Hi Kaplods,
Hope that your week is going great! Sounds like you had a nice 4th. I like your dirty sneaker contest. I might have to bring it up to my group. I didn't get a chance to bring up the walking idea tonight at our meeting, because a lot of our members where not there due to working or on vacation. Then next week is our county fair, so we are only having a weigh-in. But the following week I will bring it up again to them. I did loss 3.25 pounds this week and was our weekly winner. So I am happy with that! Nothing new and exciting going on with me. I did go to the doctor yesterday and he told me that my headaches were migranie and gave me some sample meds. to try. So far they have worked. So I have to go seem him on Monday. I might just ask him to prescribe me the meds. for when I do get really bad headaches. Well I am off of here. I have an early day tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment at 8:30 a.m. I want to get my excerise in before going. So I am heading off to bed early. Hope you have a nice evening!
TOPS Hugs,
Kerry

Hi Kaplods,
Hope your week is going well! My week is okay. I have been very good about getting my workouts in everyday. I have varied them from 30,45 to 60 minutes a day. So maybe that will help me lose my weight and not be at a stay still or gaining weight. My eating has been good as of late. Knock on wood.
Well just wanted to say hi! How is the animal shelter volunteering going?
Take care!
TOPS Hugs,
Kerry

We didn't make it to the shelter yesterday, because I wasn't feeling well. But we're going to aim for tomorrow again. Today, we had a medicare class. Learned alot.

For some reason, I'm really feeling lousy his week. Completely wiped out, and exhausted, every square inch of my body hurting (It's just a flare of the fibro, so if I keep to a good sleep schedule, I'll be fine in a couple days).

I hate the fibro, not so much for the symptoms, but for the unpredictabilty of the symptoms and how regimented I need to keep my life to keep the symptoms under control. Burning the candle at both ends, even for a day or two just isn't an option, and I'm kind of stubborn, so sometimes I want to push myself beyond what I know I "should." But if I do, then I'm wiped. So, it's a matter of learning when to rest or my body will take it out of my hands and I'll end up sleeping for 15 hours.

The weather isn't helping either. It's pouring now, which at least explains why I felt so lousy this morning (the fibro makes me a human barometer, when ever there's a sudden change iminent, I feel horrible). My MIL doesn't understand that it's not psychosomatic, so she doesn't understand why I feel just as sick on days when the weather suddently gets "better," as on days where the weather suddenly gets "worse." It isn't necessarily the weather that affects my body, it's the "change" in the weather. Even with cold and damp weather - the cold and damp does make the arthritis hurt, but it's easier to manage than dealing with frequently changing weather, which we've been having a lot here, lately. Hubby and I have talked about moving somewhere with more stable weather, but of course the affordable places with consistent weather tend to be pretty hot, and as much as I hate winter, I'm not sure mostly hot is that much of an improvement.

Eating/weight wise, I'm doing great so far, and can't wait until weigh-in.

I was thinking that maybe we should switch to PMing since we're the only ones talking here, though I'd love to attract more TOPS members to this thread. Maybe a new thread would help? What do you think?

Hi Kaplods,
I am sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling well. I hope that today is a better day for you. I know several people who have said that their fibro has been flaring up on them here recently. Glad that your eating and excerising have been good here lately. I hope that your hard work pays off when you go to your weigh in on Monday. I was thinking the same thing about wanting to attract more TOPS members to join in on our chat. I know that there were quite a few a year or two ago. What would we title the forum thread?
My day is going better than yesterday. I was in a bad mood all day yesterday. I just didn't feel like doing anything or going anywhere. Then this morning it hit me why. My AF decided to make her monthly visit this morning. So I am just hoping that this visit she doesn't give me the chocolate, ice cream and junk food cravings. I have been doing good on my eating and excerising. So I want to keep it up.
Think about a title for the fourm thread and I will start a new one. Would we want to name it like T.O.P.S Support Group or some thing like that? Then just give a brief description of what TOPS is. Let me know.
I get my van fixed on Tuesday. So I am happy about that. The insurance company is going to even pay for me to have a rental car for a few days. So that will be nice to have a car and not just rely on sharing my dh's truck.
Well I better go do the dishes. This evening my dh and I are going to the harness racing at the local fairgrounds. So I am looking forward to that. We are planning on eating at home too, so the fair food doesn't tempt us. LOL
Have a great weekend!
TOPS Hugs,
Kerry

