Welcome back, Auntie! Don't worry about catching up. It's almost stressful to go through back through the thread...and you've had more than your share of stress. I know it will feel good to focus on being healthy and getting back on track.
I've adjusted my profile to reflect yesterday's weight, 227. I was grimly satisfied to see the lower number, but it still stings to see 220-anything. I would love to see the "teens" again by early April, and certainly by the time I switch over to my spring clothes (which I probably can't wear right now ). So I'll make the most of these next four weeks. I've set a mini-goal for myself of getting down to 220--seven pounds gone--by April 4, when I head back to the West Coast. That seems ambitious, but I think a lot of what I'm carrying is bloat, salt and dehydration.
Happy Sunday! (I certainly hope!) Well, my wagon had a little trouble yesterday still, because we had company for dinner. What I cooked would have been fine, but then there was wine and dessert, which are totally rare for me. But I figure it's OK, because I have new goals besides the weight loss, which include putting some actual living into my life. And doing a little socializing now and then has got to be good for the soul.
So today will be more under control, and tomorrow will start spaghetti week - yay!
Marie, it made it to around 70º here yesterday, and it's a mud pit everywhere! It looks like rain today, too. Ah, spring is just around the corner. Now, I do like not having to bundle up to go out, but oh, the mud! I'm glad my baby lets us wipe her paws before she gets too far into the house, but the carpet in the entry area needs some serious help! And my little niece puppy has a belly much closer to the ground than my girl, not to mention the fact that that belly is white, so a lot of time is now dedicated to cleaning...
I hope that giving Mr Scale the day off yesterday encouraged him to behave!
Judy, congrats on the 227! Any progress is good progress! And if you're salty and bloated, 7 lbs in 4 weeks should be do-able! Ugh, now I'm thinking about the spring clothes situation. I don't even know what I have. I know I shouldn't be spending money on new stuff this year, so I hope I have enough to make do. I've been in too big sweatshirts all winter, and I do like oversized sweatshirts, but in spring stuff, that doesn't work quite as well. I guess I'd better start looking into that.
I'm going to try to get my taxes done today. Fun, fun, fun... I hope you all have a great day!
Judy - I'm glad to see the scale is going in the right direction for you. I'm in the same predicament with not fitting into the spring clothes. I may cave and buy a few things that fit as I'll just get depressed otherwise staring at my non-fitting clothes in the closet. At least I'll have a small part in boosting the economy! I am now absolutely convinced that stress makes me gain weight no matter what I eat. I am now taking baby steps - just being kind to myself and doing the best I can. I'm trying to get more sleep as, like you, I tend to wake up a lot at night. I'm going to start having a cup of chamomile tea in the evenings and spraying my pillow with lavender scent for relaxation.
Marie - I hope you had some nice "you" time this weekend with your DH away. It's been cold again here and we just had some snow flurries, brrrrr. Is it still cold out your way?
Auntie - I've been thinking of you. I'm glad to hear the services have helped - especially reconnecting with your family members. It's totally understandable that you haven't been able to stay on plan with all the upheaval in your life. You have the right attitude about putting some more "living" in your life - that is so important, especially when times are tough.
I hope everyone else is doing well.
Yesterday I attended my organization's annual meeting which was well-attended with over 100 people. My chapter had the opportunity to sell a few items for a fund raiser and I made a couple of dozen clear soaps with our organization's logo "floating" in them. They sold out in 10 minutes, so that's definitely a winner! I'm going to do a line of new soaps for our fall bazaar with family crests, photos, etc. inside the soaps now that I've got the hang of how to do it. I'm still walking bent double with my stupid back, but it's not quite as painful. I'll definitely do some stretches next time before I do any yard work.
I weighed in today and I've changed my ticker to show the weight gain I can't deny any longer!
Hello everyone, sorry for my leave here nothing personal just got side tracked not enough hours in my day etc. I continue to be working on my new eating habits sometimes its tough to stay on track. Weekends and lately a bit of over load with some stress. But today is monday and before I really move in the wrong direction I am on task to be good and want to stick with my plan so thats it in a nut shell.
I read some but not all the news. Wow Auntie g you sure have had a lot of family stressful times. Sorry for your losses and hang on to the good times you had with them. Its not an easy time but your a strong lady!
Judy now it sounds like your back on track. Yah know gaining isn't fun but sometimes we do it knowing what went wrong and working on it is the fix and you have already started the process. So learning with all this is so important and what we do about it. Good luck and know your not alone we here all know how it feels. Expressing our feelings good and bad is important.
