas would be great. Oh and I can't remember if I gave you a CONGRATS on the .5 down last week!! YAY!! Also I watched wife swap, it was interesting to say the least. Let me just tell you, if that was my son talking back like that, OH MAN, trouble. Anway what did you think of it?

Michelle you are a posting fool today!! So sorry to hear about your distant relative but it's good that it is a survivable cancer. Just the more reason to do some things for your cause. Have you ever heard of the Sparrow Foundation? It's kids helping kids in medical need and my cousins run the program here but I know there is one in Montana somewhere. Not sure what you could do with the organization but it is just too great not to share. Here is the website www.sparrowclubs.org. Check it out, it's right up your ally! Thanks for doing the questionaire. I'm excited to do the swap, it's going to be fun! Good job with the paper! Let us know when the site is up for Shaun so we can all visit and help out.

Sherry darn those meetings in donut shops! Don't you hate that! I'm good until I get around stuff like that and then I usually cave. That's why I just stay away at all costs. It also makes it worse when everyone else is eating it and taunting you with it! LOL It's a new day tomorrow though!

Crystal not a lot from you today! Must be busy with the new house and school. Can't wait for the pics!!

Jeniqua you sound so motivated! Good for you!! Sounds like you are losing weight for all the right reasons. I really just want to be healthy and active with my kids too. My dh's family are almost ALL overweight and could care less. It's really agrivating to me though because they mock my diets and such and I don't want to be rude but I really want to yell at them that they are really unhealthy and could keel over at any minute!! My grandma had congestive heart failure and a stroke so my mom and are very conscious of that. Especially since her doc told her a couple months ago that she was at extreme risk of heart attack or stroke. So she went on SB diet and has lost 20 pounds in 2 months! She has also lowered her risk of heart attack and stroke so we are all very happy. She's very motivated and keeps me motivated too. I'm glad to hear that your mom is doing better tonight. I'm sure that is a relief. Keep up the good work on the diet and exercise!!

Mel good job at the gym as usual! I do the elliptical on cardio days for 20 minutes and usually burn around 275 cals. I think I am going to try and do it for longer or get off and go to another machine for longer. Need to step it up a little I think. Keep us updated on Patrick. Hope everything is good with him. How is he sleeping?

Kristin you are an inspiration for cleaning!! LOL I totally know the feeling when your whole house is clean and you can just look at it and wish that no one would ever touch it! LOL Savor it while you can! LOL How was the pie? Did everyone like it? My mom made pumpkin fluff last night for the family get together we had. Everyone liked it and they aren't even on diets!

Steph so awesome you are liking the gym. Let us know how the personal trainer goes. I wish I could afford one right now to keep my butt in gear but maybe for Christmas or something. Good for you for turning in that credit card. I'm sure he will realize that he lost it and be grateful no one used it! My daughter is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween curtesy of Kristin. She lent me her daughter's previous costume. It's really cute!!

Hi Geri, you and I post about the same amount lately!! I hate it don't you? Just not enough hours in the day unless your me and stay up till 12:30! LOL Good job about exercising at night when you are tired from work. Keep it up and you will be able to make it a routine. Hope work is going well for you! I made the mistake about buying chocolate Halloween candy and it is already gone!! One reason I am still up 1.5 pounds. I sooooooo know better! LOL

Chris that *$%@&! pumpkin!! LOL I think I am as stressed as you are about it. Well............ maybe not but I do wish you would find it!! LOL Good job on the mile though!

Angel I will have to agree about the no dinner thing. It's BAD, BAD I SAY. Well at least that is what I hear and read. Just makes your metabolism go down and your body starts telling itself that you are starving so it hangs onto all the stuff you want to get rid of. I know a couple of years ago when I lost a lot of weight it was because I would make myself eat 4 or 5 times a day so my body felt satisfied and would let go of some of the fat storage. Hope you don't think we are ganing up on you or anything but just don't like to hear about people skipping meals. How's your son? Any ball yet?

Ok I think this may be the longest post from me ever! I know mine are usually long but it's cuz I dont get to post as often as I like. I hope you all have a great day, now that's it's Thursday, it was Wednesday when I started typing! LOL Oh and some kids smashed my jack o lantern in broad daylight today while I was home!! I was so mad!! I spend a lot of time on it. I think I will set a trap for them tomorrow and wait for them!! LOL Ok bed time for me!!!

