WELCOME !!!!!!
This thread is a sub-set of the 300+ thread.

This group is for those dealing with the challenges of having a significant amount of weight to lose and being fit which becomes harder after age 40. If you're an old or new friend and not over 40 and feel this is the place to post, jump right in.

Hi girls!
After all my meal planning last time I posted, I ended up breaking my arm badly the very next day and have just got out of hospital (a week later).

I tripped over a step on Saturday afternoon, tried to save myself falling on Josiah and some tiles but instead ended up propelling myself faster, and went into a brick wall with my arm up to protect my face/head. I broke my arm between my elbow and shoulder, a spiral fracture apparently (whatever that means).

A learner driver friend of mine took me to hospital in my car (with me giving him a driving lesson in between moans), and to the emergency dept. Some nurse wrote down I was allergic to pethidine not peroxide, so they wouldnt give me any painkillers apart from panadeine forte!! It was a very long 7 hours while they xrayed and then told me the bones instead of being like this - - were like this -\ (wrong angle but you get the picture). So they didn't know whether to operate or not, and decided to put my arm in a slab - a really thick piece of plaster that hangs and circles my elbow, to try to pull the bones out straighter, then they admitted me to surgical ward. So for the second time in my life I had my clothes cut off me!

For the last six days they have continually changed their minds about whether to operate or not - I was booked in for surgery on monday evening, and at lunchtime they came in and told me no surgery, then gave me lunch ... then a hour later came in and said that surgery was back on and asked me if I had eaten anything?! So they came around tuesday morning and said they were changing the slab for a new one, and then putting plaster around my upper arm and down to my wrist, but not immobilising the bone because they want it to pull outwards and downwards. Its *&^% painful, everytime I move around I feel the bones crunching together. I have some painkillers I'm supposed to take every four hours.

They are xraying every couple of days, to see if the bone is going to fuse right, and if the blood supply is going to re-establish - otherwise they will have to operate and put a plate in. The complication with surgery is that the break is right next to the nerve that controls my hand, so if they damage it, I will end up with a permanently floppy left hand. And I will end up with a scar from my shoulder to my elbow, to add to my collection.

Work (Uni) has been great. At first they said they would find someone to take over my job for the rest of semester, which upset me, but now my immediate boss is presenting the lectures and tutorials I prepared for the next couple of weeks and will pay me for the hours spent in preparation. When I can manage going back, I can take up from where I left off. I missed out on taking over the fulltime lecturer's load for the two weeks, however.

The hospital is arranging some help with housework and transport for me for the next six weeks - max of four hours a week, and the kids have been great. I hated leaving them home by themselves.

So at the moment, bed rest, getting around as much as I can, painkillers, and xray/re-evaluation on Monday. And a decision on whether to operate, in the next two weeks - 12 weeks before I can start rehabilitation either way.

Going to go lay down now - it takes forever to type one handed!!

Oh My Goodness Leanne!!! I am so so so sorry that happened to you! The pain must be incredible...are the pain pills helping? I bet you're glad to be home, though. How long are they going to take to decide regarding surgery?

It sounds like your job is being great about the situation, so that's a good thing!! And good for the hospital to get you some home help and transportation, too...that must be a relief.

How old are your kids? How many do you have?

I don't expect you to answer all my nosy questions, but I must say, you did a heck of a job typing one-handed!!

Charlotte

13 POUNDS DOWN ONLY 24 MORE TO REACH MY SHORT TIME GOAL!

Lots of posts that I wanted to respond to from the previous thread...

Valerie--What a woman! You went back again to that class? And actually the very next day? I must say, I am impressed!! It must be awfully hard to have to get back in the truck and interrupt your schedule.

And squeezin' the dogs--what a mental picture that makes!!!

2cute--I'm really sorry about your sister. I can't imagine how hard it must be to have a sibling that sick. I've got two brothers and two sisters, and we're pretty close.