Marie way to go new gym stuff super!
Kathy hope your son is getting better.
Penny hey hows it going? I am sure the spring is making you get out in the yard our yard is still a bit snowy and so muddy yuk! I am looking forward to my gardens, kayaking, camping etc. I just had my jewelry party yesterday. It was fun and I walked away with some nice cash. It paid for my cash out and some more to replace my beads and get some new stuff. It was nice to hear people talk, comment, try on and be pleased with my designs and work. I really enjoyed it. I have one more in May my director at work wanted a show. So I will replace some pieces etc. funny how somethings you thought would go didn't others did etc. I also attended a bead show on saturday and bought some new laborite that is so pretty. I can't wait to make myself a piece. My friend attended and did all the money collecting while I spoke with people and assisted them with info. Fun and exciting new adventure. I had the attitude if it sells fine if not fine it was fun and look at all the pieces I have for gift giving. But instead I sold about 8 necklaces, 4 bracelets and some earrings and walked away with cash. The girls wanted another party in the fall so guess that means one more booked. I want to stay kind of small so it can be fun. Designing some new pieces keeps me busy and out of the cookie jar.... Well have a good monday. I am off tues. hubby has an issue with his heart. Kind of like what happened to Mrs. Bush the other day valve is showing an enlargement ? So we are off to the hospital on tues for testing to see whats going on and ensure blood flow is going okay to his heart. Well gotta fly never a dull moment huh?
It's good to see so many "face" on the thread. All is going here - I only have one more PT session and my knee is great. My legs have gotten quite strong with the PT and I'm hoping that will help the dead metabolism a little.
I weighed in this morning and the scale was nice, gave back the weight from last Sunday plus .4 pounds. So that's good. Progress - I sure do like that. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical at the PT and kept my heart rate in the 140-149 range. I researched that a little and found that might be a little high according to most sites, but a few had it right on. I decided to go with them. I'm sort of enjoying the sweat that the elliptical causes. I usually never break a sweat. Food continues to be on target. I had to be really careful yesterday as it was DH's b-day. I'm with auntie on the living a little and if I hadn't been in calorie range that would have been fine. I'd gotten so distracted in the mid morning to late afternoon that I missed lunch. That made staying within cal range quite simple. Although I would have LOVED a big, humungous piece of the homemade german choc cake I made DH. I had a sliver and savored every bite so it was really nice. I made DS2 and his GF take home have the cake. DH has two more slices and I'll stick with my plan.
Auntie, enjoy the start of spaghetti week. My co-worker had spaghetti for lunch and it looks so wonderful that now DH and I are having spaghetti tonight. BTW, I emailed all my siblings and told them I love them. My brother is the one that I don't talk to. It's not that we aren't close, it's just that we don't chat. But when we see each other, we talk non-stop like it had been a day since we'd last visited. Anyway, I told him I loved him. It had been a year since we'd briefly emailed. I will see him in August. I'm going to Minnesota for my b-day and my parents are having a party. He's already invited and RSVP'ed. That will be great.
Carol, way to go on the jewelry. How cool you've found a side profession. Busy hands keep the diet in check - unless they're busy stuffing food into one's mouth. But that would be hard with the tiny jewelry beads.
Judy, good job on really facing the scale head on and smashing it in to pieces (figuratively). You're back on the move and you'll make you're goal. If you you're not traveling, I know you will as you do good normally even traveling.
Penny, facing the closet is always tough. Based on the 18 degree temps this morning, I'm guessing you have a few weeks to get the pounds a little lower to fit in your spring clothes. Also, remember my first order of orange blossom soap? You sent rose petals soap as well? I used the first one today. I brought one to PT and used it in the shower afterwards (the elliptical is making it that I shower after PT because I'm sweaty and slimy). I hated their soap and saw the petals in my drawer this morning. It was awesome!
Kathy, I hope all is going good and the children are getting healthy.
Marie
Hello Ladies and bless the person who thought of this.
I'm fresh on my weight loss journey, only 10 days in. !'ve lost some weight but have had some hard times and need some serious accountability and motivation.
Thanks you in advanced to all of you that are going to help me reach my many goals.
This will be quick, sorry for the lack of personals, but hugs for everyone
I'm halfway through a big four-day push of planning meetings, all moderately stressful, with long days. I ate on program yesterday, but this afternoon I munched on probably 3 servings of tortilla chips . No time for a workout on Monday, but I managed to squeeze in 20 minutes of aerobics this morning. I will be so happy around 6PM Eastern on Thursday, you just don't know!!!
