Just a quick post to Zelma We love you dear and you already know you are a winner where it counts! The photos of you don't do you justice. You absolutely glow on that video! I'm proud just to have made your acquaintance on-line.

Zelma you have already won in our books you did us all proud!
thanks rks it made me feel good to see that magic number!

ZELMA - You da man! or da Pirate! ...Well, you know what I mean - You da CHAMP!!! And you're beautiful, inside and out!

Zelma -- I loved watching the vid and hearing your voice-- and the cute kids!! You ARE a winner and I'm so glad you know it -- tho winning the competition would have been sweet, you've saved your life and inspired so many others!

Also, I have to tell you that I am starting to do thinkgs you talk about doing -- first, you make me feel less bad for checking myself out in the mirror more! I'm starting to feel and look less fat!!

Second, I'm getting more confident and outgoing too!

Everyone, this not being obese thing is going to be waaaay cool!!!!! I can't wait to truly say I am not obese anymore!!!! (only 9 pounds to go!!!)

Valerie -- Loved the pirate stop!!!!!

Sandy -- Please do think of starting slow with the exercise. Think of the stories you'll be able to tell someday about what you couldn't do then but can do now!!!

Oh. I just remembered what I was going to say. DH (the ) told me today that he'd lost 13 pounds in the last two weeks. Just like that. Poof! Magic! No waiting around for the FFM. No sweatin to the oldies. No 90 minute workouts with gut wrenching crunches or iron pumping or food ordeals. Just 13 pounds in 2 weeks.... And we wonder why there are hardly any men on the lists! With a metabolism like that, who needs a treadmill??? I think I'd like a visit from the Fat Fairy Father if that's the way HE works!

Sigh. OK, I'm really happy that he's losing weight, but you know what I mean.

Also, I went to the first of the six week class thingys for my 6 week challange at Curves. We don't start their diet plan until next Monday, so it kind of gives me permission to slack until then. But I've already been slacking! I guess I'll start counting again and keep it around 1800 until they say "GO." That way I neither sabataging my overall weight loss, nor the kick off to the 6 week thing. I just still need to eat wisely... which, um, I believe is the whole POINT!?

So, LILION, who are we supposed to talk like tomorrow?

Have a good one all my !

My late night post before I go to bed again!

Sorry I've missed so much chatter... but I've at least been outside doing things with hubby so that's good

We went for a walk for 40 min tonight.. my joints and bones seem to snap a lot so I'm working up to more as time goes on.

Zelma! Whoa girl! I watched your vid and it's great I think seeing the light in your eyes on the vid is fantastic. We can definitely see the happiness you radiate, and you are looking totally awesome. So sorry you did not get the prize for the contest but you are all winners anyway, I think. Nice that you got the makeover and the travel, etc. so that's still great. Your hubby looks like a sweetie too, and I'm happy you will have many more years together. Everyone in the vid was really proud of you and the little ones were so cute!!

Hi to all of the people who arrived in the last week or so that I wasn't here to say "welcome" to!

~ Angie

Well I missed most of the last thread, but....
Zelma, sad that you didn't win the comp, but YOU WON YOUR LIFE BACK & OUR HEARTS & RESPECT & ADMIRATIONxxxxx
My pirate name was Black Mary Flint, why Mary??? oh well.
Melissa (hope I got the right name) I hope stuff with your guy gets sorted out really soon, one way or the other. I noticed that me & hubby have had good, bad & really bad times in our 11 years together & sometimes I wonder why we stay together but the good & great times make me realise why. Hope it comes right soon for you as this sort of worry does not help with dieting!xxxx
Valerie, I'm with you, I feel ok til I look in the mirror, or try to do something I used to; like jumping or cantering; and realise as I try I just don't have the fitness & I am too heavy to do it. sob... BUT EVERY POUND LOST IS ONE CLOSER TO DOING IT!!!! We must all remember that, the journey is as important as the destination, whether it takes a few weeks or three years.xxxx
I am feeling so tired again today, thank goodness I'm at the Dr's tomorrow to see about changing my meds. I am too tired to get up and really don't want to either, BUT having to get Gareth to school forces me to, I don't want to exercise, too tired, but have to walk Aiden to nursery, so at least I'm getting up & out. I don't feel depressed as such BUT I don't feel happy or want to clean & tidy up either.
I have to go, I know I've forgotten loads of you but I read your posts & thin of you all.
xxxxsharon

Zelma--your positive point of view never fails...some would have been so upset about not winning, but you certainly have the winning attitude, because you're absolutely right about everything--that even without winning this contest, you've done SO much good, both for yourself and in inspiring others

Sharon--I hope a trip to your doc helps you with a bit of energy...sometimes the wrong meds can make you feel even worse than without!

Valerie--haha, your way with words...I, too, shall switch to the Fairy Fat Father with you

wyllenn--9 pounds! That is SO close...you'll be NON-obese in no time!

