Crock – 3 more pounds! Way to go!!!! You are certainly doing everything right with those kinds of results. Don’t you just LOVE fresh fruit?! I would not have believed that I would come to crave fruit, but if I want something sweet, that is often what I reach for now. Problem is that it is SO expensive over here. We have an amazing range, but I usually like the expensive stuff. I don’t like melons and tend to go for stone fruit like nectarines and peaches. Oh dear! Luckily they are almost out of season now. I may have to look for some other favourites. I am really glad that we go to the markets for our fruit and veg, as that cuts the cost quite a bit.
I LOVE the pics! You can certainly tell the difference! You have really slimmed down! You have a more defined jawline and eyes as well. I have to agree with the others about your gorgeous hair too!
Toofatforu2 – I would probably tend to overdo the popcorn too, but maybe I could measure it onto smaller bags. It should stay fresh for a little while. I like to have the chocolate puddings now and then, but I always forget that I have them in the fridge. I tend to eat the same snacks every day, and the puddings just sit there as they aren’t one of my ‘regulars’.
Nancy – Thank you for the lovely comment. You are right about me standing on the angle that makes it more flattering. I like that you can see my waist more. It took me a LONG time to discover that I had a waist, so I want to show it off!
Ammi – THANK YOU!!!! I can stop worrying about your results now! I know… it was silly of me, but I can’t change now after 40+ years of worrying.
Won’t it be wonderful if you find out that it was the meds that were holding you back from losing weight? It may not have been anything wrong with your body and definitely nothing wrong that you were doing. Just the wrong medication. I look forward to hearing how the new ones go. At least with the new ones you should see some results from all the hard work you have been doing, rather than have the old meds sabotage you.
At least your results weren’t as bad as an alcoholics or we would have been wondering just what you were putting into those hot chocolates!
Thanks for asking about me getting to the docs about being tired. I spoke to my dietitian friend today to get the name of a doctor she recommended and she said that from what I had told her, she thinks that my problems could all be caused by hormones. I have a gyno appt in early June and she said it would probably be better to wait until then and have everything checked out. I actually feel really good now and I have a feeling that it is during the week leading up to TOM that I get really exhausted. I’m going to try to track the next cycle to see if that is what happens.
Oh… the rounding up and down of our money drives me crazy too! I will NEVER understand why they just don’t make the prices 5c and 10c intervals. I suppose they think that $5.99 sounds better than $6, but after a while you automatically round up or down anyway, so that doesn’t really make a difference. It all probably balances out with a larger shop, but I don’t like just buying one thing, then having to pay more than the price. Still, at least we don’t have to add tax on top of that, because our tax is included in the price. That makes it a little easier.
Kayley – I agree with your mom about the new avatar pic, I think it looks effective too. And the FIRST thing I thought when you said you didn’t like the new pics of you was that you need to try and picture yourself in those SAME clothes 60lbs ago! You wouldn’t even be able to get them on! And they certainly wouldn’t look that good! I think the one where you are holding the flower shows a GREAT difference from your ‘before’ shot. The ‘before’ pic is a little deceiving because all of the black blends in, but you are DEFINITELY looking slimmer in the ‘after’ shots. You look slimmer all over. Your face in particular, as your features have opened up. I agree with the others though about that style of top. I even worry now, at the size I am, that I look a little ‘due’ in my tops like that. It is my favourite style, but I’m not sure if it is the most flattering. Please believe us though that you CAN tell the difference. We truly wouldn’t lie to you just to make you feel better. I’m sure we’ve all been there and know that it doesn’t help one little bit.
Love Creek sounds like a place that Neil and I would just love to walk around. The pic of Andrew is great. It is lovely to get a face to go with the man we hear so much about. I just had a brainwave and I really should print off little pics from in here to sit by the computer, then I would have a ‘visual’ of who was being talked about. I NEED visuals!
I’m really sorry that your work is messing you around. It does sound as though they want to get rid of you, but I can’t imagine why and I can’t imagine why they haven’t said anything to you if you are doing anything wrong. I hope you get that other job, so you can tell this bunch where they can shove their job.
Hey! Maybe you’re tired because TOM is due too. I think I have worked out that being unusually tired is a side effect I get the week before TOM.
Maria Lucia – I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the wonderful time you had at the gala. I think you need to re-read your posts about that and let it soak in. The way you were talking made me smile all the way over here. I could hear the joy you felt and the fun you had all evening. So… you saw an awful photo of yourself. We’ve all had those, and they can break your heart, but they are not the end of the world. Can you imagine how beautiful I felt on my wedding day? I truly felt as though everything was looking just perfect. Then reality sank in when we went to get the photos developed. I kept looking through them for one that showed how beautiful I felt on the day. I finally just had to choose the lesser of the bad ones to frame and send to family. I still don’t really mind it, but NOTHING could have reflected how I was feeling I don’t think. It was just a special day, and I somehow imagined that the photos would ‘glow’ or something. I don’t know… I know that sounds silly, but the more I think about it, the more that’s how I believe I felt. I knew that in reality I didn’t look that great, but I looked as good as I could make myself look and I FELT a million times better. THAT is what I remember of my wedding day. No matter how many times I look at the photos, I remember the FEELINGS more. I hope that, given time, you will come to remember the feelings too… not some photo that could never reflect how you felt on the evening.
OK… I’m off my high horse now.
Have your scales arrived yet? I hope you don’t have to wait too much longer. It must be frustrating not knowing what you weigh.