Good morning all! Spaghetti week is keeping me on track - hurray! My dad is back in the hospital again, but this time I feel more relief than despair, because I know things were not going well with him at home. So, I remain very busy, running around walking puppies and visiting the hospital - keeps me from thinking about food too much anyway.
Penny, I hope your back is getting better! Congrats on your soap sensation! I like that idea about a picture or family crest inside!
Carol, congrats on your jewelry sales! That must have been fun! I hope things are OK with your DH!
Marie, I'm glad the PT has helped so much! Sounds like the elliptical may be able to keep Mr Scale from being evil, too! Imagine that! And way to go on keeping the cake to a minimum. We're entering birthday season around here, and even with all the recent (and current) events, we will still be inundated with cake very soon. A "sliver" sounds like the way to go...
Calisa, hi and welcome! What kind of reindeer doggie have you got there? Looks like a sweetie! Good luck with your weight loss plan!
Judy, good luck with the rest of your work week! A few extra tortilla chips is certainly not as bad as it COULD be! We just have to muddle through the best we can sometimes. Congrats on getting in some exercise!
Judy, only 26 hours to go. Look at your peaceful avatar (for those that don't know, Judy took that wonderful picture on a trip) and take a deep breath. 26 hours to go.
Calisa, I'm so glad you're here. Everyone says the weight loss is the easiest, and that may well be true, but it's darn hard regardless. Everyday we're surrounded by food and well meaning friends that push food at us. It's taken 9 years in my office to get my immediate co-workers to not push food at me. One does know that I love to inhale the scent of many foods. So when she brings cinnamon rolls or homemade choc chip cookies, she doesn't offer any, she offers to let me inhale deeply. That has helped me tremendously. So what I'm saying is surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. I told my DH all my tricks to eating or hiding when I'm being off plan - I told him my health depends on him helping me. It really did make a difference. Now instead of asking "Is that enough?" when serving me something, he asks "Is that too much?" It's pretty cool!
Auntie, isn't it cool to know what menu will keep you on track and satisfied. Your spaghetti week sounds great to me. Spaghetti and a czech meal that's a little odd are my two favorite foods in the world. I'd eat them all the time and have no trouble staying in the calories. It's the rest of the foods that do me in. BTW, the sliver works on the same vain as my 6 french fry theory. After a couple bits, I'm just chewing, not savoring. Then there's the bonus of that evil scale not winning.
My new elliptical came a day early!!! So DH and I rearranged our house (as it's not small and decided I liked my treadmill too much to give it to DS2, at least at this point). DH then put it together and I tried it for a minute (it was way past my bedtime. Then I had PT today and already used their elliptical but I bet I get on it for 10 minutes at least. It's my new toy!
Things at work are good, I've decided to take the high road on my contract dispute and worked hard of the weekend to stop the obsessive thoughts that were taking over my brain. Telling myself STOP has worked and I think less about it and I'm enjoying being at work again. I also this past weekend told my parents something that was difficult and something I believed would be very hard for them to accept. They blew me away with their support and that was another weight off my mind so I'm just like bubbling with happiness.
Oh auntie, my brother hasn't responded to my email. At least I said I loved him and I will see him in August. I do think of you and the losses you suffered often. I'm proud of you for realigning your life to make way for living and healthiness.
Marie
Almost thru this excruciating week! Now I understand why my cortisol levels were so high, being as cortisol is the stress hormone . I have a potentially difficult meeting this morning, and a presentation to make at a conference late this afternoon...and then I will congratulate myself on getting through this past six weeks or so without shrieking .
Marie, thank you for the reminder to breathe. You sound very happy about your new toy. It sounds like you're doing some important psychic work, too, good for you!
Auntie, good luck with keeping yourself centered in the midst of so much worry. It would have been easy for you to use this as an excuse to drop your weight loss goals. Imagine how focused you'll be once things calm down
Calisa, it's nice to meet you! And thanks to you in advance, too!
Penny, Carol, Cathy, and the rest of you chickies, I hope you are well. One last days of having to be at work a lot earlier than usual. I miss my morning workouts!
Carol - I hope your hubby is doing ok. Your jewelry party sounds like fun. Your jewelry creations must be lovely - good for you selling so many. It's nice when our hobbies pay for themselves and a bit extra!
Marie - I'm glad your PT is working. You must be excited having your new elliptical machine. I'm glad you found the support you need from your parents. I know what you mean by obsessive thoughts - I usually get them about 3am! I also tell myself STOP! and it actually works a lot of the time.