Oh and I hope I didn't confuse anyone by posting in a new thread. I just decided I might as well post this in Thursdays so that everyone will see it since people usually don't look at the post from the day before when they are posting in the morning. TTYL

Hi ladies. I am here bright and early this morning. Yesterday was thrown off so badly because I didn't get up until 730 when EVERYONE else decided to get up and that screws me up so bad. We had house stuff to take care of and it was just crazy. But I got up early today so that shouldn't happen to me again.

Jill, sorry you were up so late...early...!!! Glad that you were OP and we know you're busy just like alot of us so don't worry about not being around as much. We know where you are???!!!

Michelle, I haven't been to the MSN site in forever can you post the link so I can get to it and hopefully remember my info to get in?

Hello to Mel, Jaymi, Spryng, Deana, Chris, Steph, Kathy, Sherry, Geri, Cindi, Ricci, Amy, Angel and everyone else out there.

Today we are schooling and cooking an early dinner because it's GIRL SCOUTS tonight. So we'll be leaving around 530 or so to drop the others off before we head that way. Ally is going to be SOOO unhappy because she so badly wants to go, but this is for Alisa and needed for Alisa, sometimes the oldest gets left out because they're the oldest and I want Alisa to have something just for her. I'll be around until then though.
They are starting rough plumbing and weather permitting are hoping to have it done by Saturday but we'll see.
Dh and I stayed up talking about the house last night and I didn't fall asleep until midnight or right after, then Andrew woke up at 130, Ally at 310 and Andrew again at 610 which was okay, clock was set for 630 but I hate being tired and not being able to fall asleep. So I hope I'm okay today without a nap.
I hope all of you had a great night and have a great day. I'll try to be around later.

Morning Crystal! Have a good day! Hope they get stuff done on the house.

Jill, Cool about the extra credit. We could all use that sometimes. Great job staying OP yesterday! Don't worry about what your face looks like. You are a beautiful person! We all know what the camera does sometimes. Just turning the wrong way ...ever so slightly, can make us look different. Anyway, we love ya the way you are. Have a good one. I'm off for personal training today. ttyl

Coffee anyone?
Hope everyone is having a good morning.I did good last night.I didn't beinge at all.I did have a small box of raisins.I'm learning to cut the tv off so I can get more sleep,so I can have more energy and feel better.I had a good breakfast, 1 boiled egg a piece of sausage and a buiscuit with applebutter on it with OJ.They say to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day so you can use up the calories.So i'm going to try and make sure I eat a good breakfast with some kind of protien every morning and see how that goes.I'm also going to try and eat before I get hungry because I read if you get hungry then its to late that your matabolism is to low or something like that.

Jill-Kye(my son)hasn't produced a ball yet,or if he has he hasn't told me.It might have passed without him knowing it.The doctor said as long as he's not complaining of abdominal pain that he should be fine.Thanks for remembering.

Crystal-Have fun at Girl Scouts.

What's for supper ladies.
I'm going to make some homemade vegy soup w/cornbread.And homemade pumkin pie using a real pumkin.I learned that a couple of years ago.It's not to fatting either as long as you substitude ingredients.I gues thats true for any reciepe.Well Let me go clean some more. I'll check back in later.

Everyone have a great day.

Good morning all!

Tanner decided to wake up at 6:45 today... ugh. I didn't let him get up of course, I made him wait until 7 am because I just refuse to get up that early! (lol, until I start working of course) so anyway, took me awhile to wake up, lol. But here I am!
Planned for today is more cleaning. I think it's the bathroom, Bubba's room today and laundry. So I'll stay busy this morning until noon.
Dinner tonight will be that La Bamba Casserole... never made it so I'm curious to see how it comes out. I'll keep you posted, lol.

Angel, protein for breakfast is a great thing, it will keep you fuller longer. Don't know what I'll have yet. I LOVE pumpkin pie, I make a crustless one that is really good. In fact I may make it today for after dinner as well, lol.

Mel, have fun with your personal trainer! Are you starting to see results??

Crystal, I'm not michelle but I can post that link for you if you like: http://groups.msn.com/momslosingweight/general.msnw So how is the plumbing on the house going today?

