Hi ladies -

I had a great day Sunday at the zoo. It was wonderful having a private tour by my docent friend. I got to see a baby gorilla, a baby giraffe and a yearling giraffe. I'll try and post photos later this week.

I'm kind of in a funk today. I'm finding it very difficult to maintain a positive attitude when it comes to losing weight. I'm considering Opti-Fast, so darn expensive though! But I think it would give me a great jumpstart especially since I hate to cook. I'm also toying with the idea of bariatric surgery...it's worked for Annie and for my niece and for another dear friend...but everything I'm reading is minimum of 4 weeks before returning to "normal" activities and I'm wondering if that means 4 weeks off work?

Like I said...just sort of in a funk. But I'm not going to let it affect my eating. I did a very short 10 min. walk today, and am going to the Back Exercise class tonight at the medical clinic.

I'll try and get back for personals later.

Welcome back, Jolly!

Much love to all,

Just as an aside to that. This is the outfit I wore to the wedding last weekend. Should be some photos of me around. If I ever get back to my computer I might find that someone has managed to share them with me.
Such a photographers dream - NOT! But the dress looked good on digital

Michelle
Hang in there. We all get in these "why do I care" when it comes to our weight. I'd almost given up myself last week. The trip to the zoo sounded like fun especially seeing the baby animals.

Happy
Yes, you do know me- re getting my bed back. I'd actually put her in the other room cause the land lord was coming to put a new lock on that window. She hasn't liked being in the other room either, but I kept hearing voices saying take back your bed. I didn't want her to take up permanent residence either. And I had to stand her down last night. I was tired an she was going off on a wild tangent in which I was extremely tired of dealing with so I politely but firmly said PLEEEASE don't start that again. Think it upset her but hey I really didn't care at the time. I usually do my exercise at 8.30 p.m. so I excused her to go do that. Think she thought I was upset with her. And I was but still needed to do my yoga. If she did that's okay too. She sent me a text today stating that she had thought about going home today but needed to stay till Wednesday. That's okay as long as she stays out of my immediate space. She'd criticized my neighbor right in front of her and I started to tell her to shut up then. But the neighbor saw that it was upsetting me and gave me a look not to. She will not be coming back. And if I say that she is--get the rolling pin after me.
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I'll have to go back and read the other post. Kind of concerned about Shad. Read where that area had a big earthquake. Looking forward to the lunar eclipse tomorrow night or is it tonight. They are calling it a blood moon.

Shad
Glad I saw your post. Did you feel the earthquake in that area?

What earthquake? Nothing here. I think you are thinking of Vanuatu. They had a massive one if I remember rightly. So did somewhere in Chile.

http://earthquakes.tafoni.net/

Informative map on where the earthquakes are happening around the world. Michelle has had more than me. Mind you these are all over 2.5 on the scale. Don't feel anything less than that.

Morning all. I have been doing better getting regular workouts in again. Including the dreaded weight training. The eating is not going so well. I'm ready to eat the legs off my desk!!!!

And Shad, that dress looks very pretty!

Morning all. Ho hum. Back to winter-like weather. It snowed yesterday and there was snow on the lawns this morning. I texted bf what train I was on yesterday and instead of bringing the car to pick me up, about a block away from the station he came walking with the dog. Oh well. We all got snowed on and the dog needed to be toweled off when we got home. I hope the sun melts the snow today. I bundled up for my walk to the train station today since it's rather chilly. Tomorrow it'll be back to seasonal temps. Yay for that.

Happy – It would be nice if the relocation of the thrift store was also a fresh start for it. It’s unfortunate that weak/lacking leadership and some bully volunteers make progress so difficult. I hope you can get some of your ideas in place without too much nastiness. Did you get a chance to see the lunar eclipse last night/early this morning – the blood moon? Re The Good Wife – bf is generally pretty good about also DVR’g the show following TGW – I think it’s the Mentalist? – just so we get the entire episode, but not that time. For whatever reason, CBS doesn’t do on-demand with our cable company. We get a lot of other channels via on demand, but not them. Re the powder room – I don’t think we even got the paint.

Hi Jolly – Welcome. I’ve fallen off the wagon myself these past two months, so I understand wanting things to change. If you’re ready for change, there’s a lot of support to be had here!

Shad – LOL re telepathetic! Ugh, the job sounds like a permanent headache at the moment. Get that prod charged up and ready to use!! :D So did the rain go away along with the Royals?? Looking forward to photos from the wedding you went to.

Ceejay – Sounds like your friend has overstayed her welcome again. Hopefully she’ll be leaving soon and you can get some peace in your home. Is the yoga and meditation helping you at all?


