Hi Diane! Glad you are feeling better. Glad to see you!

Jill, congrats on finishing the first stage of South Beach. Your determination is awesome!

Hi Mirth! Good luck with tax season!

Jen, I'm sure the pound is just a blip. Begone, blip!!

I had pizza for lunch and did not plan that. No excuses. It is what it is and it too is but a blip on my epic journey to health.

Hey y'all....

Yep Midwife, it was just a blip....it was gone this morning. But I am not going to weigh myself again until Sunday. The number that pops up on that scale should not matter so much!

Diane: Welcome back to "the loop"!

Jen, it is so hard to not be so scale focused! I know that I have to make myself weigh only once a week or I get crazy about it. Speaking of, I'm going to brave the scale on Monday. Spooky! I'm feeling better now so it is time to get back to walking and being accountable with the scale!!!

Hope everyone has a good Friday and weekend!

My weight has been sliwly creeping back up again, but I know exactly why. I've been eating more volume-wise lately instead of sticking to smaller portions. I've been doing this because I don't feel well, and while I know a lot of people lose their appetite when they're sick, I feel better when I'm eating. The biggest thing for me is that my throat hurts, and eating makes it feel better, so I'm almost constantly trying to eat. Also, my nose is stuffy, and hot (temperatur-wise) and spicy foods help me with that, so I've been eating more for that, too. Like this morning, I had a can of Progresso's Light Southwestern Style Vegetable soup for breakfast It's only 60 calories per serving, 2 servings per can (so 120 calories total), but it's quite the dose of sodium, and an extra 120 here and there adds up very quickly!

Anyway, I know I need to get back on track. We'll see how I feel after the weekend.

Hang in there Jill!! Once you get beyond this little illness you will do better! How's your water consumption? That will counteract the sodium.

Since today is the first of the month, I got on the scale (even though I said I would wait until Sunday). I am doing a video diary on the first of every month, and I announce my weight on it. (I've released 4.5 lbs since the first of the year.)

I'm looking forward to having a nice loss to report on March 1st! I'm a bit stuck on the scale at the moment--I'm looking for a big whoosh in the next couple of days!

Have a great day y'all!

Hi, Ladies

Sorry I have been MIA this week. Not sure where the time goes, but have had trouble getting here to say hi.

Hope you all have a great weekend

Hey Jill. I know how hard it is to keep losing when you are feeling sick. I just came through that. I have no answers for you, but try to not get discouraged. At some point, you'll feel better and then you can hit it hard again and watch the weight come off!

Jen: Congrats on the weight loss! That's great. You have a really good start to the year. I hope to catch up soon!

I'll get on the scale on Monday and get cracking again. I need to go to the grocery store and plan some good meals, particularly for lunch, so that I don't have any more excuses. Then, on to more exercise. I just wish that winter would loosen its grip on us and let some warmer weather come in!!!

Hi all, I've been very busy....once again....but wanted to pop in and say HI.
I'll read all the posts and catch up later..

Way to go Jill!!!!

Jill, glad to see that your weight is going back down. Good job on starting phase one over again. That should kick your weight loss into gear.

Today is my weigh in and I am still hanging on at roughly the same place I was two weeks ago. I guess it is time to kick my butt in gear and start doing some exercise. I had a goal of 10lbs of Jan and didn't make it so I have added the last pesky pound on for Feb. I better lose them all, because the further I get behind the harder it will be to stay on track.

Anyone else weighing in this morning?

Have a good week and I will try to get back on before next monday.

Well, my weight this morning was 317, so not horrible, but not great.

I was feeling much better yesterday and was quite productive--bathed and brushed both puppies, cooked a spaghetti squash for tonight's dinner, made dinner last night, did a couple loads of laundry...but then when I went to bed last night, I started coughing like crazy. I was coughing all night and didn't sleep well, and now this morning my chest hurts from coughing, my throat hurts, and my nose was all stuffed up again Not to mention I'm tired from not getting much sleep.

I'm still doing Phase 1 today, though. Most of what I eat is cold, so it still feels good on my throat. I just can't have any juice or ice cream. I just had some sugar-free Jell-o, and I had egg salad for breakfast. I'm still planning on having the spaghetti squash for dinner, too (with ground turkey breast in the sauce for protein).

I'm about done with what I absolutely needed to get done at the office today, so I'll hopefully be heading home in the next hour or so to nap. If I feel I have the energy, maybe I'll make my pasta sauce when I get home so I don't have to do it this evening (the later I put it off, the more likely I am to say, "screw it, I don't feel like cooking; let's eat out!").

HI gals:

Jill, it is SO EASY to say "screw it", isn't it? But for me, too much eating out is hard on my body and hard on the wallet! Hope you feel better soon!

Newstart: I'm in the same position you're in...the scale has only moved up in the last week. I havent been exercising either..so it's time for me to kick it into gear.

Slim and Slash: great to see you gals! I've got to get to the grocery tonight myself. I'll be doing some cooking when I get home tonight....I make a breakfast casserole that we eat from all week, and I ran out of eggs to make it for this week. Soooo.....

I did something really cool this weekend....two of my girlfriends and me did a photoshoot to give to our fellas for Valentines day. I'm not talkin' Glamour Shots--I'm talking an award winning photographer and a professional makeup and hair stylist with lots of different backgrounds, prope, etc. And get this....I did some of my shots NUDE. ME!! Un-freakin-believable! One picture was with 10,000 rose petals (a la American Beauty). I'm tellin ya....doing that shoot really gave my self-esteem and body image a real boost. I'm still on a high from it!! I can't wait to get the finished product!

Wow Jen! That's cool! I'm glad you had fun doing that. I'm not sure I could let go of my inhibitions enough to do that, so I'm impressed with you!
Well, I got on the scale yesterday. It was not great, but also not as bad as it could have been. I have a salad for lunch today and since it isn't supposed to snow today, I want to head out to do some walking at lunch. Now I want to see the scale go back down next week!!!
Have a good day everyone!

Thanks girls! I'll be glad to share them...probably would send by e-mail as opposed to posting them. I'm hoping to be able to crop one and use as an avatar....

One thing that helped me decide to do it: I have been waiting to do things until after I lose weight...and I realize I will always have my life on hold if I continue to think this way. So...NO MORE WAITING TO LIVE!! I'm doing what I want, weight or no weight!