Hi girlie girls!

Just a quickie before I hit the bed. If I get up there quickly it will be the first time this week that I've actually crawled in while Honey is still awake.

I've been playing catch up all week with jobs that didn't get done last week and this morning Mom calls and says she thinks she needs to go to the ER. I think I told you that she's had diarrhea (sp?) or some form of it for the past 6 weeks. Anyway, I called the Dr. instead and I got her an appointment. The Dr. said all the tests they did a month ago were negative and now maybe she should see a Gastroenterologist. Gee, I said that 3 weeks ago, but nobody listens to me!!!

Of couse that little visit took up most of the morning which put me more behind. I have pretty much let some of my job grabbing go by the wayside. I've gotten alot of job offers for restaurants and I'm trying to avoid some of that so Honey and I can get a good start on some weightloss.

It's off to be a "showgirl" tomorrow and then the Cardiologist in the afternoon. Oh goodie!!!

No time for replies again, sorry.
Prayers going out for Ruth and Terri's moms.
Welcomes going out to the new gals.
Hang in theres going out to those who need it.
Congrats to those that are losing.
Valerie, sorry you're on the BIG RIG again.

I'll catch up with you all later. Love ya bunches!

Good Morning Ladies!

Not much energy this a.m. to say too much. I have a rotten headache that has lasted three days now and it's getting really, really old! I'm taking ibuprophine four at a time and they are barely taking the edge off it. I think it's mostly sinus, combined with stress and lack of sleep. The sinus being the biggest problem, because I can't take decongestants.

No I.M. yesterday or weights, but I did go to yoga. I was hoping that the lovely, relaxing yoga class would lessen the headache. HA! I should have known I was in trouble when she had us get out the exercise balls. It was a WAY harder class than usual. Instead of lovely stretching and relaxing poses, I spent an hour falling off a big, gray ball. Literally. I got the biggest one they had because I'm 5'10" and thought I'd need it...but it was too tall and too underinflated and I struggled twice as hard as I would have otherwise. And there was another class in the room that holds the balls, so I couldn't exchange. Needless to say, it didn't help the headache at all.

Finally I took Excedrin PM at 10:30 and crashed and got some decent sleep...but still woke up with the headache. It's becoming a pain in the ---head.

I did end the day OP however. Feeling rotten, I still did not blow the diet. I ended the day at about 27 to 29 points, depending on how many points my Subway Bourbon Chicken sandwich was. They don't have any nurtition info other than the >5 grams of fat...so I figure it's pretty close to their chicken terriyaki. (If anyone cares, it's a good, but VERY messy sandwich...too messy for the taste in my book.) I just felt too cruddy to cook and walked by a Subway on the way to my car. Had to run to the video store and return a DVD and stopped at the store and got fruit and oatmeal and water. Today I had oatmeal and a peach so far. Doing well. I don't have a lunch though, so I'll probably end up back at Subway again.

I'm rambling with nothing really to say... Sorry. I just really don't want to work.

Terri and Ruth: Hope your moms are doing okay! We're all thinking of you.

Terri: On a totally separate subject - you are always mentioning steel cut oats. Well, I got some quick cooking ones and they are terrible! I must be doing something wrong, because they come out way less grain-like and way more pasty than regular oatmeal...I was thinking maybe it's because they are the instant, so I got the long-cooking type too now. How do you cook yours? Do you use the instant? I really prefer a bit more texture and that's why I bought them.

Thin: I like the idea of the contact list. We always have ladies going missing and I hate that. I'll send you info later. Hope all goes well at the cardiologist.

Jean: This is a great place full of inspiring ladies! Stick around and let us get to know you!

Well, I suppose I should run...not like I had anything to say anyway! Love to all!

Hi girls! Just quickly checking in. I see it's been rather dead around her the last couple of days. Where is everyone????

Lilion: Sorry you had such a headache. Here lately I've found that only Excedrin works for mine. I was going to suggest it, but I see you at least got some sleep with taking some. Here are the stats on the Bourbon Chicken directly from the Subway website.
6" Bourbon Chicken: 359 cal., 5g Fat, 50mg Cholestrol, 1020mg sodium, 54g carb, 4g fiber, 16g sugars, 25g protein. I think that works out to 7 WW points if my calculator is working.

I'm going back to writing reports. I still have two bankers to write up and then one more visit and write up next week. See you all later. Love ya bunches.

Good evening everyone!

Well, it's started. People at work have started to notice. Not that that's a bad thing, but I find myself very uncomfortable with all the comments. Especially the guys, I know they don't mean any harm, but I hate being the center of attention and having a lot of questions about my eating or how much weight. They and my girlfriend don't seem to understand why and I am at a loss to explain it, except it embarrasses me and reminds me just how bad off I was.

