Hey everyone-

still playing some catch up....

KATT~CUTE pictures of your animals!! The lambs are so sweet looking!

Alice~Great pic! I love your hat and sweater in the pic!

AMMI~ YAY! What a great loss! Congrats!

KATY~Thanks so much for the well wishes. I am sure everything will turn out fine! It better! I love chinese food. Its so hard to resist! But I realize how much water weight I gain from all the sodium!

KATT~Glad you had a good first day! Congrats on your NSVs!

KAYLEY~WTG on getting all that walking in! Since back in a city with real stores...I am getting in a lot of walking. Malls are great for that!

Jill~Sorry you are having a hard time with food. I am the same way ..when I eat something bad its like I just continue the whole day. I guess the good think now is if I have a bad day...its just a day or two and not a month or year!

Kymberly~Thanks! Yeah I get sooooooo nervous now! Its already scary weather up there in Alaska..and flying in all that blowing snow and turbulence is scary!!

Misti~I am sorry you gained 5 pounds. That would drive me nuts also. And you are trying so hard! I hope you see more losses and soon!

KATY~I think you are doing great! And I bet it will get easier. I am still really having a hard time getting in consistent exercise. I feel so worn out so fast. But everyone here says it will get better. Hang in there!

Sharon~Thanks! Yeah I hate turbulence! And yes I get to see way less snow and trees! Its been nice down here. Nice change for sure! Again thanks so much for the good wishes!

NANCY~For sure triple check things and try to get the seats in order. Hopefully you can have some choices. Also what I can recommend is just be really blunt with the flight attendants. They were so wonderful! They will work with you if you ask. Hopefully! I am sure it will turn out alright.

Melissa~YAY on the 4.5 loss!!! That is awesome hun! I am happy you are finally seeing some nice losses!

AMMI~Glad you are comfy and have that heating pad! Is your back feeling better in general? Yeah the biopsy wound hurts like heck! But its so worth it if things are ok...or at least I found out if something was wrong!! Yeah the flight was so crazy! But we made it through...when we got to the hotel room we just busted out laughing because we both couldn't even begin to even vent about how crazy that long day had been!

LORI~Hope you are ok hun.

ANNIE~Hope you are doing ok also!!

Cheima~ Glad you joined!

Valerie~I am so sorry to hear you were fired. Hang in there hun!

Lavandel~That is a nice comment from your B/f!! Leave it to the man to notice the smaller butt!

KATT~Hope work goes well for you! Hope Ash is feeling better soon!

Colneen~I am so sorry to hear about your nephew/neice. Sorry you had such a rough weekend.
WTG on not getting the bad food! I am a very emotional/stress eater...its hard when things get rough not to give in.

~wow that was a lot to reply to! I am sorry if I left anyone out! I hope you all are doing ok!


Well I am feeling much better today. My DH went to walmart and loaded up on wound dressing stuff. The problem was ...the one on my side was so wide and deep that it just hurt more than normal! But fixing it up made it feel tons better. I still wish their exercise room at the hotel was open....but honestly where my moles were removed it hurts to walk I proably couldn't have anyways. But I have been getting in TONS of walking! Food though...hmm...not so good. I could be doing a lot worse. But we had the most horrible food. POPEYES chicken!!!!!! I am not sure if you all know what that is. Its really good fried chicken. It should be a SIN to eat it! But we went to the store and loaded up on water and sandwhich stuff so I won't be tempted to just eat out a lot.

I am really nervous about getting back on the flight! More because of the bad weather and turbulence. It really has shaken me up! I need to be knocked out for that flight! And I just wanted to get in that...you know we always hear how many nasty people are just plain mean to overweight people. I just wanted to say the people on that plane were so nice to me. Everyone tried to help and said there was no problem and that I wasn't squishing them. And the flight attendants...the sweetest people in the world! They did everything they could to try to work it out. And through out the flight asked me how I was doing. So God was for sure watching out for me! I just wanted to make note that its nice to see so many caring and wonderful people out there. So I do have to say instead of being the worst couple of days...I have met some wonderful people. Ok enough of that! I hope you all have a great day!!!

