I thought it was time for the March thread.

Hi y'all! Can I join in too? I've been lurking in this group for a few weeks now. Y'all seem like a great bunch!

JsMommy, all are welcome here! I see you are in Oklahoma. That's where I was living before I took this job in France.

As of yesterday, I am halfway to my goal of 180. I'm sure I'll readjust that goal when I get closer. I was hoping to get to right at the 200 mark or even 198 by the time I returned to the states, but I may be heading home a lot sooner than originally planned.

I received a call last week saying that my father requires a liver transplant. This is a stressful time, especially being so far away, but I'm not turning to food like I have in the past. If anything, I'm determined to be at my healthier because as a universal donor, I'm the most likely candidate for giving my father part of my liver. I will know more later this week.

NjPants, I'm sorry about your father, that's great that you are willing to step up as a donor. I hope the best possible options arise for you all.
Nicki

Hi Everyone! I've been MIA - throwing parties and running around to lessons and competitions! I am still slowly losing so that's good....but I have stopped exercising and I need the mojo to get back into it. The horrible weather is not helping....I really need spring to come!

I'm still contemplating signing up for the Disney World princess marathon next year....part of me thinks it's crazy, but part of me thinks it is great motivation to get really fit. I'm not sure how my knees will hold up though.

Norma - Sorry to hear about your Dad. That's amazing that you may be able to donate part of your liver, keep us posted on that!

JsMommy - Welcome!

I am joining y'all...and hoping to get out of the 170s in March!

Mission you totally got this! My goal is 188 the end of this month. push it!

Oh good, a March Chat! I should have posted my update here.

I'm back to losing the extra weight (not the actual weight I needed to lose, but the extra I had gained).

I'm doing the food delivery service in my town and it's pretty good and I hate to admit that I like the fact that the food is there, ready to heat up and eat, and I didn't have to make it. My BF really likes it too and he was the one that suggested it and I hate to say that he was right -- I resisted a lot, because I thought only home cooked meals, made from scratch are healthy.

They might be health-IER, but they aren't the only healthy ones!

So, it's been surprisingly easy to stay on track with dinners prepared like this. I never realized dinners were my downfall before.

Let's see how March goes!

Norma - I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I'm glad you're not turning to food on this and I'm glad you're also a universal donor. I hope it all works out for him and he's recuperates soon.

Laura - Glad you're still losing! That's great. Exercising might be overrated, if you're still losing. I do it for the stress, not for the weight loss.

Welcome Mission2Lose and JsMommy!

Hey everyone.. sorry, I didn't mean to start posting then totally disappear... I was actually laid off last month after 12 years with the same company, it was a big kick to the proverbial nuts so it's taken me some time to recover. Unfortunately due to the economy up here there isn't a lot out there right now. I've only applied for 2 jobs and haven't heard anything back from either of them. One I'm really not expecting to hear back about, it was a bit outside of my realm but worth a shot. The other one I'm really hoping I hear back about, I could totally do that job.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday.

Hey everyone! I haven't posted here in a loooong time. I'm 38, started at 199.2 last week; got on the scale today and I'm at 193.2 currently. DH and I CLEARED the junk food and food we crave out of the cabinets and are now doing Seattle Sutton. I'd like to do it for only 5 weeks, then convert over to Weight watchers. My dd and I are getting a food plan ready so we can make meals for the week and have them at the ready. DH want to stay on Seattle sutton-which I'm totally okay with. I've been going to the gym, even with a cold, which seems to start every time I start to workout after doing nothing for a while.
I'm 5'2" and I'd like to lose about 75 lbs. as an ultimate goal. For now, I'm happy with my 5 pound increments and will celebrate with non-food rewards when I hit those goals.
I'm hoping I can stick through this with working mid shift as an ER nurse (12 noon-midnight) and getting my masters.
We're also wanting to change our eating ways for our dd. She's had some weight gain and was just diagnosed with Hashimotos. We don't want her to lose weight, just to eat healthier.
Have a great week everyone!! I'm looking forward to getting to know you all!

Welcome to all the new folks joining us and to those who've been out awhile as well. Welcome back! We've all been there and we will get through this together.

Thank you to everyone for your concern about my father. We should know a bit more this week. I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear. My family keeps telling me not to stress but how do you change a lifetime habit of doing that? I'm still trying to eat clean, but I can feel my body retaining water right now.

Does anyone have good suggestions for handling stress? I'm open to everything. I've been exercising more and staying away from my go to stress reliever foods.

Indy congrats on the quick drop. I'm also an ER nurse and can relate to the crazy schedules. I actually recently started an 8 hr shift job and thought I'd hate it but love it. Might be because I do 3 8s one week and 4 8s the next week. Throw in your masters and you are definitely running at full throttle! I ended up as a patient yesterday in my ER. Turned pail and threw up every where. Multiple times..ugh! Home now and resting. Debating not bothering weighing for a couple days while my body normalizes.
Nj, regarding stress there are deep breathing exercises you can try. The hard part is shutting the thoughts out! Deep inspirations through your nose with slow exhales through your mouth. It's cheesy but it helped last night when I was trying to not barf on way home. I hope there's good news for your dad!
Hope everyone has a good weekend.

((((NJPants))))

I'm really sorry. I don't have good advice on how to handle stress. I'm the worst at it.

Welcome old and new posters....

I am dropping in to say I hurt my back last week, so I am in a lot of pain. I am allergic to NSAIDs, so I can't take them right now. I think I need to schedule a massage to help, since I can't take drugs for it. And I also need to start resting up -- I haven't been as good as I should have.

I haven't been on the scale in a week or so, so I have no idea where I am... I am probably up, but I couldn't tell you how much. My life will be back to normal after this weekend... so I'm hoping I can get back on my routine, my food, and all of that. This time, it's really it.

Rana, I'm sorry to hear about your back. I hope you're back to yourself soon.

I've gained a pound this week, but with stress, a Greek grandmother visiting, and the amazing losses in January and February I knew it was only a matter of time before the scales stopped registering a consistent loss. Tonight, I booked my return ticket to the US. I'm scared about returning because I've been so successful in my weight loss here in Europe. I just have to bring what I've been doing back home with me.

Sorry I've been MIA! Life's been pretty crazy as I'm only 4 days away from my half marathon! SOOOO NERVOUS! lol

Aunty - ugh, that sucks. So sorry!

Nicki - hope you feel better!!

Rana - ouch!!! Hope you heel quickly.

Exercise works wonders for me. My friend told me that she spends each mile thinking about a different thing that's bothering her and at the end of the mile she "let's it go." Might be worth a try?