I checked my calendar yesterday and didn't realize how quickly September has flown by. Jeff and I are taking a long weekend trip to Georgia over Columbus Day weekend in October, but that's only 2 weeks away! I decided to stop following my menus for this week and just try to eat sensibly (NO, Jill, you do NOT need a cheese danish for breakfast, Chinese for lunch, and pizza for dinner! ). Then I'll start my menus again on Sunday because that will put me right at my 3 days of being off menus when I go on my trip. When we visited them last year, we literally ate out for EVERy meal (excpet maybe cereal one day for breakfast), so I'll have to watch every bite! At least we're planning to visit the new Atlanta aquarium, which is the largest in the world, so that should clock me some walking miles!

Hello All,

Well doesn't it suck that Zelma didn't win that competition. Still as we all know, she is a winner in our eyes, and a real inspiration to all of us. Now thanks to the coverage in the news and papers she has had she will be an inspiration to many many others. GO ZELMA

I tend to do a lot of thinking when I exercise and today I was thinking how great it feels to say I am 18 stone 2 lbs, rather than 23 stone 7 lbs that I was when I started this diet. This is a weight where a lot of people would be starting a diet rather than be nearly 6 months into one. I wondered if I should give myself a week off my diet, and then start afresh just like I hadn't dieted recently. Two things stopped me agreeing to do that. First of all I, believe it or not, DON'T want a break, I am happy eating what I do. And secondly, as we all know, we are making lifestyle changes, not just dieting til we lose weight and then going back to our old ways. So......I can't take a break from life can I, and therefore won't be taking a break in my diet if that makes sense. Sometimes I wonder where these new found thought processes come from

Zelma - I know I emailed, but again, just want to say you are AMAZING

Katt - so happy to hear that you are going to get that prescription filled and give the meds a go. I too hope that you find it's a chemical imbalance that is causing your depression. I am not sure what triggers it off in all cases, but I know mine was triggered from the surgery I had 3 years ago.

How did the house hunting go? I hope your dad saw something that he really likes and that is in your price range.

too funny about you saying your 25 lbs loss must have been from the cm in height you have lost. You know from your photos though that it's not from your height at all, well I can see it anyway You look like you have lost more than 25 lbs!! I guess it's always easier to see it in others than in yourself though!

I used to call chippies, chips. That's coming from living in Australia of course. But then I came to the UK and chips are the hot things you get from a fish and chip shop, and the stuff in plastic bags are called crisps It's funny how you learn to adapt to the ways of where you live despite your upbringing. Like cordial here is squash, yoghurt is prounounced with a soft 'o' here, like in dog, and of course chips are crisps

Lilion - ok I won't worry too much about you now that I know you are only making up for a few naughty days while you were camping Thanks for putting my mind at east

Missy - how are you doing today, any improvement with the situation at home? As for your pirate name, hope you are going to remember it ready for next years Internationl Pirate Day

Sandy - sometimes how much weight we have to lose is really scarey. The best thing to do is not to focus on the end number. Make lots of little goals so that each time you reach one you feel proud of yourself and inspired to go after the next goal. Reward yourself too when you get to each goal. It all helps.

As for exercise, it IS hard to get motivated to do it. Zelma inspires you, so just think of how well she has done, and how she had to exercise as well as change her diet habits to get where she is today. I am sure she will tell you herself that she actually enjoys exercise now. I look forward to saying that myself. Well I do enjoy it, I just don't always feel like doing it. I want to get up one day and think, YES, it's time to exercise

Brenda - Daren told me about the memorial being on TV for Steve, but after the video of the song an aussie band sung for him came on after Zelma's video I was upset enough. I knew I couldn't watch the memorial, I didn't fancy an hour of crying like you did Did Dancing with the Stars cheer you up? I hope so.

Nancy - I love carrots too, I always peel one just for me to eat as I am peeling others ready for cooked dinners I much prefer them raw to cooked too, but eat them both ways

Kenya - 2 more days to go, 2 more days to go. But you already know that

Valerie - I loved your 'stop' post you are so funny. BUT thank goodness Pirate day is over. No more having to listen to Pirate Pete's voice on all my SIMS 2 characters

As for hubby losing so much weight, where's my long stick?? Do you think if I tried hard enough I could hit him with it from here Seriously it does suck that men seem to lose weight so much quicker than women. Daren is dieting now, and I just know when he weighs on Monday he will have lost more than me despite having treats that I don't have!!! Oh well we just have to remember that our men are getting healthier too and not want to hit them too often for their great losses

Hope you enjoy doing Curves and the diet come Monday, I know Annie loved it, and had great success with it, I am sure you will too!

Angie - awful isn't it how are joints make weird and not so wonderful noises when we exercise. Today my knee just would not stop grinding and clicking when I was doing leg exercises. Oh well I guess they have had to carry around a lot of weight, so it's my fault that they are a bit poorly now

Sharon - hope to catch you later for a chat, until then sorry you aren't having a very good day.