Hello all,

Katydid, Congrats on your 1 mile accomplishment! I think most of us can relate to feeling so overwhelmed when we started exercising. I started walking around a school at first, which was .25 of a mile to go around it. In that quarter of a mile, I would have to stop and rest multiple times. Now I can comfortably do the 3mile video and the 4 mile is "doable" but challenging. And that has only been since July...4 1/2 months. You will be surprised at how much change can happen if you just stick with it, as much as it sucks at first.

Katt, I meant to mention my congrats to you last night for your engagement! Your man sounds very nice.

Misti, What a bummer that stupid scale can't keep going in the direction it needs to go. I agree that you are an inspiration to many of us, including me. Nancy also mentioned a doctor's appointment, which I had pondered as well. Have you been recently? Maybe he/she could give additional advice? I'm not saying this could be an issue, but my friend's mom was heavy for some time and decided to lose weight. At first, it seemed bizarre that she was losing large amounts of weight everywhere but her belly. She had these spindly little legs and a pregnant-looking belly. Turned out she couldn't lose those belly pounds because it was a big tumor. She had surgery and everything turned out fine, but had she not tried to lose weight, it could have been a much bigger issue.

Melissa, congrats on your loss! Whoop!

Valerie, I am envious of you. You set your sights on a goal, practiced and practiced to get better at a skill, and achieved it. Further, you entered a field not only off-limits to most women, but one where you had to prove yourself even before they met you based purely on the name on the application. The fact that things didn't turn out as envisioned has not deterred your positive nature and spirit. That is an amazing accomplishment, Valerie.

Ammi, well...the weight went up as expected, but not by much. Actually only 1.4 pounds, so I changed my ticker to reflect that pound. I'm glad your back is starting to feel better. Back pain is evil. (Speaking of which, how has Annie been?)

Michelle, I'm glad you are recovering from your flight. I could understand your discomfort; just reading about being squished made my stomach churn. I'm glad that the people you sat next too were so kind and comforting. I'm afraid that the typical New Englander would not have been so accommodating, nor friendly. (I lived in Montana for many years and moving to New England has been a somewhat of a culture shock for me. People are just not the same here as they were in MT.)

Elmay, thank you for the comment on my avatar pic. I took that at a lake that I frequently visit. I'm surprised it came out as well as it did, as it was a quick shot taken before a group of people got in my way.

I thought I did fairly good today until I added the calories up. Breakfast was a yogurt with frozen blueberry shake, lunch a spinach salad with almonds and cranberries, and dinner was some homemade fried rice I made last night with lots of veggies. I was still hankering for something after the rice, so I grabbed the can of cranberry sauce that has been hanging out in the fridge. 600 calories in that small can!! Crazy, I tell you. Thats the last time I buy that stuff.

Off to finish getting ready for classes tomorrow. I hope everyone has a lovely evening tonight/day tomorrow.

Just rushing through... just got home from a project I was doing and heading out again for Bible Study! Whew!!! But wanted to say thanks for the encouraging words... but I think I must obviously be coming across as a lot more "down" than I am. I am really VERY upbeat and having fun with all this. Also I am used to my best friend whom I email back and forth with all the time and when I whine that way she knows I am just letting off steam and will be laughing about it if not that moment, then soon. So sorry if I am coming across as a downer..I'm not.

As for the struggle to lose... this is the story of my life and why I have given up so many times. But not THIS time; nope, not a chance! And LOL NO WAY do I want to give up the scales! They keep me motivated.

Oh and yes, I am doing this under the care of my fantastic doctor. She thinks I am doing incredibly well and is very proud of me.

Hugs to all
Sue

I'm not in a very good mood due to my instructor. I'm so TIRED of being at Lake Michigan College. I hate the fact that I have to be there for ONE more semester after this one's finished. I just have to look towards May! I'm NOT changing my ticker to 298, because TOM reared it's ugly head this morning! Hopefully, that's the cause to that MASSIVE random gain! I did change my goal, and want to lose 10 pounds by Christmas. We'll see...heh. Had a really good OP day today, and got in about 40 mins of walking, and 20 mins of my Crunch dvd this morning. I'm so stressed, and tired, I'm not going to do my Yoga this morning. Perhaps in the morning.