Barbara--how's the mouth feeling? I've had a lot of dental work done the past several months, and I should be finishing up with a partial fitted on 4/3...aside from being stinkin' painful, it's also stinkin' expensive, even with insurance! My fault though...I let it go for way way way too long.

Garnet--Glad you got to the gym yesterday! Did ds get you there? Sounds like you really worked out, too--and hour total--I can't imagine getting past my 32 minutes! Although, when I first started I could hardly to five minutes on this bike! And self-sabotage? Pitiful, isn't it? Why do we continue doing dumb things like that? Must be the !! I don't think that one little splurge is going to hurt, though. Is your shoulder better?

toofat-- I find these women on this thread so truly inspiring that even though I've been lurking for a long time, they have helped me tremendously! Keep reading and posting your ups, downs, and questions and it will help to keep you OP.

xenigal--I totally agree about not enjoying exercise...I wonder if we ever will? It's a real chore to drag my sorry butt over to that bike every morning and then to get done and continue doing stretches and hand weights?? It's a miracle I say!! I feel so much better once I get done, though, that I guess that's why I do it. About how long does it take you to do the three laps?

Any test results from your sister yet? That must be so hard. I'm sorry.

Lilion--How's that 'IF' of yours? I'm pretty darned impressed that you can go 11 minutes on the darn thing!! Smart idea re parking a distance from work! Good for you for getting through to your friend. I've considered surgeries, too, but I'm a big chicken. And that director of yours is for sure sabotaging you--gee if they resort to tying you to a chair, what the heck can you do??

LesleyUK--You're right about the exercise kick--must be spring, huh? But that means spring cleaning, too, right?

Thin--Too funny about warning your boys away from the women! I still have a 20 year old at home that is the biggest slob I have ever met, but he sure can sweet talk his mother! I'm trying desperately to get the kid to get rid of some of this clothes from high school--yep, HIGH SCHOOL!!--because, since he doesn't sleep in his bedroom, I want to get it cleaned up, put a sofa bed in there, and invite my ddil and dgs HERE for a change!! My ds#1 is going to Finland for a week in April, and I cannot spend the whole week at their house!!

Did your gf's surgery turn out ok? Hope so--and now her dh needs surgery too. Wow, that sounds rough. Is Honey back yet?

Bridget and Desires--hope you're both doing well!

If I missed anyone, sorry!

Thanks for all the replies regarding my exercise. This is a picture of a recumbent bike . It's good for me because I've been having a problem with my left leg for a long time, and since I've started doing this bike it has been improving by a large amount every week, and since I've been doing the 23 minutes, it's really become dramatic. So, for me, it's a perfect solution right now. Once the leg is healed though, I would really like to branch out to walking!! Of course, we have to have a little warmer weather, today's high is supposed to be 33 or so and snow--yep, it's March 25 alright...

I've been low carbing for probably about six months, and it has helped me a lot. I cannot stick with WW because I will eat all my points in carbs! I eat a lot of protein (also good for my leg) and try to stay low on carbs. I signed up for Calorie King for a month, loved it, and have signed up for a year. I really credit that site for a lot of my success right now...keeping a journal of your food, exercise and water intake is good for me, plus I can't stand those red exclamation marks that don't go away until you complete your exercise for the day!!! Once you complete the exercise, you get a lovely green checkmark!! They keep track of the protein, carbs & fat you eat every day, and that helps me that I can see where I'm going wrong.

Also, my ddil decided we'd (me, her & my dd) give up sweets for Lent. We started on Feb. 26, and I haven't had a sweet since then. At this point, I don't even miss them. In fact, yesterday, I had a light Yoplait Harvest Peach yogurt...my first bite tasted like straight sugar! I looked at the nutrition panel, and the darn thing had 14 grams of sugar! How it could be 100 calories is beyond me! It was really hard for me to finish it because of the sweetness.