I finally got to our local farmer's market. I actually found a young Stevia plant. I can now keep that like an herb in my window and harvest all the sweetener I want! Really cheaply at $3 a plant.

Lilion, sorry to hear about your headache. Can you try a light saline flush for your sinuses? I understand it can lessen the congestion, guard against bacteria and be very soothing.

Thin, I'll contact you later too. Hope your mom finds the help she needs.

Valerie, sorry to hear you're back on the truck. Just keep plugging to get back in the field! I'll be out looking by next summer. Hopefully, i'll have quite a bit more of this weight off. I'm dreading having to compete with the 20-somethings at my age and weight.

Jean! I'm not sure if you actually meant to comment to me. There are a lot of ladies here with much more loss and time OP than me, but just for the sake of comparison on plans, (and the fact that i'm still REALLY excited by what i'm doing ) i'll boil it down:

1) Nothing processed, only my own prepared "whole foods".

2)LOTS of water! 16-18 glasses a day.

3) No sugar, salt, caffine or white flour. I do use Stevia as a sweetener and whole sprouted grain breads/pasta.

4) I eat every 3 hours or so, before I actually get hungry. Supposedly keeps up the metabolism and much better on the blood sugar as well.

5) I only weigh once a week. The scale makes me crazy

6) I journal and come here A LOT! READ, READ, READ...it gets me out of myself and brings encouragement. (which I don't tend to get a lot of in the "real world")

7) I made a committment to make my health the priority. I "just do it", as they say. I am also better at helping others.

8) I finally got the idea that I do have to have the right fat in my diet. I was losing very rapidly last time with almost no fat and lost my gall bladder in the process. I now use Flax oil and seeds as the bulk of my fats.

9) I realized for the first time that this is NOT a diet, it's a lifestyle change and I have to do this for the rest of my life.

10) I stay open to what my body is telling me, it also changes, if it doesn't like something I stop.

Not actually "secrets" per se Just what works for me. One thing i've noticed lately is that using Fitday also seems to bring out my compulsive nature. I would obsess about what I should eat, trying to get my percentages just right. I'm going to give that a rest for a while, I was getting the same way with that as I was with the scale for a long time. I don't believe this has to be that hard. Simpler is better.

Hope everyone has a good night!

Hi ladies,

Sorry for being MIA this week. Just was a crazy week and didn't feel like being on the computer at night.

Mom heard from her local doctor about the CT scan. He didn't see anything wrong around the heart but found a spot on her lung. He prescribed some meds to help with the chest pain and said to come back in 3 months. I told her to get a second opinion and not take the meds until they confirmed it. Sis got the results sent to the cardiologist and he didn't see an aneurysm. But he's scheduled a nuclear stress test for Tuesday to see how the heart muscle is functioning. He also said to go back to the other doc and tell him to find out what the spot is now not in three months. So, she feels like crap - very out of breath all the time and can't do much more than just sit around. Which is depressing her because she's trying to get ready to move and she really wants to get moved and away from that house.

I'm headed down there today to help her pack. So are my other sibs so it will be a full day.

I've uploaded some pics of Spice. She is really growing and changing. She's starting to eat grain with her mama. She co-habitating well with the other horses. If they get too close to her, she kicks at them or screams for mom. Here's her album of pics. Spice

Work has been very busy. Too much to do with not enough staff or time. And no word about what is happening with the opportunity my boss talked to me about. I've talked to her several times and she has not brought it back up. DH said to ask her but I won't give her the satisfaction of telling me to trust her or worse - tell me its a no. She'll handle it when its time for me to know. However, its very frustrating and its hard to wait. On top of that, we have decide to terminate an employee that someone else hired and didn't train well and let him flounder for six months. The guy has some bad illness but refuses to bring in a doctor's notice so that he can be protected. However, he doesn't catch on well and he has been seen sleeping at his desk. I feel really bad for him because its probably all because of the illness but from the business side, it has to be done. Great, that's at 8:45 on Monday and I have to participate.

On the home front, we finally got a front sidewalk poured. So much safer than the stepping stones the previous owner had installed. Plus it looks so much 'cleaner' where we took out the landscape timbers and the archway. The timbers are two deep and he's used them to make these triangles and rectangles for landscape areas. However, he didn't bring in dirt to fill them nor use the landscape cover before a thin layer of mulch so it becomes overgrown with grass and weeds. It just didn't look natural. So we'll be taking out more timbers and let some of it grow back as grass. Others I'll take out and put back a more natural looking border but not have it so geometrically shaped. We also bought new steps for the back door that are more level with the door frame. Much better for DH to walk flat out and then step down rather than step out and down at the same time and it was a big step. We pulled the other concrete step off the back patio and made a place where DH can step off the patio and then step again onto the ground. Actually will be better for my knees too because off the patio was a bigger step down. Except the dog doesn't like the new steps; not sure if its because they are fiberglass or what. Progress.