Ammi - There is quite a bit of bouncing around, and shaking your tush, and lots of (sorta) awkward movements. It's definately something that you have to get USED to! Hehe...

Colleen - I am so sorry to hear about this terrible tragedy. My thoughts are with you and your family. -hugs-

Ammi, I crack up at your Gazelle stories, especially since I am now sharing them! And I will be forewarned about whacking my boobs as the handle bars go by. I just jumped on it and did almost 30 minutes even though I really didn't have time... have to rush to get out the door for my study. But wow this thing makes my muscles feel SO good!!

Later, everyone!

Okay, I just have a few minutes because the BIG PILE o"GRADING is still sitting there...

Count me as one who kind of fell off the wagon today. I think it's a lot of stress at work and home and I have been grazing all evening. Thank goodness there's nothing awful in the house, or I would have eaten it... hey, I just remembered we have some lovely chocolates downstairs... drat. I wish I hadn't remembered!

Anyway, I've been eating all evening! I wrote it all down and it's actually not as bad as I thought, but I just wanted to say, for accountability, that I fell off plan tonight too -- I just felt so out of control!

I think I'm craving sweets and nothing's doing it... why oh why did I have to remember those stupid chocolates! We bought them from a neighborhood kid and I was saving them for the holidays. They were in the back of the closet.. .AND NOW THEY ARE IN MY HEAD!!!!!

Okay, well, so much for the upbeat post I was going to make!

I'll let you all know how the chocolate wars turn out...

I am having 2 pieces, and hubby is hiding the rest.

I will not feel guilt. I will move on.

Now, back to grading!

Hey Everyone! Looks like i missed an entire thread, these do move so quickly! Hopefully i can catch up.
CHIEMA; Welcome to the boards! You will find lots of support and wondeful people here.
NOLIFEWITHOUTHORSES; I am sorry to hear about your job. I hope this is a case of when one door closes, another opens. I will keep you in my thoughts, i'm sure you will find another job soon.
VILLANDRA; I hope the paxil works for you. Congratulations on walking home from the doctors office
LAVANDEL; Glad to see you posting again, hope you are doing ok.
KATT: that is so cool people thought you and your daughter were sisters! That happens to me alot, and I LOVE it
TOOFATFORU; i hope your cold gets better, good for you on the continued excersise!
COLNEEN; i am so sorry to hear about your loss. you will be in our thoughts and prayers.
ZIGGY; Good to see you posting I went away for a long time, and now i am committed to staying active on here. the support is awesome!
AMMI: One day i will be a GAZELLE girl,lol. really you have made it sound so cool, i have got to try it! maybe after i sell some more stuff on ebay
WYLLENN: Dont stress over the candy, i think alot of us went AWOL this weekend with good food choices. i for one did, but thankfully i am back on track now!
NOTTHECHEAT; the bathing suits you got sound nice, when did you say you were taking a trip? i hate bathing suit shopping! its hard for me to find something that is stylish yet concealing. sometimes i just bypass the suit and wear shorts
MECHELLE: i am so happy your trip turned out better than you thought if you are as sweet in person as here, no wonder everyone was so nice im sure your return flight will be fine. Popeyes chicken is good, much better than KFC
SANDYBAR: Glad to hear you got some resolution from Red Lobster, hopefully next vist will be much better! maybe you can go to another Red Lobster
ALICEEEPP: your pix are good, and your dog adorable!
MISTI: You are never, never a downer! You have so much enthusiasm its contagious
KAYLEY: Im sorry your having a rough time with school. just remember, its only a few more months, then you can go where you want too. Im sure your wt gain was due to TOM
EVERYONE I MISSED: Hope you all are doing good
ME: today was a good day, foodwise. i actually ate way less than i should have(just wasnt hungry) Tommorrow i am off and have some non-important things to do. I've had a few NSV lately, while gathering some stuff for Ebay, i found some jeans and a couple shirts i had bought last year...i couldnt fit into them good then, so they were in my closet. anyway just for fun i tried them on, and the jeans are too big and the shirt is perfect! God it doesnt take much to make me happy! now if i ever get to "normal" size, i will be estatic
Have a good night everyone!