Well, the bike is calling me, and I've yammered on long enough, I'd say. Thanks for listening everyone...I hope you have a good OP day, and Mother Nature decides to give us NE Ohioans a break soon!

Charlotte

I know you have all been waititng with batted breath for the next installment of Days in the Life at the Office. Well it was an eventful week. I got a day off for a lovely visit to the dentist where it turns out I didn't have enough tooth left to crown, so she ended up having to extract it and I'm still in pain fromt that.

I got back to work on Thursday to find out that Suprise, SUPRISE!!!people had been talking about the girl being offered more money to stay.!! So one girl had been fired for that. In an unrelated incident the husband of a girl that had been out sick called out "favorite" HR lady and cussed/swore at her and supposesdly made threats, so this person no longer has a job. Yesterday afternoon, they fired the other person involved in the "talking about" incidenet.

But the biggie is that the "sister" who would do so wonderful in the front office position, even though she had no expereince came in Friday afternoon, and said that the job was too much for her to handle. There was to much for her to learn, and it was "too busy" for her. After all, she had been unemployed for over a year, and besides that she had been a truck driver who had not had a lot of contact with other people, and this was more than she could handle, so she was moving to the medical records position (threating husband) that had just opened up!!!

DUDHHHH!!!Are those the exact concerns we had voiced to the sisterHR lady in the beginning of the week??? So we spent a whole week trying to train this person, now we have to start all over and the girl that's leaving will be gone by the time we can get someone in.

So for those of you keeping score, that's a total of 6 people this week who quit/fired/whatever. I figured up that there are 18 positions for "support staff" in the office. That's not counting the doctors and their medical assistants, who for the most part are stable. Of the 18 only 2 people are there, in their same position, as when I started in July!!! and some positions are on their third or fourth trys.

Anyone want to move to Dallas and work in a medical office???

on the weight subject, I lost it yesterday. With the drama going on around the office and my mouth still hurting, I ate candy and ice cream. Hey they were soft, not to mention comfort food. I deserved it right??? Anyway I hope I get it together better next week.

Good morning ladies,

Leanne - Good grief!!!! One-handed and you started a new thread when no one else did. I am so sorry to hear about your arm. I was worried about you and the cyclone so this must be better than the cyclone getting you. Can your girls drive yet? At least your kids are big enough to be able to help out. The is great for the hospital to arrange for the transport and housework. Check in when you can to keep us posted.

I'm sitting here relaxing this morning. I talked DH out of going to a horse auction today. He gets cabin fever during the week and wants to be gone on Saturday and I've been gone all week and want to be home. I think he and the dog are going to take a drive this morning to check out a lake that he wants to go fishing on. I suggested he should go scout it out before hauling the pontoon down there. I'm really hoping the neighbor guy across the street will live up to his word and go fishing some day with DH so I can stay at home.

I'm going to go play with my babies. The old girl is doing much better but needs some exercise in the round pen. She'll give me the evil eye for that. The boys need to be brushed and curried vigorously and they need to spend time in the round pen as well. The girls also need to be attacked with the curry comb but they need more lessons in its okay for mom to touch me here and here and I don't need to rear up as a result. Calvin, the farrier, is coming this afternoon to check on Ginger and trim the boys. He should work on the girls but they are still too goosey and I'm too cheap at the moment.

Speaking of cheap. We have a old motorhome that we have had in underground storage for the winter. I'm trying to make DH sell it to get the debt off us and out of the payments. Two days after we got it from the storage, we had a bad storm day and got hail. We didn't think anything of it at the time, but I looked out the spare bedroom window and noticed the dents in the roof. Its a 1989 so who knows if it was there before or not. DH called the insurance company and an adjuster came out yesterday, checked it out and wrote a check for $2590. Woot! DH immediately had things to buy but I said nope, its going in the bank for future living room furniture.

I should get up and get the laundry started and get to working on the bill paperwork. I have to keep up on it much better than before since I have to stash it away everyday. Which is helping me from letting it get to big pile status but can be a pain in the butt.

