Happy - I am very glad you're coming back. I really hope that Annie does too. The meal I'm making for my ex-SIL is the chicken and veggies with cream of chicken soup over noodles that you sent me a week or two ago. Thank you. I'm taking that, along with a salad, and a small store-bought cheesecake for them for dessert.
Ceejay - have a great time with the uncles. It would be nice if I lived closer to my aunt and uncle (they live in San Diego, which is an 8 or 9 hour drive...or a $225 airline ticket).
Terra - Good for you for walking today. Sometimes life means we have to reschedule our exercise, which is ok as long as we keep it a priority...something I need to remember.
Susie - Glad you're enjoying your 3 day weekend. I'm about to get some laundry going while I start to prepare the meal for my ex-SIL and her family.
So I did a great workshop last night, and the get together with my friends today to discuss goals and what we want to create in our lives was really good. We had a really nice and motivating time.
In light of what has happened on this thread I thought it might be time to revisit some of the rules that we laid down all those years ago.
1. No politics. I don't care what colour party you go for, the man in charge is the one who was elected by the majority (well depending on the voting rights of your particular country). We will not criticise him/ her and show him/ her and their respective families the respect that they deserve. I don't mind too much if we talk about (Michelle's, Margie's, Bronwyn's (cross out that not applicable)) shape, clothing, kids, dog, car or temperament as long as it shows respect for the office. Whether or not we agree with the policies, or lack thereof, is not on the menu and this is not negotiable.
2. Religion - again, we can show respect for the position, and/or the people in power, but not judge the specific religion. Also be careful asking for prayers because some of us are not the prayerful type.
3. Race. We don't care whether you are black, white, hybrid, or sky blue canary coloured. You are welcome here.
4. No Kardashians. Regardless of what you think of them as a family dysfunctional or otherwise, they will not be discussed on this thread.
5. No Beiber either.
I was thinking of including insurance as a new rule, but........ I think it might be worth discussing from time to time. I don't understand your system, you don't understand mine either no doubt, but if we can help each other out here then why not as long as it is discussed reasonably and without hysteria.
And that is about it. If you can think of any other no-nos then please let us know and we can discuss this like reasonable adults.
I am pleased to see Happy is coming back. She is under a lot of stress with the pain in her hips and knees. She is like me in that she is not a very patient patient - if you know what I mean.
We all know what happens when everything piles on top of you as has happened to Happy and Annie. A long hard winter must do your head in from time to time as well. I really don't know what it is like anymore so I will shut up about that.
Annie has been under a fair amount of stress and strain for some time. She is of the emotional kind anyway and I can feel for her in her pain. However, lashing out at something that can't be changed is not the way to go. I'd like to think she will come back. I have been trying to get hold of her on facebook, but haven't yet hit a time when both of us are on. I may have to end up sending her an email, but maybe she is reading this and will sort out some time for me. I know how busy she is with the kids and the house and C.
That's about it from me for the time being. I'd better get cracking and sort myself out for this street barbeque today with my friend Chris.
I've made the salad, but need to get myself sorted out and get cleaned up.
Figured we could do with some balm for the soul today. This is Wellington Harbour as it was at 7.30am today. Enjoy
I am here and will post soon. I love you gals so very much. Sorry for the hurt to my Happy but will try to do better. Am very busy with dd and babies. She oh as been put on Zoloft but will not kick in for a few weeks. Stressful to say the least. She does not have Internet which lots me from applying or going on line. God had a plan for me. However stressing over it is not helping. Loves to all
Shad: The Rules are very well said , and helpful and the pictures are just beautiful. I hope you had a great time at the street bbq.
Michelle: It is so nice of you for making that meal for your ex sis-in-law. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with your friends and the group dicussion. It's nice that you have those you can have these discussions with and be motived with.
Ceejay: I hope the visit with the Uncle's was a good one. Also glad to read that your BP and pulse were down.
Terra: How was your walks today? Michelle said it so well when she said "sometimes life means we have to reschedule our exercise, which is ok as long as we keep it a priority" these are words I need to post around me to help me remember them.
Happy and Annie: I am thrilled you both are back! I am looking forward to your posts.
I haven't been here as long as the rest of you, but this is a great group of ladies and I love you all.