I have felt like crap most of the week too. I guess late summer allergies. What really bothers me about them is the fatigue I feel in my joints and muscles. And numbs the brain so that its hard to think. I've been taking a lot of claritin this week but just something I have to suffer through I guess. Makes it hard to be energetic enough for exercise.

I better go get the horses fed and get on the road. It will be a long day. Then tonight, we're going over to DH's cousin to look at a roll-top desk they are wanting to sell. I need a new desk because I sold my big desk with the house. I wasn't ready to buy but she sent pictures (she's a good salesperson) to see if I knew anyone and said how much she needs the money. Hard to say no after that when I'll be shopping for a desk anyway.

Have a great day!

Whew, lots going on with everyone.

Terri, hope things get resolved for your mother soon.

Ruth, good thoughts for your mom, too.

Jean, Welcome--did you lose us?

Lilion, Sorry bout the headache, but glad to see you're feeling back on track. What does WW have to say about plateaus?

I've been MIA , for a number of reasons. With school starting Monday, things have been nuts in the office, plus my financial problems aren't taken care of yet (as I really thought they would be by yesterday). So I've spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get various people to send paperwork where it needs to go, etc. On top of that, I really did run out of cash and (mostly) out of food at home, so when I was offered free food the last couple of days I've eaten it--that meant pizza on Thursday during a workshop, and yesterday friends had a dinner party, chili and nachos and bread, and I overdid and even had dessert. So I haven't felt like checking in since I know I'm not doing what I should be foodwise.

This morning I ate the last of the oatmeal I had at home then rolled the coins in my coin jar and took them to the bank so I can buy some groceries. Eating cheap does not mean eating well, but I'll see what I can do to compromise. If my situation hasn't been resolved by Monday, I'll be forced to borrow more money from friends, but I don't want to nickel and dime them to death when I still don't know what the timeline is here.

On top of all that, school starts Monday! Usually I'm excited, but not this year.

Have good weekends, all.

Hello everybody, Just dropping in to say hello and let you know how things are going...more bad news. They did some more test on my Mom and found a tumor the size of a grapefruit on her ovary. They will biopsy it to see if it is malignant. I am praying that it isn't. I don't think surgery is an option, or at least not one I want her to face at her age. BARB asked if she was back with me or still at my sisters, she is still with my sister. Not sure when they will be bringing her home. They are taking all the tubes out of her tomorrow and letting her get up for awhile. On top of everything else she had a bladder infection...poor thing, but she is feeling better now anyway. She has been in the hospital for a week and I know she is raring to go home.

I would do replies now, but truthfully I just feel to wrung out! (haven't been sleeping) Thanks to all of you for the good wishes for Mom. Talk to you all soon. Ruth

Good Afternoon Ladies!

Well, I went home sick yesterday and went to bed at 2:00 p.m. Slept until 5:30 and woke up with NO HEADACHE! Gee...any doubt that it was lack of sleep that was making my head hurt? DH was talking again about just staying up until I leave for work and then going to bed until he has to get up for work himself. I don't know what I think about that. On the up side, I'd get to sleep and he'd make breakfast. On the other hand, I already miss sleeping with him...I'm jealous of my snuggle time! He also may have the option of moving his hours to 10 p.m. to 8:30 a.m....I wouldn't see him at all in the mornings, but he'd be up about 5 p.m. that way and we'd have evenings together. I don't know which I like the idea of better...help in the mornings or seeing more of him at night. I suppose the at night... I think I'll just leave it up to him.

I remain OP. Quite pleased with myslef. I did just have a 11 pt gyro for lunch...but I can squeeze it in as I haven't used much of my 35 flex points yet. Chinese for dinner tonight - I'll have to keep the servings small.

Terri - I totally agree that your mom should get that spot checked sooner rather than later! I can't even imagine a Dr. wanting to wait on that. Spice is sooooo cute! What a sleek, sweet baby! She outgrew that skinny phase quick!

Ruth - Sorry to hear about your mom's test - I keep my fingers crossed for the next test showing it to be benign.

Angela - Good vibes : on your financial situation. I'm rooting for you and I know you can pull through!

Karen - No reason you can't be inspiring! You are doing SO well! Personally, I LOVE it when someone notices my loss....in fact I tend to announce every pound to everyone who will listen. Don't be self-concious! Be PROUD!

Thin - Thanks for the points! I was right - same as the chicken terriyaki! But still, not as good in my book!

