Morning everyone. It's a drizzly, cold day out. I took the doggies out anyway and only got a little damp. They sure liked it. Last night's inservice was long and I was tired after it. Teaching is not my favorite pastime. Then because I got home right before bedtime, I didn't sleep well and now I'm pooped today. So my little blue light is on extra today. I love light therapy. I pulled it off the shelf last week as it's been dark and dreary (mostly) the last few weeks.

today may be a day of catching up some at work. I need to finish writing a grant and then when that's done I won't feel as stressed. The grant is due next Monday so I'm going to run out of time. It's today's priority.

I fell off the wagon today and the wagon wheel rolled right on over me. I grabbed a cookie at work. Bad, bad, bad. I will be good the rest of today. I can't do anything about the cookie at this point, but I can be good the rest of the day. Much better attitude than I screwed up and I'll start again tomorrow as I'm famous for in the past. Now I just have to be good...

Penny, I'm glad the surgery and cleaning went well. Sounds like you had an all around nice day. And it had been Monday, too. That's very unique.

Carol, go to the gym. It'll help keep you motivated. And good for the walk yesterday. I actually like walking alone with the doggies better than with someone. Occasionally DH goes with but mostly I go myself. It's sort of me time.

Judy, I agree about not kicking the overeating habit since we still have to eat. Skinny people who have never been overweight think is just so easy to kick the overeating habit. But when you can't go cold turkey, that makes kicking an addiction near impossible. Doesn't mean we can't fight the desire for bad foods or more in my case large portions, but it's not the same as other addictions.

OK, I need to work. TTYL.
Marie

G,day ladies hope you are all well, Carol I know the feeling menopause sucks big time but the hot flushes mood swings and everything else keeps life interesting I guess. Yeah Marie I thought I would get a little bit longer with the shot so did Doc anyway I decided to have the surgery I have been put on a waiting list and just keep up with pain killers until I can get in, don,t worry you didn,t really fall of the wagon just one foot slipped so just hop back on. Penny I think I,m the same, there are just tooooo many areas that I would love trimmed down I think they would be there for days trying to lipo it all . Judy it sounds like you aren,t doing to bad, with your trips away it must be hard to stay focused but you seem to. My day hasn,t started to bad had some yoghurt for brekki with a banana and a planned a tuna salad for lunch with a yoghurt for midafternoon snack, dinner I ,ve got the slow cooker going with chicken in sweet chilli sauce and I,m going to do some dry roasted potato and pumpkin with lots of green veggies to go with it. I,m going to try and get some upper body exercise in today then because it is such a beautiful day here downunder I think I,ll grab James Patterson and do some reading on the porch Take care bye for now... JULS

Jules, I wish I was having dinner with you! That chili sounds yummy. I am working late tonight, and just ate two black bean veggie burgers. I'll have some green veggie when I get home. No workout yet today, maybe I'll do a little on the rowing machine while watching baseball tonight.

I just wanted to jump in and say hi. If I get started I'll start complaining about stress, then I just be in the office that much longer. But I have a 7AM flight, so better to not get started .

I may not be able to stop in on Wednesday, but I'll try, and I'll be sure not to let two days go by before absorbing your positive reinforcement! This trip will be a big challenge, but I can do it! I will weigh less at the end of October than I did at the beginning. Or else I'll be a Thanksgiving turkey

judy

Girls I am on top of the world tonight oh yeah I DID have a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate. The coworker has given her two weeks notice hurray! Things are looking up at work I don't mean to be so cruel but those two girls haven't been so nice over the past 7 years. Now they will both be gone to join the last boss which favored them so much. Little do they no that they got me a raise and more respect then I ever had at work. In the end the company found out how those two were really.
Didn't work out today but on wed. I have a meeting to join the gym with my friend. The chriopractor said he will meet me over there on a sunday and show me what machines I should use etc. He doesn't recommend the gazelle as when you have back issues you should be on machines that are more stable hands firm with legs moving etc. So that was nice of him to offer I thought. I did pretty good with my intake today other than my little wine celebration but I thought it was well worth it. My girl friend is going to move into my office with me as she shares with 2 other girls etc. So work is looking up and maybe there is so relief in the air.
juls your dinner sounded yummy what were you doing with the pumpkin? I love it so I thought I would ask?
Marie walking by ourselves isn't so bad good thinking time or relaxing.
Judy have a safe flight.
My hubbies catherization is on friday so I am taking the day off. I will take some reading and knitting as I will be up to the hospital allday long. So the exercise this week is helping calm my thoughts. I hope the scale shows me some positive changes soon. Hopefully my little wine didn't mess it up.