I am not very open with many people, but you all are people I feel I can be open and real with. That is important to me.
So today, I did a bit more housework and I went to a informaton session of a casual friend of mine who shared her weight-loss success story and how she did it and what really helped her with her diet and nutrition. I didn't know all her story, just that she was working out everyday and watching her diet. She talked about how she wasn't really getting the right amount of calories and protein and how she rectified it. It was very thought provoking for me. She has been doing this for 3 years now and is keeping the weight off...but more than that she has energy and is happy and is going at life wide open.
I'm going to give it a try and I try to eat well and I don't see the results that I want. I KNOW it is because I don't get enough protein and I need help with this. The plan is to replace two meals with shakes that you add protein to and then have a normal meal as well as two snacks a day. I need something to get me rolling again and I think this will be good for me. I was even told if I ate something like a couple pieces of pizza for dinner, I should go ahead and have the shake so that my protein was there. They told me that keep the focus of 80/20 fo using the shakes daily. If I have one day a week that I don't, that is ok. I liked that they weren't pushy and also said, don't buy all these products. Let's start with the shake and the protein that is added and use this list to find your snack choices from--these are regular food.
I will get the stuff on Wednesday evening and so I will start it on Thursday.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
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S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
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I will apologize in advance for rambling which I will try to keep to a minimum.
Shad is right - I am under a lot of stress myself right now. A lot of money going out the door, my own frustrations at the amount of money I pay for insurance and the minimal amount they are covering, leaving me with a lot of continual expenses. This is dredging up some deep seated, long simmering anger about both DH and I being unceremoniously dumped from long and successful careers to fend for ourselves and I am working extremely hard to not become depressed about the pain and mobility issues I have been dealing with for the last 8 months. To add to it, vertigo came back with a vengeance at yoga Thursday. Not just slightly disorienting, but punch me in the face, eyes clicking, head spinning, unable to stand up and nauseated to the point of almost losing it vertigo. Not sure where this came from as I was lying quietly on a mat and got up to move when it hit so hard. And it's sticking around. It should also come as no surprise to those of you who may know me that save for a few, this once social creature has become increasingly disappointed in humans and generally accepted behavior in today's society. I am tired of the Kardashians plastered every where I look. I am tired of a society that does not have respect for others or tolerance of another's views. And I am really tired of internet trolls who continue to interject political rants on subjects that have nothing to do with politics. I am tired of the almost venomous attitude of people up this way who can't defend their position with actual facts. This country is in trouble no doubt - but it took way more than one man and his family to make it happen. It pains me because this started as a good concept. People were foregoing health care because they cannot afford it or they were over burdening the hospital emergency rooms in a desperate effort to see a doctor. It wasn't right, it wasn't good and it wasn't practical. So let's try to find a way to fix it so that anyone who needs medical care can get it. And in an Oscar winning example of "no good deed goes unpunished" - here we are today. A total clusterbuck. Don't blame one unless you blame them all. And I had hoped that this place here would be a welcome respite from all that stuff going on outside these walls. After all, we are chubby, not too flexible and our diets suck - don't we have bigger fish to fry???? (as I proof this I realize this statement is rather ironic from someone who just stated she is chubby and has a lousy diet... )
So I respectfully request for my sanity as well as everyone else's that we keep to the suggested guidelines that Shad suggested - and further that we agree to ban any Kardashian/Miley Cyrus Tongue Wagging/or any mention of that gawd awful term "baby bump" from our threads. Thank you.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Susie - thank you and I am glad that you have found a place to feel comfortable. That is so important. When I first joined 3FC long ago, I had a hard time finding a group I fit in with, almost gave up but then Shad caught my eye and we snagged Mel and the 3 fishermen went to work snagging others along the way... Good luck with the new eating plan. That's similar to a Slim Fast type of eating plan. Not bad, suggested that you follow it for a short, defined amount of time to give you a kick start on the weight loss to give you some encouragement. I will only offer one suggestion and that is to make sure you are getting enough fat in your diet. Particularly if you still have a gall bladder. A gall bladder needs fat in order to work properly. They say if you are losing more than 3 pounds a week that stresses the gallbladder. Keep us posted, will be interesting to see your results. As for a camera, I bought a Canon Powershot 2 years ago and I absolutely love it. I am totally inept at taking pictures - they are often blurry from me shaking. This has an image stabilizer and takes amazing pictures and could not be easier to use. Glad DH is seeing a benefit from his cpap so soon - makes it easier to deal with the hassle of getting used to the mask and such. How are you dealing with sleeping with Darth Vader? *** ssssssstttttt - Luke - I AM your father, sssssssssstttt ***
Annie - I am very sorry to hear of Sissy's troubles. I know this time is soooo stressful for you but I have to believe that somehow the man upstairs KNEW that Sissy was going to need you more than those mean people at your former workplace. Keep your faith, things will work out and try not to run yourself ragged. We have seen some darkness and while it don't put cash in your wallet, trust that things do happen for a reason. I'm sure good things will come your way shortly.