Calisa - Welcome and good luck on your weight loss journey.
Judy - I hope your conference went well and that you'll finally get a respite. I also had high cortisol and my naturopath at the time told me I had "adrenal exhaustion". He advised me to give up caffeine and take fish oil and B vitamins. I only followed his advice for a little while (couldn't give up coffee) but I think I might try some of the suggestions again and maybe try to get used to drinking decaf! I haven't had my cortisol tested for a long time but I wouldn't be surprised if it's high. Here is an interesting article about adrenal exhaustion: http://www.drnorthrup.com/womensheal...hp?topic_id=94.
Auntie G - I hope your Dad is doing better. Spaghetti week sounds good! I need to make a batch of sauce - thanks for reminding me!
Like I said to Judy, I think I'm going to try getting my hormonal system healthy. I may get my cortisol checked too as it is a good measure of stress hormones - which as you know cause weight gain. I realized I'm drinking an awful lot of coffee & tea and this can make the effects of stress worse. It's kind of a vicious circle - I drink coffee because I don't sleep well and the caffeine causes wakefulness at night! My back is a lot better and I planted a few pansies this afternoon, which made me smile when I looked at their little "faces".
Judy You made it to the Thursday 4 pm eastern time. I hope that the stress and job let up soon. I can not imagine being a top dog in a non-profit in this economy. It didn't help that your non-profit was in flux due to the old director. BTW, are you the new director by default?
Penny, I'm glad that the back is better. Your post made me laugh. I am decaf (hence always ordering water at restaurants as no one has decaf sugar-free. Anyway, I couldn't tell a difference in my mochas with decaf beans. As long as they go thru my grinder, they're divine (btw after I post I'm going to make an iced mocha ). Tea I could never notice a difference in taste either. My diet Pepsi - I could notice a big difference - I have always love the taste of decaf better even when years ago I was a serious caffeine addict. So I know you can do it. Also, pansies are my favorite flowers in the world. My first (current as I haven't made progress on the new one since I returned from my trip) has 5 panels that have counted cross stitch pansies. They were very intricate designs and I intend to take the five panels off when I trash the rest that is falling apart. I LOVE pansies. I'm pretty found of daffodils as well but I think mostly it's because they come up and that means SPRING.
I just did 25 minutes on my elliptical. I'm starting to learn the computer. I got the interval 1 program set for 25 minutes as that's the amount I want for now along with the levels I want. My user defined program failed miserably as I can get it to increase the resistance no matter how many times I reprogram it. I'll call the manufacturer if needed. I also walked the doggies 1.5 miles this morning and the moon was so incredibly bright. It was a great morning. I'm on track food wise as well but you all probably don't care since I'm so obsessive about it, I don't go off course. I'll stop mentioning food unless I screw up.
Hi all- I'm exhausted, but completely OP. My dad's getting moved to a rehab tomorrow, but I'm not sure he should be out of the hospital yet. Everything is so complicated, I keep reminding myself to stay in the moment, stay in the moment...
Anyway, I had my brother's pupperoni over to visit, so I got a picture of her.
She's such a sweetie... DH had to go to bed shortly after I got her here, and she went straight on up to bed with him, even though she's never even been upstairs in our house before. We're trying our best to keep her spirits up, and she sure does respond to DH better than any of us girls!
Marie, oh yeah, spaghetti week is the best invention! And today's my sister's birthday- we didn't really do much yet, but I did have a sliver of cake, and that was enough! I'm sorry your brother hasn't responded to you, but knowing that you made an attempt makes a huge difference. I'm learning so many lessons, and one of them surely is that we can't make other people do anything they don't choose to do. I hope you get to have a great visit in August!
Judy, I hope you made it through your tough day today! Cortisol levels, hmmmm... Why don't you swing by PA in your travels and we'll go get a massage! Try to have a relaxing weekend!
Penny, thanks for that article! I skimmed it out of curiosity, but I bookmarked it to read in depth when I have time. There seemed to be a lot of good info there, and I know it will come in handy!
OMG, this week is over, over, over Yesterday's debrief with staff was okay, but at the end of the day I was a panelist at a workshop--what a comedy of errors! Among other things, the mic on the podium kept going in and out, and people kept opening and closing these big, noisy doors at the back of the room... and I forgot my notes! I did my best to sound coherent despite these and other distractions. Today is blissfully quiet. I have tons to do, but guess what? Whatever doesn't get done today will have to wait until next week. I REFUSE to work this weekend.