Hey Ladies, Judy the chilli chicken is Yuuuuuuuuuuuum, your green veggies sound good but I,m not to sure on the black bean burgers. Don,t worry about getting started on stress it helps to vent have a good flight and take care. Carol I can feel all that great positive energy and good vibes jumping through my screen, I,m so glad those women have gone for you and that the company finally saw them for what they were, 7yrs is a long time to put up with crap but the karma police are always out there so I wouldn,t be to smug if I was them. I,m just dry roasting the pumpkin with the skin on and a sprinkle of cajun seasoning with a little bit of low fat canola spread with garlic. Fingers crossed for you and your DH on Friday and I,m sure the scales will be kind but talk to your clothes instead I find them to be more forgiving, Take care talk to you all later..JULS

Juls so you cook and eat the pumpkin as you would say butternut squash? If I have it right that sounds really good. I have heard of pumpkin soup and I love pumpkin muffins, breads and of course cookies. Non which are to light less I redo my recipe and that sounds like a plan. I am making a pumpkin cake for work next week a lunchoen. Gotta try your idea.
I am very pleased to announce that the white square was quite friendly this a.m. and I am down 2lbs. Still not where I was a bit ago but on my way and it gives me encouragement to continue trying harder to do the right things. Juls the clothes thing didn't work for me I felt okay but put on 4lbs. oh that was scary. I was back to my start lbs. and there is no way I want those lost lbs. back. My goal is to get off at least 7lbs before christmas. I hope I can do it generally speaking they come off slow for me. But with extra effort and support maybe this time I can get there!!! And less office stress too. Did anyone pick up the newest Womans World mag. with Oprah's newest diet in it? I did and its worth the tips etc.. some good ideas and recipes too. I am going to search the web for more of the recipes and menu. Today I sign up for the gym. My back is a bit sore today from the lake walk the other day. I will take a couple of advil and will do a workout today. Maybe its just adjusting I hope so cause this has got to go away for good.
Have a good day everyone. Oh yesterdays cals were around 1550 and that was with my little wine included. Off to make my breakfast can. bacon, egg, cheese and one slice of toast. I have conference this a.m. but only for a couple of hrs. I will take an apple to snack on. Then have my healthy lunch back at the office.

Carol - Congratulations on saying bye-bye to the nasty co-worker/s. You deserved to celebrate with a glass of wine. Your stress level will go down fast! I love pumpkin too. I've just finished the last batch of pumpkin custards I made. They are a healthy treat and only 115 cals. I usually add a tsp. of maple syrup but that's not much and it tastes heavenly. You are doing great staying on track so your goal of losing 7 lbs. should be do-able. Good luck !

Juls - Another pumpkin eater eh? I don't know why, but I only get a craving for it in the fall. Maybe it's because you see the big pumpkins everywhere here for Halloween. Do they celebrate Halloween down under? I can't remember if they did when we lived in Sydney. They do celebrate it in a big way in the UK nowadays though they never did when I was a kid over there. We celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (Nov. 5th) here. Our neighbors must think we're nuts when we have a big bonfire and burn the "Guy". Our friends' kids love it though, especially the fireworks even though it's usually raining in November.

Judy - I hope your trip is going well and that your travel schedule slows down a bit for you soon. I've been watching the World Series with my DH and even have to report the score back to him on his cell when he's on the road - he's such a baseball nut! We're rooting for your team, the Indians. That was a great series against the Yankees. I hope Cleveland wins against the Sox tonight so they can go on to face the Rockies.

Marie - Don't worry about the cookie, you're doing lots of exercise so you'll work it off in no time. I like some 'alone time' too. Since we work at home together, I kind of look forward to when my DH has a road trip and I get some time to myself. I was talking to some of the gals at Curves about it the other day and I was surprised how many (especially those with retired hubbies) NEVER get any time alone and it drives them nuts! It's been very dark and rainy here too the last few days so I've been fighting off the "snack monster"!

Have a good Wednesday everyone.

Carol, just think of where you were 3 months ago - looking for a new job and hating the office environment that you currently worked in. Fast forward to yesterday - how cool is that???? I bet you're just flying. Now let's hope she sticks with her "notice" and really leaves. Isn't this the same one that quit last spring? Congrats on the 2 pounds. Life is looking quite glorious for you.