I am truly pained by the tragedy, sadness, and disappointment so many of our group are experiencing right now. My thoughts are with all who are suffering right now.

colneen - My condolences to you and your family. What a tragic loss.

Valerie - Sorry to hear you lost that job. I love your positive attitude though!

wyllen - Two pieces of chocolate is just right. You enjoyed them and moved on. Hey, I am pretty sure that is how sane people eat! (I say that as an insane eater trying to become sane )

Jilly - I just wanted to send you a big too because I can totally relate and empathize with the bingeing. Bingeing is why I gain weight. I know how to eat healthy and enjoy lots of healthy foods. It's the bingeing that gets me. I have figured out several reasons why I do it. I just haven't figured out yet how to not do it when some of my triggers happen. Oh well, all we can do is keep trying and continue to increase our self-awareness. Anyway, just wanted you to know you are not alone.


Not much news from me. I did get an email that my Gazelle has been shipped so hopefully I will get in a couple of days. My weigh in is tomorrow and I am not really looking forward to it. I still was not in control of my eating the way I wanted to be. Exercise was nearly non-existant. I did get up a little early this morning and did 20 minutes of marching, kicking, etc. while I watched the morning news so that is something. Will try to do the same tomorrow. I made a nice Core-friendly chili recipe I got from the WW website tonight for dinner. It was good and I have enough leftover to bring with me to work for lunch a couple more days so that will help me stay on track during the day.

Well, I am off to go watch House. I love that show. I really have a thing for Dr. House with his biting sarcasm, his limp, and his piercing blue eyes.

Collneen, sorry about your nephew, losing anyone close is terrible but losing them as a child is too awful. I pray there is hope for your neice and that you find out what caused the accident AND that it wasn't caused by anything illegal. You are so strong refusing to pull in & get fatty NASTY foods, give yourself a hug and I hope you continue to be so strong.xxxx
Misti, I never thought you were a downer (from the queen of down, lol) I feel for you when you are trying so hard, it HAS to pay off, GOOD FOR YOU for sticking with it!xxxx
I haven't been OP but have been walking (I will add my minutes later) BUT today I made sure there was good food in the fridge - organic chicken & stir-fry veg so there's no more excuses!
Valerie, I'm sorry about the job, but at least you tried & they liked you! I'm sure with good refs. you will find something soon. On a positive note at least you get time with your horses.xxxx
Xena, I'm sure with the new exercises & good eating starting you will see results very soon.xxxx
gotta go & eat brecky,
xxxxxxsharon (9.15 am here)

Good Morning All,

I am thrilled to say that I did half an hour on the Gazelle this morning I had been missing it so much. I will do another half an hour later if I feel my back will be ok, and then see if I feel up to doing 15 minutes of toning up work. It will only be on my arms so that shouldn’t set me back with my back pain at all. Just to be on the safe side I am resting on my heat pad again now. So fingers crossed I will be ok. It felt so good to work out again

Missy - I am glad the doctor gave you some Paxil to take, I hope it will work well for you, when are you going to start taking it?

Michelle - for the congrats on my weight loss, It’s good to be back on track Thanks too for asking how my back is. It’s so much better now. I haven’t had a twinge even. I have made the bed, and exercised and so far so good

My hubby is terrified of flying, can’t believe he wanted to get married in Vegas knowing that we had to fly to get there But anyway, he went to the doctors and got some Diazepam, a mild tranquiliser med. He took one about half an hour before we boarded the plane, and one during the flight and it made him much calmer. It didn’t make him silly, or sleepy, just calmer. Perhaps you could go to a doctor there to get something similar in time for your flight home.