Terra - can you walk for me too? I'm tired. Just kidding Keep up the good work.
Shad - thanks for laying down the rules. Leave it to a trainer to get things organized and tidy again I hope you have a nice visit with Chris. She must be quite happy to see you on a regular basis for a change. I enjoyed your harbor shot. Water like glass - so pretty.
Ceejay - my friend who likes to sew got a surger. She was thrilled with it. It looked complicated to me but she said it just looked that way and it was so handy for her craft work and all the sewing she did. If I might add my 2 cents - I had BCBS of AL when I was in TN. LOVED IT. We never had a problem with a doctor bill, saw any specialists we needed without referrals, meds were handled without a fuss and I could go to any of the 3 main hospital systems in Memphis without any problem at all. The bad part is that it was an expensive plan. I paid more than twice what my coworkers did for other carriers. However, in the long run we made out better. One of my coworkers said he was constantly fighting with the other carrier over his allergy meds and had no problem with BCBS. The only thing was, the company dropped it a year after I left - they said it was just too expensive - the rates increased quite a bit each year and because of that, fewer employees were signing up for that plan so they dropped it. We could not get it when we moved up here anyway. So... I'm just saying - before ACA came into the scene - it was an excellent but very pricy plan.
Michelle - I thank you again for taking wonderful notes and the exercises you have reposted. I am benefitting from them too! I wondered how you remembered such detail!!! How great that you have a group to share fitness goals with. I hope you come up with great plans for and with each other. I'm also happy to hear that Santa is making progress, even if it's slow. I guess like us, he's feeling his age. I hope your dinner for exSIL comes out great - sounds yummy and easy to warm up and serve.
Laura - good luck hemming those jeans. I have broken many a sewing needle getting over that seam. I'm sure you will do well. Talked to my friend today who said that most of your snow is gone. I am jealous. I trust there is green grass under that white stuff we have out front. Good luck with the Vit D horse pills - once a week, huh? That's interesting. Thank you for including the challenge links. I should try the push up one as I have arms as strong as wet noodles.
I guess the deer have told their friends about our house. We had 18 in the yard yesterday. Most we've ever seen. Quite a few young ones too - they are cute and on the fuzzy side. Lots of turkeys too. A group of 4 boys and about a dozen hens. I sleep with the window cracked open a tiny bit and in the morning I can hear the turkeys barking in the trees. They sound a little bit like seals. Except they are bigger and dumber.
Past my bedtime so time to shove the cat off the bed and reclaim my mattress. Have a good rest everyone.
Hi Pattience,
We call ourselves the Worldly Chicks because when we started up we had people from England, Scotland and Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Now we only have me for Aus/NZ and the rest are from the States. It's a shame we lost some of our worldly chicks but people come and go.
The original bunch had a few from the States as well.
Welcome to post with us if you wish.
Tropical Australia huh? Queensland, Northern Territory or Western Australia?
Last edited by Shad; 03-23-2014 at 02:34 PM.
Reason: I'm surprised that no one picked up on the fact.
Queensland. I can hang out with you a bit if you like. But you might soon regret it.
I have never been to nz yet.
Perhaps i should introduce myself a bit. I'm 50, single, no kids. I am trying to become self-employed with a small business making and selling women's clothes.
You can see my start weight and things are going pretty well so far. I like my diet. I don't exercise much but i will work on it later in the year because i want to run in a 10km race. My sister won it last year so of course I'm hoping i could do this year. My reasoning is, all the really good (read good and younger) runners go in the longer races. But i know that's putting the cart before the horse so i shouldn't expect to win.