Michelle – Sorry you’re in a funk. I find myself that way too as far as eating goes. I don’t get what turns the switch from ”upbeat and making the effort” to “negative and self-sabotaging”. I know I haven’t been very gung ho on WW for quite a while. I never have liked counting points, but there’s really so much more to it that’s helpful. But right now I just don’t want to face the scale and pretend to be engaged (i.e., going to meetings) when I’m not. I don’t think I’ve ever done any type of jumpstart to get myself back in the groove. Have you ever done optifast? Honestly, I’ve always been so self-indulgent with my eating that the idea of doing shakes or a cleanse or fasting just doesn’t appeal to me at all – deprivation doesn’t work for me! What I do know is that you’ve been in a really good groove with your physical activity level and have to give yourself props for that!!! I think we need to combat the negative self-talk with some positive messages about the good things we do for ourselves. Maybe we need to post that each day - here or in MFP.

Hellos to Terra, Susie & Annie. :wave:

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Nothing much to report. I did a 2.5 minute plank last night. Wow, was it difficult! I also caught up on my pushup challenge, but decided not to try any standard pushups since I was doing two days worth of pushups. That 5-6 day break in the challenges when I was so sore has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. However, I've been texting my friend B because she’s been doing challenges too and so we commiserate about it, LOL.

No movie tonight. They’re going to see "Divergent". I have no interest in it. Next week might be the new Captain America movie, which I’d like to see.

Okay, better get back to biz. Oh, before I forget…Since I’m subscribed to this thread, when someone posts to it, I get an email link to bring me to the post. But lately, the link brings me to the thread, but not right to the most recent post, and sometimes it doesn’t even seem like it brings me to the page of the most recent post. I don’t understand that. Anyone else notice that? :?:

Howdy kids,

Stayed up for the eclipse last night. Glad to see we finally had some clear sky conditions but it was COLD. I was sitting on the deck on a blanket, wrapped in a down comforter. I had to get a scarf because my nose was frozen but that of course just fogged up my glasses when I put the scarf on my face. It was very pretty - a bit over hyped with the blood red color talk - but quite pretty to see. The moon was framed by a couple of stars that made it look even nicer.

Had an impromptu lunch yesterday with one of the ladies who works at another big thrift store in town to pick her brain. Got some good info from her. Afterwards I hit the grocery store because we were running out of everything. Both tasks ran long and I burnt up the day. Ate a light dinner and we both took naps anticipating getting up in the middle of the night for the eclipse. It's hard photographing it - I posted one pic on Facebook. You must have a tripod because the shudder has to stay open longer in the low light so my handheld camera had more of a shakey "worm" than a picture of the moon.

Physical therapy today and another big snowstorm (8 to 10 inches) due in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow. Supposed to snow from 4am until midnight the following day. So tired of this. Our sump pump finally started going off (it drains the water around the outside foundation of the house) so that means the frost line finally rose substantially.

Hi Jolly - welcome back. How is law school coming along?

Shad - love the dress - had to be a very pretty complimentary color on you also.

Ceejay - I think sometimes we try and do nice things for someone - like your friend - and it backfires and then maybe we were better off just being by ourselves. Hate to say it but...

Michelle - sorry you are feeling a bit down. It's so much harder now to get the weight off. Particularly if you don't like to cook. Another option - if you have room in the freezer - is WW or LC frozen meals. WW has a whole line of breakfasts - or you can do protein smoothies. Add some fresh vegetables (raw if you don't want to cook them) and a serving or two of fruit. I'm not so keen on all the packaged stuff but it does do portion control and variety. I myself am not keen on the Optifast plan simply because while it gets the weight off, everyone seems to have great difficulty maintaining the loss once they go back to real food. And I'm sure Annie and your friend can discuss the commitment to permanently changing your body with bariatric surgery. I wish there was a magic pill, I wish I had worked harder in my 40's. :^: I feel a kindred spirit with you in that we are both caught in a catch 22 of sorts - you have back issues, I have knee and hip issues - both would be helped by weight loss but the issues also complicate movement. We can only go forward. Small steps. Don't give up. :hug: Your zoo tour sounded amazing! What a great opportunity to see those baby animals.

I guess I beat the rest of the ladies in here. I need to hop in the shower and get ready for PT anyway. Catch up with you later.