Jill, I feel the exact same way about my family pictures. I hate them. Of course I was heavier when they were taken but my face also looked so big. What is up with that?? PLus because it took so long for the photographer to get the right shot (this was a pic with dh entire family) I looked shiny... hate that. And I have not been great with the house, lol... I stopped doing flylady a long time ago and my house suffered. I don't know why I stopped, I loved having a clean house everyday and little effort to keep it that way. I just got lazy. But now with the job coming up I know I need to get it super clean so it will be easier on me once I'm gone everyday, you know? So I'm not actually motivated to clean my house but I just do it because I have to, lol. I don't want my SIL coming over and thinking I'm a bad cleaner, lol. (well not that I should worry because my MIL house, in which my SIL lives, is always a sty, lol) Lunches can get weird here too, lol. I usually eat leftovers unless it was made with pasta or rice or potatoes then I'll eat some soup or I try to cook up a whole chicken every week and eat on it for lunch all week with some couscous made with broth (beef broth tasted great on it) and avocados and such. When I start work I need to have a real gameplan for lunches. So Maybe it's time to get new ideas for me too, lol. But chili sounds great!

OK, dh is calling, got to scoot! TTYL!

Good Morning Ladies!

Jill: Hope you finally got some sleep. WTG on the extra credit! Dh hasn't really said anything as far as noticing my losses. He knows though because I keep him updated on how I'm doing. He just says "Good". It's funny now but, once a couple years ago dh, his brother and a friend went out racoon hunting, at night, and I was told later by bil's girlfriend that the guys were talking about how having sex with a skinny woman hurts. Dh wasn't saying a word during all this because he knew anything he said would get back to me....hehe. So I'm not sure exactly what he thinks about me getting skinny. He's kind of the quiet type and sometimes I have to pry information out of him. I feel he's all for it because he knows it will make me feel better but I'm concerned I may hurt him.... We'll see. That is absolutely no reason to give up! Sorry if that was TMI .

Spryng: Sorry Tanner woke up so early, but then again you have to get used to it, right? How early will you have to get up when you start working? I know with my kids, 2 weeks before school starts we work on getting into a routine of early to bed early up so they will be ready. Have you planned to do that?

Crystal: Hope Alisa has fun tonight at her Girl Scout meeting.

Angel: WTG on not eating too much last night!!! When I started dieting I read the same info on metabolism and went form eating twice a day to 3 meals and 3 snacks, like overnight and I felt a difference within a couple days. It was like I could feel my metabolism working. It was great. I can still feel like that most days. Keep it up girl, it's coming together!

Mel: Have a great workout today. Hopefully the mail comes today. It doesn't get here until about 12:45 but I'll let you know as soon as I get it.

Well supper tonight will be split chicken breasts with BBQ Ranch dressing in the oven, something for a side and a veggie.

Dh is going to meet a friend around noon, then I have aprent/teacher conferences at 2:45 - 3:15 and we have Pack Meeting tonight for scouts at 7. Andrew will be getting his Wolf badge he earned last year, so I will be in the spotlight then and their Den is doing the closing so I'll be up front again. Plus if the Cubmaster announces that I have volunteered for Committee Chairperson they wil all be looking at me again. Wonder if any of them will notice I've lost??? We'll see.

HAVE A GREAT OP DAY EVERYONE!!!

TTYL

OK, I'm back again, lol. I haven't accomplished much around here yet. Took a shower, did the dishes and here I am, lol. But after I'm done posting it's off to Bubba's room to clean clean clean. Oh, I have got a load of laundry going in the washer and my toilet is soaking in cleaner, so I guess I got a little more done than I thought. I had a piece of cold chicken for breakfast, I just didn't feel like making anything so I ate that really quick.