I'm hoping that we get some lookers at the house this weekend. This is not going well at all. Figures.

As soon as DH leaves, I am going to jump on a workout. Probably will be to see if I can suffer through the whole Biggest Loser workout.

Hmm, I'm watching FoodTV and she's doing roasted veggies to put into coucous and pasta later in the week. Ovenbaked fried chicken looks yummy too. I should get something like that done this weekend so that I have lunch for the week. The chicken I did last weekend was really good.

Barb.G - Sounds like the HR person is the one who needs to go. Or maybe needs to take in a class of proper HR techniques. How did everyone find out about the more money if that girl didn't tell herself? Shouldn't she be fired too? Don't beat yourself up too badly about the comfort food but don't rationalize it too easily either because then that means you're still holding onto that behavior to use whenever. Get back OP today!

MTM - Hope you get spring soon! Sounds like you're doing great with the exercise - safe and consistent! I feel so much better when I'm low-carbing (ie bad carbs) it. Now, just keep on staying away from the sweets once lent is over and you'll be good!

2Cute - I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I know she has been through so much the last few years. Hope you got some rest. You have to take care of you too!

Garnet - You've done a great job with your overall loss. Don't let last nights debaucle turn into a weekend one. Good job on the five pounds gone. You're doing great with the exercise too. Inspired me to get up and get at it soon.

Xenigal - How was the diagnosis for your sister? I hope all clear.

Lilion - I don't think I mentioned that you maintained this week. So much better than gaining. Now keep OP this weekend so that you can have a loss again. Keep working on your friend because you're encouraging her for her long-term health concerns.

Valerie - I am so proud of you for getting into and back to that exercise class. You are very inspiring about being tough, determined and persistent. You kiss your babies today and I'll kiss mine. I should take new pics today and post.

Leslie - Great job on getting moving with Leslie S. Those are good workouts. Keep working at it!

Toofat - Welcome to the group! Got a name we can use instead of toofat? I feel a little funny calling you that!

Ruth - Hope you're having a good visit with your sister.

Michelle - You're still among the missing.

Thin - How's your friend Di? How's the week without DH? You've become much too absent lately. Miss your posts.

I think that covers everyone and hopefully not missed someone. Have a great weekend. I'll come back later and post the results of my workout.

BE OP!

OH my goodness Leanne !!!!! I am so sorry for your tragic accident !!!
I wish there was something we could do for you.
I hope you heal quickly. You certainly impressed me with your one hand typing skills. Makes me feel guilty not typing more now.
Okay ladies... Congrats to the losers.... {{HUGS}} to the sufferers ..... and to the procrastinators.

my real name is Patti you can call me either lol!

The great thing about popcorn balls is that they're so easy to share with the dogs - you take a bite and little pieces easily fall to the floor for the waiting puppy tongues.

My eating should be pretty much back on track today (well, except for the popcorn ball) since I'm going to do a liver/gall bladder flush tonight. Gall bladders are great - they can work just like Xenical, only you don't even have to take a pill. You just have a little grease and it shoots right thru you! Mine isn't actually bad, but I've had a couple of very minor reactions, and it's probably been a year since I flushed, so it's time. As a matter of fact, the first time I did it 3-4 years ago, I had been suffering from some pretty severe depression, crying every day for months. Definately NOT my usual self. But immediately after the flush the depression lifted, my spirits soared and my energy improved dramatically. I've been thinking all my blue feelings were just because I was still on the truck, but now I'm wondering...

Dogs. I just took a couple of shots of my two joyful scoundrels. Add a couple baby carrots to your mental picture of my living room floor. It's a daily routine... put the toys in the basket, vacuum, and then the dogs find out what you've done and go to work to fix it. I really think it must have been pretty boring around here before the 10-pound missile that we call Simon. I guess if your legs are only 3 inches long, you have to go everywhere at a gallop!