I haven't decided quite yet when to start training, maybe in July. the race is in November. Exercise, or coming off it, can bugger up my skinniness. As you might guess, i've been here before, a few times.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Morning girls,
Everyone must be sleeping in today.
Looks pretty outside but it's bloody cold. I am really over winter.
Welcome Pattience - nice to have you. Shad did a good job of explaining things. She and I have been here the longest and we have had a number of people come and go over the years. Feel free to join us I think it's a good goal with the running - some people start out with a goal to simply finish the race/marathon and if the desire to win is what drives you to train and do your best, then that's where you need to focus your energies. And running will definitely help paring down and tightening up the body.
We got some news on the thrift shop situation. The building is a total loss and will be knocked down shortly. No word if they are going to rebuild, although this is a prime retail location and they have insurance so I don't see why not. The contents of the building were also insured. They are trying to figure out a way to effectively estimate the value of the donated goods. In a way that's good because they will get a bit of money from some things that might have not ever sold (like 250 romance novels ) And there are many people (like me) who have basements to clean out and are ready to donate some fresh items to the shop. I think they are scouting out possibilities for a new location, even if it is temporary. So I think in the end we will rally through this.
I finally cancelled my Weight Watchers online account after 7 years. I think someone asked me why I was doing so. Each year WW tweaks their program a bit to freshen it up and attract new members. 3 or 4 years ago they changed their points calculation system. In an effort to get people to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, certain non starchy, low-ish sugar type fresh foods were considered to have no points. Since all foods have some sort of calorie content, even if it's low - they made up the difference by increasing the point value of other foods. This really messed stuff up. It also increased the point counts of their packaged, frozen meals. I remember one of my co-workers who was being extremely restrictive in her program who was quite angry that a couple of her favorite frozen meals were now 1 to 2 points higher than in the old program. What this also did for me was effectively "break" all the recipes I had carefully entered into WW over the years. Since foods needed to be recalculated to the new point values - it forced you to re-entered just about all of your ingredients all over again. And it was a VERY clunky process. You could not look at the recipe if you didn't convert and if you bypassed the conversion, it removed that ingredient from your recipe. And I have to admit, I didn't like the new program much. I had already incorporated a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables into my diet as I like those. And I was already juggling to stay within my points. If I had 2 pieces of pizza on a weekend, it blew my points and I was just getting frustrated. I probably paid for WW for at least 4 years and didn't really use it. Kept promising myself and never did. Then each month when I'd get billed for the service, I felt guilty that I wasted the money. So I will stick with MyFitnessPal. It's not perfect but you can't beat the price. I wish I was the kind of person who ate a very limited range of foods - ie. same breakfast each day, same sort of lunch - would make tracking more accurate and a lot easier. But I don't. I think the biggest issue with MFP is that it greatly OVERestimates calories expended through exercise. So like with WW, probably better to get as much activity as possible and never eat your activity calories.
I also called a friend last night - bestie from childhood. One of those people like Annie's recent friend - you don't see them often, but when you do you pick right up where you left off - as if you just had lunch together last week. We had a good long conversation.
I think I'll take a shower, have a light lunch and while I'm in the shower pick a project to work on and complete today. I have a couple of loose ended things that have been nagging at me. Hope you are all enjoying your Sunday.
Last edited by happy2bme; 03-23-2014 at 12:28 PM.
Reason: fixing typos
Happy
Missed your post. Sorry you had such a bout with the vertigo.
Hope the Humane Society can rebuild if not buy another building.
Pattience
Welcome
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I'm glad I came home yesterday cause I get another day off to rest And to prepare for next week. Have a pork loin in the oven. Did another Yoga DVD last night with Peggy Cappy but I need something more challenging. My allergies flared on Thursday but refused to go to doctor. I had some things here already and if I get to it in time I can handle things.
then please let us know and we can discuss this like reasonable adults.
Keep up the good work. 
) And there are many people (like me) who have basements to clean out and are ready to donate some fresh items to the shop. I think they are scouting out possibilities for a new location, even if it is temporary. So I think in the end we will rally through this. 