Penny, I too look forward to time alone. This weekend is guard weekend so both DH and DS2 will be gone both days. I get the house to myself. Not a bad thing at all. I also have my big hair appointment I made 2 months ago. Highlight/weave and a cut/trim. The roots really need it and I've been so good about not toughing them myself.

And I totally agree about the dreary weather and the snack monster. I was bad yesterday and made cookies. DH found the cooke sheets out in the shed and I made dark choc M&Ms. I had some dough last night, but no baked ones. I skipped my nightly ice cream so I was fine there. This morning I had one for breakfast. But the reason I made them was because of my Food Saver purchase last weekend. I wanted to try out the vacuum canisters. I played with it last night quite a bit. Seal it, open it, seal it, open it. Quite a cool toy I bought. I then sealed 3 cookies in a food saver bag for DH at work. I was playing.

Juls, waiting list for a surgery??? Does that mean that they just call at the last minute and you go? Don't they at least give you a scheduled time and if there's an opening, call you at the last minute? BTW, what is the surgery exactly. I remember somethig about hip bone scraping, but I must be wrong there.

Judy, have a safe and healthy trip. Sorry the office ha been stressful. My job is finally starting to calm down some. Did I mention last week that the idiot manager we'd hired last Oct quit w/o notice. YEAH!!! I was against that hire and I've been told several times that I'd been right. Well duh!!!

Marie

Hello Everyone! My friend and yours (Juls) told me to stop in here! She said you were all very friendly. So here I am. My name is Faith, im 43 years old, have 2 children, boy---16, daughter----11. been married to a very supportive husband for 22 years. Been going to Weight Watchers for 2 years, first year I did wonderful, and now I have been going up and down with the weight. I think thats about it! Just a country girl with blow fish cheeks-----------thats why the name goldfish...LOL

G,day s Hey Faith you found us I know all these lovely ladies will help you heaps the more support we have the better, I,m a lady of leisure at the moment I,m not allowed to go back into the work force Docs and D hubbys orders HEY who am I to argue but I,m getting bored out of my brain. Carol I make pumpkin soup my DH and daughters favourite, way to go girl on the 2lbs gone and I know you will make the 7lb goal by Chrissy, Yeah I cought up with Oprahs new diet in the New Idea here downunder some good tips, good luck with the gym and you are doing well sticking to your cal intake even with the wine. Penny I love pumpkin but then I love all veggies, some people do celebrate Halloween here, my daughter sometimes takes the kids trick or treating, we used to have cracker night a number of years ago but fire works were banned. Marie a waiting list is for public patients if I had the money to go into a private hospital I could get done straight away but if you are a public patient then you go on a waiting list, if your lucky the wait isn,t long but you get in when the Doc is between private patients which could range anywhere from a month to 2yrs : dizzy: the surgery is removal of the bursa sack a sack of fluid near tendons and muscle. Hi Judy hope your well. I,m off to pay some bills everyone take care I need before I go anywhere. JULS

Faith. I see you have already come a long way on your weight loss journey - congratulations on your progress so far. I have found lots of support and encouragement here on this thread - I hope you do too! Looking forward to hearing from you again soon.

G,day ladies hope your all well, just checking in. Bit of a downer today I was looking at some photos from Chrissy last year I was down to my goal weight and felt good now here it is nearly the same time this year and I,m the weight I was 17yrs ago when my 1st hubby and I separated. Well I had a bit of a wallow in self pity then I thought stuff it and thought about what you lovely ladies would tell me and I stopped feeling sorry for myself and went for a walk instead, it wasn,t a long walk but I felt better when I got home. Haven,t had a bad day eating wise anyway, not real hungry today so I,ve had a milk and fruit day so far had about 600 cals so I,ve got about 900 to play with for dinner so I,m going to do some healthy pizza,s with lot,s of veggies and WW grated cheese I,ll give DH some pepperoni I can live without that I don,t like it all that much so I will not miss it I,ll have mushrooms instead. Hey Faith have you heard about your MRI results yet. All of you take care have a great weekend.... HUGS TO EVERYONE..JULS