2fat4U, I like Patti better. Thanks for the kind words about my loss. I've been stalled out for the last 2 months, but I'm back at it again now. I'll do better this month I hope. YOU are doing GREAT! 13 pounds down already!

Leanne, That's HORrible about your arm! That's a really serious break! I hope it heals quickly and correctly for you. What a disappointment to miss taking over those other lectures, too. I hope you're able to get back to work soon as well. Good thing you already had so much done on your own lectures - a time when not procrastinating really paid off!! I should learn from that.

OK, Terri, let me get this straight: YOU talked DH OUT of going to a horse auction?? Like, that'll never happen in THIS house! I haven't been to an auction in ages. * My new farrier just came this morning. I held that goofy mustang for him back in January and I really liked the way he handled her and the job he did, so I called him for all my boys this time. I like him even better now. I'm paying $30/trim. What's the price there? Yup - kissed 'em all while I was there. (No, not the farrier, just the ponies) * No class today, but I hit CUrves this morning. I still love it, but it was kinda whimpy after 4 days in the rock polisher. *** Oooo, do post pics if you can!!

Barbara, Since they like dumb truckers there, I'd fit right in where u work. I used to work in a medical lab, AND I can replace your "HR" person since that's where my background really is, and guess who my first termination would be? No not you, silly. I can't believe the turnover there. That's just not right. Incidently, there's no such thing as an unemployed truck driver. Unless you're a total, absolute screw-up and have rolled 2 or 3 rigs, you can get a job. She's LAZY.

MTM, Thanks for the "flowers". I'm a little impressed with myself for sticking with it, and I think the instructor was just a little surprized I did it 4 days in a row. She even commented on it. It IS hard to go back to the truck, but ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. It's not forever, and at least I can take you guys along with me. Thanks for the pic of the bike. It looks like it might work your abs in that position, does it?
** I'm with you on the low carbs - I do OK with fruits, but the breads & sugars are killing me. Literally. I start with them and I'm a for the rest of the day. or week. They just spur on the compulsion to eat.

Just some grapes, an apple, some baked fish & skim milk today. Ooooo, I wish there was a smiley for patting myself on the head.

Does everyone use or know about the imitation butter sprays? My favorites are Olivio and Smart Balance. Perfect for keeping the high fat & Trans-fats down, but still adding flavor. Keeps the fish from drying up, too.

Later chickadees!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.
To answer some questions - one of my daughters is on her learners permit, but apart from that, I'm the only one in the house who can or could drive. So this arm has made it very difficult.
I have four kids, twin girls who are 17 and doing their HSC year (final senior year at school which is a lot of stress), Another girl who just turned 16 who is doing her HSC preparation year, and a boy 11 years old. I don't have any family in Australia apart from one brother who lives about 3 or 4 hours drive away, most of my family live in Europe.

I am so hoping they decide to operate on Monday. I can't stand the pain of the bones moving around much more, and they gave me only 20 pain killers on Thursday ... 2 per four hours means that even though I've skimped on them when I could, I have exactly 3 left now ... and its Sunday morning and I won't see the doctor until tomorrow afternoon.

Dear Leanne - "Body and signature under construction!" I think that's cute!! But I do hope for your sake that the construction crew gets busy and rebuilds that arm for starters so you can get back to remodeling.

Hey Ladies!

Ultra-quick post. It's 4:30 p.m. and I just got in to the office. I'll be here until 8 at least! I was going to come in tomorrow...but we have so much to do at home (yard-work, etc.) that I decided I'd kill my Sat. night instead and have all day tomorrow to work.

Food...well, we finally went to the Indian restaurant we've been wanting to try. We'd never had Indian food before and I discover that, like most food, I LOVE it! We had the buffet lunch so we could try a lot of different things. There were some potatoes that were TO DIE FOR! I'm sure I've now used my entire 35 flex points for the week. I don't care. I'll be extra good until next Wed. On the bright side, being at the office means there is no food and we ate enough for lunch I don't want dinner anyway.