I'm beginning to think that fibro isn't a disease as much as a set of symptoms that are "triggered" by something. It's like your body falls into a pain and fatigue "loop" that's difficult to get out of. Many people with fibro can identify an "event" of change or trama that they suspect triggered (or at lease closely preceeded) the fibro. Car accidents, illnesses, injuries, vaccinations, surgery.....

I even see signs of it in my hubby (he has diabetic neuropathy and a painful bone and joint disease he inherited from his mother). His pain flares often coincide with my own (he's also becoming weather-sensitive). I think it would be interesting to see if there is any correlation between the flares of people living in the same area (do we all tend to spike because of weather/temperature/environmental conditions like pollen or pollution?).

Anyway, I am feeling better today.

Hormonal hunger is the worst, isn't it? Mine is so extreme I so often told doctors that I really felt I had less control over what I ate "that week" and so much so that it took me two weeks of conscious dieting to get the weight off, and so I only had one week "window of opportunity" to lose weight. I asked about the bc that allows you to miss or shorten periods, but until last year hadn't met a doctor (a woman doctor, probably makes a huge difference in the perspective) who thought it was worth a try. I can't believe the difference it has made.

My husband used to refer to it as "meat week," and would tease that he had to throw a burger and a chocolate bar into the apartment to "distract me" so that it was safe to enter the apartment. Sadly, he wasn't too far from wrong. He's very lucky I didn't kill him some of those weeks. Now he tended to see it as a week in which I was being irrational. I tended to see it (especially in the middle of that week) as I was just usually so incredibly patient with him the rest of the month, that giving him what he "truly" deserved just "seemed" irrational.

I'm thinking of ways to attract new members to the thread, with an exciting or even a bit controversial title. "Weight Watcher's sucks, come to TOPS," probably would have to be closed down (just kidding of course, if WW members see this - I don't mean this REALLY).

But maybe something like "Check TOPS out, it's really Cool" Or "If you're interested in a cheap, fun weight loss club..... Something to draw people in who might not currently be TOPS members, but would learn about it, and talk about it in the thread, and maybe join.

I have to say that I love TOPS so much, I'm seriously considering ways to expand or even form a new group. We had a young college student come to a meeting and she never returned. My impression was that she felt that she wasn't old enough or fat enough to fit in. It's too bad, because TOPS groups can be started anywhere by anybody. I may talk to our church/school nurse, about ways to get a group or two started, not just for the older adults, but for the younger adults and even teens. I just want to spread the word, because I can't believe so few people know about how great this group is (or can be, even in a low-energy group, people don't always know that they could create a group more to their liking if they find people who have the same opinions about what the group "should be"). In our group, alot of people are complaining about what the group "should be," and there seems to be some dissention about how much we want to put in and get out of the group. I'm really seeing that it might be time for the group to split, with the people who want to be very active can split off and draw new members, and the people who want a very business-like, minimal meeting with little to no program or chatting, well they can have what they want too.

It seems like we're split between wanting weigh-in and a 10 minute meeting, with minimal interaction, and those that want a full program and maybe even group activities, like a walking group or bicycle club. I guess it's the difference between the highly social and the the solitary personalities.

But that's what's so great about TOPS, we really can have both kinds of groups (though the TOPS national guidelines recommends against having anything shorter than I think a 30 minute meeting).

I like your ideas about the thread. Let me think about it some more and then I will post a new thread perhaps tomorrow or Sunday. Then you can add on to it. How does that sound?
I know what you mean about the group. My group has the serious dieters and go getters and then we have the older social butterfly ladies who think that their weight should fall off without any effort. I would love to get a group started at my school. I might have to check into it sometime.
Well I need to go and help fix dinner. Chat with you later!
TOPS Hugs,
Kerry

That sounds great!