Hello everyone and welcome Faith always room for more friends glad you found your way. Together we all help support each other and information we have sometimes helps another person to try a new idea etc. I love this site and the folks on here are great so I hope you will think so too.
Girls she is really going this time. The relief is in the air and to some she works for they will be at a loss as she is a good advocate for them and knows her job well I respect her for that just not the evil things she does to make others unhappy. That isn't needed and life is to short for such nonsense. I look forward to a positive work environment and see some good changes coming my way at work. My good friend and I will share an office now. When we need to tell each other something we will without bad feelings but in a way with humor to get the pt. out there but not be hurtful in anyway. The other girls are also ready for this chg. and as a group we will become stronger and that can only make our work performance better too. Yesterday I had a great conference my supervisor, director and coworkers went most of us anyways. We did a stress release conference it was wonderful lots of ideas breathing lessons to destress and relax etc. and with oils. Oh Penny you would of loved it. Anyways I got the name of a reference book of what oils to use for different things. This gal said to add them to foods, water and use them on our bodies. I am going to look into them at the natural food stores to ensure I get the ones to consume etc... don't want to make a mistake etc. Then we went to the next conference room to learn more about spirtuality. I am a naturalist I decided with my love for the outdoors and the beauty of the world and life itself. It was very interesting wish you were all there with me. Then we had a wonderful lunchoen pretty healthy except the pie of apple cake with carmel only a small piece it wasn't super sweet. So oh a no no still. Last night I confess must be nervous about the hubbies testing today I ate a handful of potatoe chips. Now that wasn't too smart at all. But this a.m. I started off with a healthy breakfast. Has anyone tried the new oatmeal by Quaker? It is called simple harvest with multigrains oat wheat barley, vanilla almond and honey. Real tasty and only 160 cals. Check it out if your looking for tasty, fast and healthy I think its the one. Well have a good day I am taking some knitting and reading to the hospital. If they go in his arm he will be there less time if its the groin area he has to lay flat for 6 hrs. before he can come home. So either way its a nerve hitting day for both of us. Have a good day and I will catch up tonight to destress or on saturday. Oh I did join the gym and signed up for tues. water exercises and thurs. training with a group of 3-4 and one person is my friend. They really follow up on you at this gym and ensure you reach your goal I hit high for me saying 10lbs. in 12 weeks hope I make it. Even if its close I WILL be happy. I meet with the guy again on 11/13th meanwhile they email you etc. trying to keep us motivated. For my 15 a month I think its worth it.

Hello everyone! Just thought I would pop in and say hi! and thank you for the warm welcome everyone! I find out my MRI results today Juls! Has anyone tried spaghetti squash before? anybody got any good ideas to cook it?
cckayac those stress relief conf. sounds wonderful. would have loved to attend one of those. how did you feel afterwards? I bet wonderful. did you find those oils? wish every work place had those!
again thanks everyone for the warm welcome! take care!
Faith

Carol - I hope your DH's test went ok. It must be very stressful for both of you. That destress conference sounds like a great idea - I think most employees would benefit from something like that. I'm a big believer in aroma therapy! My girlfriend came over today to make soap and I gave her a few pointers. She had a great idea for a soap made in a silicone cupcake mold (6x) with wavy edges. We used white soap scented with lavender half way up and let it cool a bit. Then placed a small silk orchid flower in each and after letting it set up in the fridge we poured clear vanilla scented soap over the flower. They turned out lovely and look very special. Those silicone molds are great for glycerine soap as it just pops right out. I hope you will enjoy your new gym.

Juls - Don't be down about the gain - your on the right track now! The main thing is to never give up on yourself - you've proven you CAN do it! Slow but sure wins the race. We all have our ups and downs (right now I'm struggling too) but I know I WILL lose this weight if I stick to my plan.

Faith - I hope your MRI results came back ok. I saw some spaghetti squash at the store yesterday and almost bought some. Thanks for reminding me about it. I'm trying to cut down on carbs, so that would be a good substitute for pasta.

Marie & Judy - I hope everything is going well for you.

I had fun making soaps with my friend today and she had some really good ideas. Our DS is happy as he had his first review at work today and they said he "exceeded expectations" in every category. He got a nice raise too - I'm so proud of him. He had a good week as he was also accepted as a reserve police officer (he just needs to take the physical) and will start training next February. It's about 100 hours in school, which he'll do in the evenings. It's a volunteer job and he'll be on call for about 14 hours a month. He enjoyed being a police cadet in his teenage years so it's a fun thing for him to do and a way for him to give back to the community.