Did 11.15 minutes on the I.M. last night - .45 miles! My personal best! Now I need to do it again tonight!

Leanne! - How awful for you! I've never broken a bone and can't even imagine how painful it must be! I do know what a spiral fracture is and it is a nasty one! I wish I was close to lend you a hand with everything. Thank heavens your kids are older. Take care and keep in touch!

Patti: Don't think I welcomed you -

Well, I have to run or it will be 9 p.m. before I'm out of here! Later!

Leanne--I think you need to put a call into that doctor's answering service and get him to order you more pain pills. The last time I broke my ankle, they let me go for two weeks before doing the surgery...I have no idea why...and I could feel the bones moving too. It was excruciating, and your break sounds much more serious than mine was. Don't be afraid to call and tell the doctor you're going to run out.

I'm glad you have kids old enough to help you out at home.

Take care of yourself...

Oh Leanne - I am SO sorry to hear about your accident!!! What a drastic way to get out of the extra work you had coming up...ha

Really, I hope that the bones fuse just right and that you dont have to have the surgery. You have been thru so much already!

It is great that the hospital arranged for some help for you! As far as I know they dont do that sort of thing here. Ive never heard of it being done, anyway for what that's worth.

I hope you are able to rest and relax the arm as much as possible while you are at home but if you are already on the PC typing one handed I dont think you are going to do much resting.

Please be careful!! and I agree with MTM make those people provide you with a prescription for more pain pills that is absolutely ridiculous!!


Toofatforu - CONGRATULATIONS! that is excellent

MTM - no, my dad took me to the gym, my son caught a stomach virus and couldnt go...but he and his wife went to his dad's this weekend for a surprise birthday party for his dad...the evil beast that lives inside the duplex of my heart wants son to infect ex and his new family with stomach virus...ha!

Never heard of Calorie King, will have to check that out. I am glad your leg is improving!

Barbara - I would love a job but they would probably fire me too. One thing about being on disability...sometimes I really miss the working world although your's sounds terrible! They should give you a raise just for your staying power. I hope your jaw heals quickly and the pain goes away!

Terri - thanks for the encouragement but I already drank 3 cokes today...but I have eaten nothing so it should work out calorie-wise...bad way to operate, I know but I have the whole house to myself most of this day and it has been so great I indulged in my favorite which is coke. I am also drinking water though almost thru with my first liter.

Valerie - nice visual - galloping dachsunds...ha! I can see the ears flapping in the breeze as he sails by with his mouth full of toy and tail acting like a rudder.

By the way, you are doing just SUPER with your mega-exercising while you are at home! That ought to get you back into the groove for the truck...I bet curves really did seem tame compared to your class! But keep going, you know it is your lifeline on the road for exercise!

I am going to miss you when you go back on the road and only post periodically. I have really enjoyed your more frequent posts while you have been at home.

I never heard of Olivio, I think I have seen smart balance. Mom uses store brands of pam type butter flavor sprays. I hope that is okay.

Lilion- I hope you get caught up on your backlog of work soon, it must be horrible pressure on you!

Congrats on upping your time on the IM, you are doing great! How is your intensity on it? I go very slow or I burn out at around 6 minutes. It gets my heart rate way up when I go fast and wears me out.

I would love to have someone to try different cuisines with. My family have a handfull of restaurants they will go to. No one ever wants to try anything new. They did try a new chinese buffet the other night when I stayed home to stay on program and they said it was AWFUL which only reinforces the tradition of not trying new things. I doubt if I could ever get my family to try an india restaurant.

I miss when I had money and a car and could go wherever I wanted to and try new things all the time. Sometimes being stuck at home all the time really stinks.

But today I am alone at home and got to be naked (rare occurrence) I had a great time, even went out in the back yard and sunbathed in the nude for a while (7 ft fence and no two storey neighbors) it felt great! I love being naked when I am alone!