How are those wounds now? I hope they aren’t as painful and that they will heal well. I think it’s a good job the gym at the hotel isn’t open. As much as you are in pain I still bet you would have tried to work out at least once just because all that equipment was available to you! Why is it closed anyway?

Sandy - I sound young on the phone too. Tele Marketers would ring up and if I answered they would ask to speak to my mum or dad Recently a friend of mine on holiday in Mauritius sent me a text message and asked me to ring her mum for her to let her know they had arrived safely. For some reason they couldn’t get through to her. I rang and gave the message, explaining who I was. My friends mum is a bit deaf, and I could tell she didn’t know who I was. Turns out she thought I was a friend of Naomi’s (my friends 16 year old daughter) and that I was ringing because Naomi asked me to, lol. So yes, I truly sympathise with you about sounding young on the phone

I am sorry you are having a hard time even thinking of being OP. Feeling upset about it isn’t going to help. I think you should give yourself a break especially as you know the meds are playing a big part in how you feel. Try to still be careful not to eat too much of the naughty stuff, and if you feel up to a little exercise then do it. Carry on drinking lots of water too. Hopefully all that will help you to not have a huge gain and then when you are ready to get back OP you can pretty much pick up where you left off. There’s really no point trying to diet when you just know you aren’t in the right frame of mind for it. If you fail you just feel worse. Just make sure you keep coming here, regardless of if your are OP or not

Jen - I am thrilled that you had a MUCH smaller gain than you expected, that’s great news You’ll lose that pound in no time at all, in fact it’s probably gone already

Thanks for asking about Annie, she is doing ok. Still suffering with her back but carrying on with the PT and some exercises she was shown to do at home to help her too. She of course feels down when she think of her brother, but on the whole she is doing well.

Sue - I never think you are on a mega downer when those stupid scales show a gain. I just figure you are more annoyed than anything. You are so determined to keep on going though and that’s the main thing that comes through when you post about any gains

Thanks for the tip about the shoes, I actually did look for means shoes when I bought the trainers (sneakers) I have now. But none came small enough. I buy a UK 5 and means sizes tend to start at a UK 7 of a 6 if you are really lucky. I have got the kind that seem more breathable though. Mind you my feet are still soaking at the end of each work out. My foot bends well in them as well, so I guess they are like the ones you mentioned.

Every time I read one of your posts where you are saying how much you love the Gazelle I have a big smile on my face I love that you are really enjoying yourself on it Oh and I am glad you are going to be careful to not let those handles whack your boobs now that you have been forewarned

Kayley - That DVD definitely doesn’t sound any good for me, it’s great that you can do it and that you enjoy it so much!

Stressed, tired, TOM, and an instructor at college that annoys you, it doesn’t sound like you were having a good day when you last posted. I hope you are feeling better by the time you read this And yes, TOM may just well be behind that silly gain that you saw on the scales, so hopefully by the time it goes it will take those lbs with it

Heather - did hubby hide those chocolates well enough so that you just had the two and stuck to that? I hope so. You know what’s great about you, even though you fell off the wagon, you were still clinging on to the sides trying to haul yourself back on When I fall off the wagon I let go and get trampled under the wheels. I even go out especially to buy lots of naughty food just because I can!! So first of all well done on not letting go, and secondly, for coming here to let us know what happened

Kymberly - well done on such a great NSV. I love trying on clothes that were once too tight only to find that they are too big now! Of course it’s a pain that I wasted my money, but it’s the best way to waste money if you ask me I bet you are still smiling about those jeans being too big and the top fitting perfectly

YAY I am glad that one day you will be a Gazelle Girl too, I just know you will love it. It’s a shame we all don’t live close to each other, we could hire a place, set up our riders and become a Gazelle Girls Gym

Xena - I hope your weigh in is better then you expect, and if it isn’t, well try not to worry too much because the minute that Gazelle arrives and you have it all put together, you won’t be able to keep off it. Just watch the lbs fly off then

Sharon - hope you are feeling ok today and that this grey weather isn’t bringing you down. Where’s the sun when you want it around!!

Time for me to make a move now, I have some emails to answer. Take care all and bye for now,

Hugs,

Ammi