Auntie, what beautiful doggy! Are you anywhere near Harrisburg? I will be there near the end of April for a conference--maybe we can plan for that massage .
Marie, this is a tough time to run a non-profit, but it's a tough time all around, and much, much worse for many people in NPOs and in the corporate world. I was formally named director in the fall, so the buck (or lack of them) stops with me. Oh, and I, for one, am always glad to hear when you're on track with your food. Sometimes I forget that this is supposed to be a check-in .
Penny, I start the adrenal phase of this therapy next week. Thanks for the website, I'll definitely read it this weekend. I'm glad to hear that you're back out in the garden, I know how much you love that!
Carol, I hope that things are okay with your hubby. You're right, it's always something....
My schedule will be more or less normal for the next two weeks. For the first time all week, I was able to sit down for b'fast (one egg, oatmeal and turkey sausage) at my normal time this morning, and to have a brown-bag lunch (lentil soup over a bit of rice) at lunchtime this afternoon. Is that asking for too much? This weekend I'll be mucking out my apartment. I want to call the super to take care of a couple of small things, but I'm too embarrassed to let anyone see what a slob I am. I don't usually like prescriptive diets, but I think I will enjoy doing a semi-detox diet between now and my next trip. I felt great on the one I did for a few weeks at the beginning of the year--before life got crazy....
I love weekends. There's o getting around that truth. I very much enjoy my job, but man, I love being at home on a Saturday morning. DH and I already took the doggies our hiking, I made blueberry pancakes and I had a mocha. All for 310 cals. Not bad at all. Mr Scale has been kind. I realized that when I started my "diet" nearly 3 years ago (April 25th, 2006) I've lost 41 pounds. My ticker indicates 24 from when I climbed back on the wagon last August 5th. Maybe I should change the ticker to the real overall diet but it's not a biggie as I'm so happy where I am. I lost the 20 regained pounds from Nov 2007 to Aug 2008 so I'm on the real move downward again. I wore my new size 12 jeans to work yesterday. They're form fitting and looked really nice. But I certainly can't wear all jeans in size 12. I haven't been in this size for about 15 years. That's pretty cool. Maybe OCD for diet and exercise is a very good thing.
Penny, I've been thinking of you. My right shoulder is sore and I didn't do anything to it. I know you have shoulder issues. I'm going to exercise it today as I think it's just a little tweeked and needs to move the ligaments back in the right place. It happened in the dairy aisle at Fred Meyers. I was just pushing the cart.
Judy, I knew the other lady was requested to leave, but I don't remember reading you were promoted. So congrats on that. I'm thinking the added stress was something you probably didn't need but I bet you're the best person for the job. But it is a great idea not to work this weekend.
Auntie, the doggie is so cute but looks sad. Poor baby. I hate to imagine what my doggies would be like if I died. They love my DH but they are so much my doggies. I'm glad that you're doggie-sitting and that the puppy find comfort with your husband. I sure hope your father is recovering and stays recovered. You have had a start to your year. How was spaghetti week? When DH has temp. deploys from his base through the summer, I'm going to spaghetti week as that sounds delightful.
I am going to work on my quilt this weekend, play on my elliptical and I have a strange desire to back M&M cookies. One cookie is 150 cals so I could work that in. I just feel like making them. My bread in the machine has started baking and it smells so wonderful. I think food is taking over my thoughts this morning.
Marie
). So I'll make the most of these next four weeks. I've set a mini-goal for myself of getting down to 220--seven pounds gone--by April 4, when I head back to the West Coast. That seems ambitious, but I think a lot of what I'm carrying is bloat, salt and dehydration. 
. No time for a workout on Monday, but I managed to squeeze in 20 minutes of aerobics this morning. I will be so happy around 6PM Eastern on Thursday, you just don't know!!!
. I have a potentially difficult meeting this morning, and a presentation to make at a conference late this afternoon...and then I will congratulate myself on getting through this past six weeks or so without shrieking 
.
and good luck on your weight loss journey.
Try to have a relaxing weekend!
Yesterday's debrief with staff was okay, but at the end of the day I was a panelist at a workshop--what a comedy of errors! Among other things, the mic on the podium kept going in and out, and people kept opening and closing these big, noisy doors at the back of the room... and I forgot my notes! I did my best to sound coherent despite these and other distractions. Today is blissfully quiet. I have tons to do, but guess what? Whatever doesn't get done today will have to wait until next week. I REFUSE to work this weekend.