Jill - That Atlanta aquarium sounds awesome, the largest in the world, I bet it will be impressive!!! Sounds like a good idea to work your diet so that the 3 days you don't have to be OP are the days you will be away.

Patti - hope you are having a good day, no headaches or anything. Have you seen anymore humming birds etc today?

It's time for me to go exercise, so take care all, and bye for now,

Hugs,

Ammi

Ammi i am just being busy picking up things my cat has knocked down.. which is quite a lot. yes i still have a good many hummingbirds. i thought my hubby had pictures on the com puter i could send but i didnt see any. i will ask him when he comes home if he has any. they are quite something to see when they flock around the feeders. they will all migrate soon though.
i too am quite impressed with Zelma she did us proud.
good jobon the staying on program.. an occasional day off might help but not a week!

Hey everyone~

YAY! Finally I am feeling a lot better! I had a cold for almost two weeks. It totally threw me off of my routine. I wasn't really able to work out that much. But I have been still doing all the small changes. ( no junk and soda)
I hope to get back on track and get moving! I actually have really missed my walking. I have no clue what I weigh. I know I for sure haven't gained any weight. It is TOM for me right now. So I will proably wait till monday to weigh myself.

I also got some results back from the doctor. Apparently I am hypothyroid again. They thought I went hyperthyroid. But now I am back to the Hypo side. And now I will be on a lower dose of replacement hormones. So I am hoping maybe that will help me some. And I just wanted to mention that I am not sure if any of you remember my working out situation. But basically where I live in alaska the weather is mostly cold and we have no paved roads here. And my DH measured how many laps from one end of the house to the other I would have to do to make half a mile. So right now I am doing half a mile and then hopefully I can do a mile soon. But I just wanted to say just doing something that you would think is simple like walking back in forth in your house really makes a difference! I really felt at first I must look silly walking back and forth. But I worked up a good sweat! Especially since I am not used to regular excercise. Whatever works I guess!

ZELMA~I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your story/video. Sorry you didn't win. But WOW what an inspiration! You are already a winner!

Well I hope to catch up on personals later on. I hope all of you have a good day!

Michelle

First of all, MICHELLE, BRAVO on walking in the house. That shows such wonderful self-discipline and commitment!!! One of the reasons I go to a workout class is that by 12-25 minutes into it, I'm SO ready to quit, even tho the music is great and it's fun. But I can't quit, cuz I don't have the guts to walk out of the room and have all those nice girls thinking, 'Oh, that's too bad. Poor Valerie couldn't do it.' If I were to do my videos alone in my livingroom, I don't know if I'd be so good about finishing the job... or even starting it. What you're doing is GREAT! Keep it up!! It doesn't matter WHERE you take the steps, as long as ya take 'em, right?

ZELMA, I hope that link is still up. I'm gonna zip back on the old thread and look it up right away. I'm excited to see you in action!

PATTI, It sounds like your cat is as busy as my Simon puppy is. I think I mentioned that the day after I bought some wonderful new boots, he mistook them for chew toys. If I ignore him he steals the kitchen mat and carries it all over, spreads socks and underwear everywhere, eats my cell phone (or who's ever he can reach) tumbles paperwork, takes the newspaper out of his crate, knocks over plants.... Where do they find the energy???

AMMI, How many pounds in a stone? I think you told us before, but I can't recall. * I'm sure you're right about the Curves diet. They have both a high protein version and a high carb version, and there's some flexibility in them so I know I can make it work. I just like doing it as a group and sharing that commitment with the other ladies, as well as it sorta feeds my competitive side. I don't mind losing, but I compete hard if at all. They'll have me recording all kinds of things, and I won't be able to slack on that. * YES!, Good for our bad boys for taking care of themselves and losing weight!

JILL, it sounds like you're really looking ahead and planning - definately the way to success. * The Atlanta aquarium sounds wonderful. Have a great time! * Did you get any more walking in since your marathon the other day? I know it's harder when you're sore like that, but it's the best thing for it.

SHARON, Ahhhh, cantering. I can't remember the last time I cantered. It was probably for just a few strides the last time I ever rode Steega. Since his first knee problem several years ago, he was supposed to stick to walk/trot anyway. But to canter and feel light??? That's still a hundred pounds away. I better get busy!!!

ANGIE, Great that you're getting so much walking in - 40 minutes!? Super, and I bet it's actually good for the snapping joints in the long run, as long as you don't overdo or tear anything. I bet your next weigh in is a good one, too - it'll make up for that slow week. good luck!

I worked out this morning, am OP with my eating, and have already had almost 45 ounces of H2O so far. It's a good day! I have to concentrate on getting more veggies into my diet. I like 'em, it's just that I'm so busy the fresh ones either spoil before I get to 'em, or the frozen ones take too long to cook... whine, whine, whine. No excuses! I had spinach and mixed vegs with cheese sauce for lunch, so I'm trying.