Hi there! Just wanted to make a quick intro. My name is Cathy. I live waaaay up in NY with my dh and 2 children (6 and almost-3). I work for a Chicago based company over the internet, and also at my dh's auto shop (answer his phones while I work at my "real job").
I am 5'4" and according to the dr's scale yesterday I'm up to 189 (YIKES). Also I was informed that my cholesterol is very high (294).
I've been yo-yo-ing around with my extra weight for at least a year but have been having a very, very hard time finding the strength to commit to anything for more than a week or so. As of today, this news about the cholesterol seems to have given me a fresh dose of motivation so.......here I am!
Nice to meet you all and hope to get to know you, make some new friends.
Welcome to 3FC!! Good luck with lowering your cholesterol (i read your other post aswell ) and also Good luck with your weight loss! We are all here for you if you need us!! xx
Hello & welcome to the site. I just wanted to say that lowering your cholesterol is possible with diet and exercise. I have no idea what mine was at my heaviest, I am sure it was way up there. Last year I got it down to 179 and this year 149. You can do it! I am also from upstate NY. Also, I am curious as to what firm in Chicago you telecommute for - I would LOVE to work from home.
Hello Cathy! Welcome to 3FC- I also justjoined! Where abouts in Upstate NY are you? Im wayyy up next to Canada outside of the small town of Malone. Ever heard of it? Good luck to you! ! Jess
Merogsrha and Techwife.....I live in northern Oneida county, actually right on the border of Lewis county, in Boonville. I know where Malone is, Merogsrha!
I've spent quite a bit of time around the St. Lawrence as well, my grandmother lives in Black River and Chamont, and I have an uncle who lives in Cape Vincent. I spent most of my summers growing up in the Watertown / Lake Ontario / St. Lawrence region. Nothing beats it IMHO, when I go up there for holidays etc. I get that HOME feeling in my heart, you know what I mean? Anyway, some of those places should sound familiar to both of you!
Ann, thanks especially for letting me hear your cholesterol numbers, sometimes I feel like all this is "for nothing" because in my heart I don't believe I can succeed at eating healthily....is that a word?? Anyway, thanks for that.
The company I work for is a small software business owned by one of my uncles. I do like working at home, if your personality it suited for it then it's great! Unfortunately there are a lot of scams out there, I just happened to get lucky that my uncle owns a business where everyone works from home and he happened to need a bookkeeper right when I decided I needed to be here at dh's shop more often (I work for him and answer dh's phones at same time).
Unfortunately it's a very small company, so I can't even give people an HR number or anything when they ask and in fact I happen to know he's not hiring at the moment anyway.
For a while I had a second 'at home' job writing keyword articles for a company that sells them to web sites. It was kind of a crappy job but.....it did give me a little more insight into the world of trying to find at home work from scratch and.....my advice to you would be to examine your talents, education and work history and see what you have to offer. Then look for support sites with on-line 'help wanted' ads for your talent. For example I searched on 'writing articles' and 'at home' and found a few sites devoted to free lance writing and many of them did have FREE advertising sections where you could get the names of companies who hire at home writers. This, to me, is a sensible and relatively safe way to look for at home work, as opposed to all the screaming (and scam ridden) web sites promising millions etc etc..
Geeze I'm rambling now! ANyway, hope this helps and nice to meet you~Cathy
Hi again Cathy
Thanks for all the work at home advice. The ironic thing is - I am a writer (not a work at home one) and lately I have been doing keywords in addition to my regular copywriting. I have to just keep plugging away and look for the right thing. And again, do not give up on your cholesterol. I am sure mine was way over 200. I was a huge binge eater and weighed over 250 lbs. I followed a strict calorie counting (1300 a day) and fat counting diet (40 grams or less) and it worked (although I am struggling now). I ate a lot of pure, unprocessed foods - high protein, low carb. And I worked out every day - cardio and weights a few times a week. Consistency is the key. You can do it
I personally hated writing keyword articles but they did put a little extra in my paypal account which was convenient for when I wanted to pick something up on ebay, etc..
Good luck with it.....if you like I'll pm you the freelance / at home site I used.
I grew up in Rochester, but spent my summers on a raft, tied to a sand screw on Sand Bay, half way between Cape Vincent and Clayton! So, when my husband and I were deciding where we wanted to raise our family, he said, "I hate big cities...I've always wanted to live in a little village that I could go boating in!" So, we moved to Cape Vincent about 8 years ago. The kids are bored to tears, but we love it! I just opened a business in town...I hope I make it through the winter! My daughter has been in marching band for the last two years. Its a nice, quiet, way of life up here. Total of 80 kids in her grade at school, as opposed to the 427 I had in my school!
By the way...what weight loss plan are you looking at? I love Sugar Busters! It works well for people that tend towards diabetics, but I think it would be a great plan to help in lowering cholesterol, too.
WOW Techwife, my uncle is the minister at the Methodist church in Cape Vincent! Cool! I spent summers at my grammas on Pt Peninsula, and we would always go into the Cape to do our laundry and go to Aubrey's for groceries LOL. That is amazing to meet you here!
As for dieting, right now I'm on a low cal, low sat fat, high fiber plan. I've always wondered about sugar busters because type 2 diabetes runs in my mom's family......maybe I'll give it another look now that I'm thinking about my cholesterol too.
PS Good luck with the winter thing, I think if you can make it through the winter up there (speaking both financially and in terms of snow) then you will be all set. There used to be a little store on 12e going past chamont called Porky's.....my dh always sais we should buy it and move up there which of course I would love but I'm like WHOA how you gonna get through the OTHER 9 months of the year LOL.
Another new Upstate New Yorker here
) and also Good luck with your weight loss! We are all here for you if you need us!! xx 
Hello!
Well!
My daughter has been in marching band for the last two years. Its a nice, quiet, way of life up here. Total of 80 kids in her grade at school, as opposed to the 427 I had in my school!