Well, got to run. I need to do the Wal-Mart thing. Last minute school shopping to do as DS didn't know he needed actual gym clothes this year. So you all stay strong this weekend! Hugs!

Hang in there, Ruth, best to you and mom and all your family.

Lilion, thanks for the good wishes. Hope you and DH get sleeping settled to your satisfaction.

I'm going to try getting to bed at a reasonable hour again. I did it last night but then kept sleeping this morning.... I don't know if it's depression or what but my body seems to think I need 10 hours of sleep a night.

PS: This is an old and fuzzy pic of me that I've finally uploaded as my avatar, but since I'm feeling pretty old and fuzzy I figure I'll leave it a while and post a new one when I finally get new glasses.

THIN – great idea – I’ll PM you later!

KAREN – I loved your post with the list. I’ll have to print it out when I get a chance and give myself some more guidelines and a boost to my program.

LILION – Hi! I hope that headache is LONG gone by now! Good luck working out DH’s schedule – what a bummer to have so little time together. I hope he’s enjoying the new job anyway.

TERRI – I’m on a slooooow connection again, so I only checked out 1 recent pic of Spice, but holy pony! She’s filling out SOOO cute! She’s just a gorgous little thing!! ** I can’t believe that doc said to just come back in three months! That’s scary, and I would sure want to know what that spot was asap! My best wishes to your mom. ** I LUV rolltop desks! Did you get it? I hope your allergies are better, too.

ANGELA – I hope your able to get excited about school again this year after all. This $$ problem is temporary, but the value of your school will last you your whole life. I hope you feel like pouring yourself into and your classes are interesting. Hang in there with this eating thing – you’ve got a challenge, but this too will pass, right?!

RUTH – I truly hope that there’s something they can do to help your mom, and that it’s not malignant. I’ll keep her in my prayers.

We’re down in NC, between Greensboro and Raleigh. Phew, hot down here. I wish I’d shaved Max (dog) before I left home, but there wasn’t time. Both the boys are perfectly happy with short walks & happy to get back in the a/c in the truck. I’ll have to walk well after sundown when it cools off.
There’s a Curves nearby with room for the truck, so I’ll be there in the a.m. Getting in there and working out helps me keep my commitment and resolve up, not to mention helps me get my exercise minutes in for the month. They have a ‘3 workouts a week’ contest going on right now for a bracelet and a few other small gifts, like socks. It’s not that it’s such huge prizes, but somehow that still makes the challenge more fun.

Out of the blue DH asked to see all my credit card bills. I guess he intends to pay something off or switch it back to his name. THAT would make me very happy. In fact, he’s being very sweet and reminding me why I married him in the first place, and it’s nice to be getting along so well. He even stopped for me at the Mars Cheese Castle up in Wisconsin, which we’ve never stopped at before. (I love to stop in local joints, even the tourist traps, but he hates it.) I still just don’t want to be on the truck anymore, but I’m no where near as miserable and whiney as usual. Hopefully they’ll run our wheels off this coming week - making moola and keeping busy helps keep me from whining.

Take care, and do your best everyone!

Hello, all, I'm back.

I kept trying to start back to dieting and not managing for more than a meal here and there. I kept saying I'd be back on when I finally cooked some good food, and I wasn't cooking. There were a few valid reasons, but face it, needing cooked meals to diet is really an excuse. I mean, I could open a can of tuna and munch on a carrot to stick to a diet -- except that I don't.

Excuses over, I made a favorite chicken stirfry (mostly veggies) and had it with grapes as dinner. The leftovers will do for lunch tomorrow, and then for dinner, I'll be experimenting with a spinach and turkey bacon and potatoes concoction. Sounds fattening, but it's not.

Anyway, I've eaten everything I could think of to want to indulge in and now I'm actually tired of all that and want to be back to eating healthy. It must be middle age -- my body just won't put up with overeating for long periods any more.

Angela, I hate to think of you scrounging for food. Consider asking for help from a social service agency, such as Catholic Social Services or Jewish Family Services. Explain the crisis you're in, and they may give you one of those gift cards to a supermarket. Maybe even help with some bills or some pocket money.

Karen:What is a Stevia plant?

Hello and Best Wishes to you all: There are so many great ladies and I can't keep up with everyone but I wish you all well, good health and great weight losses.

Nothing much going on on the WL front, but lots of excitement at work. Can't wait to get there this morning to see what happens today. Lots if rumblings last week. The administrator was out because his mother dies, so the HR lady tries to wreck havoc and tried to fire the manager of the call center, but she refused to be fired. HRlady say Admin will officially do it when he gets in this morning, others(like me) don't think anything will happen except more fussing. Well can't miss anything, so I'd better go get dressed!!!