Mel – Thank you for the wonderful comments. It is funny that you say I don’t look 160lbs. I have never been this light in my adult life, so I don’t know what 160 looks like. I still ‘feel’ big at times, but when I see photos like this new one I can’t imagine how I can feel like that. Mind you, I am still wearing the size 12 jeans that we bought at Old Navy on our holiday. From what I read in here, a size 12 is still pretty big. Well, maybe not big, but not ‘small’. I think your size 12 is our 14, and I would really like to get down to OUR size 12. At the moment I can feel the jeans pressing against my hips, not a lot of fat left there, so I may not be able to get much smaller. I’ll give it a little more time and just see I suppose.
Your question isn’t weird at all. In fact I have been wondering whether my mood swings could be caused by not only hormones, but also by me trying to come to grips with the new me. I don’t CONSCIOUSLY feel that I am, but perhaps subconsciously I am battling with some kind of identity confusion. I DO know that when I got the passport photo taken for our holiday last year I kept walking past the photo staring at it because I just couldn’t see that person as being ‘me’. Now, I am only just getting used to seeing current photos as being ‘me’. I look at the old photos and remember EXACTLY how it felt to be THAT person. I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself very clearly, but I don’t really know how to explain the feeling. I am slowly coming around to believing what I see in photos, but I think it will be a while yet before I am fully convinced. It took me MONTHS to get used to my new face in that passport photo, so I’ll give it a little longer to get used to the rest of me.
Sharon – I sometimes think our pay is actually OK, until I compare it to other professionals, or even other teachers in Australia. Western Australian teachers are the lowest paid in the country. It wouldn’t be too bad if we could get paid overtime for some of the extracurricular things that we do. I really don’t mind doing them, but other people get overtime and we can’t really make any more money with our job. Still… MOST of the time I wouldn’t swap it for anything in the world.
I am SO glad that you mentioned being worn out because TOM was due. I have no idea what to expect from TOM because I haven’t had much of a cycle for so long that I can’t remember what happened before. I have been feeling exhausted on and off for a few months and didn’t know what could be causing it. I’m going to keep closer track to see if it is due to TOM. That would certainly make sense with my week of being tired last week.
I’m SO sorry to hear about your friend losing her baby. I can only imagine the pain she must be feeling. I hope she has a strong network of support surrounding her. I’m also sorry to hear that is struck you at such an emotional time in your own life. I’m sure you know that you made the right decision, but it still can’t have been an easy one by any means. It must be hard when things like this bring the memories freshly to the surface again.
Jill – It sounds as though you had such a wonderful time over the weekend. I can’t wait to see photos from the wedding.
Don’t worry about your weekend of ‘freedom’ from watching what you eat. They happen… as lots of people keep saying, “One weekend of bad choices wasn’t what got us to this size, so one weekend won’t ruin what we’ve done so far” or words to that effect. I’m sure they are far more eloquent than I. I do have to admit though that I wish people would be more considerate of people who want to eat ‘healthy’ food at events like that. Caterers seem to think that food has to be covered in sauce for people to enjoy it. We got a menu for lunch for a professional development day coming up and NONE of the choices were good for me. They all had sauce or dressing of some kind and it has been so long since I had something like that that it would upset my stomach. I chose the lesser of the three evils and I will take something for lunch and nibble on the salad part of the meal if I can. It can make life difficult at times. I know that people LOVE the other choices, but if something else were offered, perhaps they would choose that instead.
Oops… there I am up on my high horse again.
It sounds as though you are going to have a VERY busy week. I hope you don’t work too hard and that you find some time to wind down after your hectic weekend. We don’t want you getting sick or anything.
Nancy – It sounds as though you have your head totally together about your new lifestyle versus your relationship. It sounds as though it worked to write everything down. I really need to start doing that I think. I sometimes think about when and why things happened and I don’t remember, whereas if I had written it down I would have some frame of reference.
I am really glad that you are in a situation where you can make whatever decision you choose. As you say, some people are tied to bad relationships for whatever reason and they are forced to stay in them because of that. I’m glad you have more freedom of choice.
Wyllen – You really do have to watch that working out after eating. I made that mistake… only once. I thought I would be fine, because I hadn’t eaten THAT much. Mistake! Pain in the stomach and chest. Not very comfortable for walking on the treadmill. It sounds as though you did the same as me and exercised through most of it. I think I did 30 mins, but probably should have just given up and waited a while.
Brenda – Thank you! What a lovely compliment… about the photo AND me being an inspiration.
What protein do you have for breakfast? That is one meal where I don’t get much protein. I know that there is some protein in milk, but I think I should have something else. I’m considering eggs on multigrain toast or an English muffin one day. Sounds great, but I LOVE my porridge (oats) and don’t want to give them up.
Well, that is another round finished for me. I hope I haven't missed anyone. I know that I am missing seeing Amy, Catherine, Lilion and probably lots of others, but I am hoping that they are well and just having too much fun to be able to post on here.
Take care,
Zelma
300+ And Ready To Try Again...#889
Hi Everyone ~ I wanted to stop in and say hi. I was referred to this board by my new good friend, Zelma, who said all of you are so nice and welcoming. It will take some time, but I look forward to getting to know all of you and helping each other out with encouragement and motivation to reach the end of our journeys. I hope all of you have a wonderful evening.
Great job! Love your new Avatar, too! Keep up the good work and I will see you in OneDerland one day!!! We'll get there!! 
It is great to see you here. 
I did no exercise ate cr*ppy food and felt so low and tired. To top it all off I found out an old friend lost her baby at 6 1/2 months pregnant, I felt like crying for her as she's a brilliant mum to her little boy and they had been trying for another baby for a year before she got pregnant this time. It made me realise why I was so down, it was the second anniversary of the abortion I had to have (medical problems/birth defects, having a child with Autism already it was something we couldn't cope with as well) I must have subconsciously known which made me feel so bad.
Your daughters are beautiful, it's good to see them, but don't be shy, let's see a pic of you so we can put a face to the name 