Deana, you cracked me up. How is sex with someone skinny suppose to hurt??? LOL!! Is it because they are bonier or because they are able to get you in all kinds of strange positions, lol! My dh never complains... and if it does hurt, it must hurt so good because he always comes back for more! LOL! Ok, there is my TMI for the day, lol. And you are right, I need to get used to getting up early, which won't be a big deal if I can get by butt in bed at a decent hour. If I have to be at work by 8 am, I have to leave here by 7:50 am (I'm only 5 minutes away) so I should get up by 6:30 to shower and all that. I'll make my lunches the night before so I won't have to bother with that in the mornings and eat a quick breakfast of either oatmeal or cereal each day. But blow drying my hair is what takes the longest... since it's permed now I have to use the low setting with a diffuser and it takes FOREVER!! Most days when I'm just home I will let it dry naturally, but when I go out I need volume, lol... so I blow dry it. So I have to do that every morning and it takes time. Ok... now I'm just blabbering, lol... I'm so excited about it though and love talking about it. I was going on and on with dh this morning about how I want to do my cubicle when I get it,lol.Call me crazy, lol. I haven't heard of a BBQ ranch dressing, sounds good! Let me know how that comes out!

OK, off to round up the kids so we can get that bedroom cleaned. TTYL!

Good morning ladies!! So far so good today. For breakfast I just had sausage and eggs again and of course my lemon water..lol. You ladies are all soo sweet.. I don't have long to chat, have WAY too much to do before hubby comes home tomorrow(he works on the road all week).

I wanted to tell you ladies all some great news I received today and to give you an update on my mother. First of all I wanted to say prayers work!! My mother is doing great!! They said in fact, it wasn't her heart after all and that it was a respiratory problem. She has alot of fluid in her body so the doctors are working on flushing the fluids out. She'll be home tomorrow!!

The good news... about a month agao I entered my 3 year old in a baby contest. You had to send in a picture of your child and if your child picture was chosen he/she would have their picture featured in a book that they are getting ready to publish. Out of thousands of entries they were going to select 250 photos. My daughter Juliesa was chosen!! Since she was chosen we won a free vacation for 3 days and 2 nights!! I'm soo excited!!

Well I better go but I will be back shortly to follow up with all of you!!

PS~ I would post a picture of my dd but I don't know how..lol

Hi, all. Just a quick post here. It's been rainy and gloomy the past few days. Hi to all the newbies. I will try to post more this weekend.

I'm back for a bit.

Spryng: I didn't ask any questions about it. I suppose it's the bony thing but I like the idea of weird positions too..... Wait....even fat women can do some of them LOL!!! I may have to ask dh about that later tonight . I found the Hidden Valley BBQ Ranch dressing in the reduced cart at the grocery store so even if we really like it I may not be able to get anymore. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jeniqua: Wow, Wow, Wow!!! That's great about your mom. Hope she is doing better today. Great about your dd, too. Where do you get to go on vacation? When do you leave? When will you be back? Are you taking a bikini or one-piece? Is dh excited about going with you? I know....shut up Deana! LOL. Do you have a scanner or digital camera you can use to put pic of Juliesa on here? Just about any of us could tell you how, but Michelle is our computer guru....LOVE YA MICHELLE! Just let us know and we can help. I would love to see a picture of your doll!

Well, I'm waiting on dh to get back then I have to leave early if possible to get a money order and mail some things, then off to parent/teacher conferences. Then back home to make supper. Then the pack meeting.....geeesh, it never ends.

I think since dh is off Monday night, Erik doens't have scouts and the kids have to go to bed at normal time because they have school on Tuesday......if it's in town here I'm going to tell dh I want to go see the movie Ray. It looks really good and I like Jamie Foxx. I have always liked Ray Charles' music. Maybe I can find a friend to go with me . I'll have to work on that one.

TTYL

BTW...... HI RICCI!!!

Busy week for me...I have 3 sick kids and one who is just being so difficult because he needs his meds adjusted. He has adhd!!

Also, our landlord wants to sell the house we are in!! So we are kinda stressing about where to move now. I may have to join the working world! I do have kids to keep after school now, so that's a little money! And I had to re order my card, so I still don't have it!!!!!!

I am still losing and I think my friend is finally about ready to sign us up for the gym!! I can't wait!

Gotta clean the kitchen, just thought I'd let you all know I am alive!

Hello to all the newbies and the "oldies" I miss ya, but I will be back!!

Love to my Peeps!

Hi! Grrr . . . sorry I've been MIA- my computer is even WORSE now and on it's way back to the repair place. It won't even start up now I'm going to tell them to just take everything off and reprogram it completely. They say it's all software and not a hardware problem. Though, in a way I'd almost prefer it were hardware because then it would fall under the warrenty. Anyway, I'll do my best to check in on DH's computer, but I can't make any promises. I'm thinking of you all though!