Laura - typing over me :wave: As to your question - I don't do email notifications - I just come to the thread and scroll so sorry - can't help out there. Wanted to ask if you saw August: Osage County? There are a few movies I wanted to see but when I read the reviews (which I know you have to take with a grain of salt) - I get turned off by them. Bummer that this latest challenge is making you so sore - I'm all for pushing a bit harder but not when you are left walking like Quasimodo the next day :rolleyes: It's good to have a friend to commiserate with. I find in the mornings I use my feet to sort of massage the sore backs of my knees - a bit of a movement from the yoga where we give ourselves a foot massage. It helps to work out the kinks - a little. Not as good as a full body massage by someone else but Helga has not magically shown up at my house yet. If she does, I will send her down your way. ;) Yuck on the snow - our neighbor in AH posted pictures on FB - at least it's not enough to have to shovel and hopefully will warm by Easter Sunday. It has been a crazy winter - even for you...

Good morning ladies,

Did any of you see the lunar eclipse? I wanted to...and I was going to go to bed early and set my alarm to get up and watch...but it didn't work out that way. D called me at around 7 pm, which was when he should've been at least halfway home from Reno. He had severe leg cramps and difficulty walking and driving. The leg cramps were so bad that he went to the urgent care. I was really worried...so I stayed up later than expected waiting for his call (but not late enough for the eclipse). His blood work came back fine; just a bit dehydrated...so that gave him some IV fluids. Rather than try and arrange for another night in a hotel in Reno, he stayed at his family's house in the Lake Tahoe area (about 40 minutes from Reno). He will drive the rest of the way home today.

Back exercise class was good, except for "warming up" someone else had already claimed the recumbent bike and the elliptical, so I did the treadmill. Not a good decision. My back started hurting somewhere between 5 or 10 minutes in. As is usually the case, once I sit down for a few minutes, I'm fine....so I did well with the core strengthening exercises and the stretches.

I may go to yoga tonight...I haven't decided for sure. It depends on when D gets home and how he's feeling.

I've started the Oprah and Deepak Chopra Finding Your Flow 21 day free meditation course. Yesterday was day 1 and meditating helped improve my mood.

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Susie - What is SRD? I'd be interested in finding out what you learned there, especially regarding Diabetes.

Ceejay - Sorry that your friend is getting on your nerves, but I'm glad you put her in the guest room. Now that there's a bed in there, there is no reason to give up your own bed. Did the yoga help your sore lawn mowing muscles?

Laura - Good for you for starting the plank challenge! Wow!! A 2.5 minute plank? That's amazing! I'm so impressed!! Snowing again? Still? Y'all are having an awful winter. As for my mood, I was negative yesterday, but a little more optimistic today. I'm glad I didn't get into that self-sabotaging downward spiral though...yes, I felt blue...but I didn't try and "comfort myself" with food. No, I've never done Optifast. I'm just feeling a little more desperate now...and like even a 1 pound per week weight loss won't be "good enough" or "fast enough". Thanks for the kind words about my physical activity. :D

Happy - I think it's good that you told your DH not to step up and be the leader of the new Thrift Store project and its volunteers. It's wonderful you're so committed to helping the animals and relaunching the thrift store. I haven't been to FB yet today, and since I'm at work, I'll wait for my break to check out your eclipse photograph. I hope your PT goes well today. I can't believe you're still getting big snowstorms. Thanks for your kind suggestions about non-cooking options. I actually eat the Special K breakfast sandwiches and a Greek yogurt for breakfast, and a Healthy Choice, WW or LC meal for lunch, along with a salad and raw baby carrots. I wished I'd listened to people when I was in my 30s and they were telling me how much harder losing weight can be in your 40s and 50s.

Shad - Very pretty outfit! Sorry you're having such frustration and being dumped on at work. Hang in there.

Jolly - Good for you for getting in regular workouts. If the legs of your desk are made of wood, at least they'll be high in fiber. :rofl:

Annie - How you are you and C? How is DD and the boys?

Time to get back to website fine tuning. :D

Much love to all,

I'm tired today. I did go to bed on time but got up in the middle of the night to see the ending of the lunar eclipse. Also got to see the constellation Virgo which is also my sign. It was cold last night too.
It's almost funny. Don't think my guest has slept in the guest room once. She's been on the couch since the t.v. is in there. I heard her get up this morning and go to the room when I got up to get ready for work. She doesn't like being in there. So be it, that's where she is staying. Don't think she's been eating anything even though there's food in the house. I'm not cooking every day while I'm working. I'm hoping she leaves tomorrow.
She's still talking of going to Branson with me. But there will be some rules for her to follow.

Michelle
Yes, the yoga did help the sore muscles. In fact since I've been doing a lot of walking at work, I've been trying to get in some yoga at home. thanks for the reminder of the meditation.

Happy
I can't believe that your area is getting more snow. But it's cold enough here especially at night to do that.

Annie
How are you doing?

Susie, Shad and Terra Hello :wave:

Jollygirl
Welcome back.

Ceejay - I hope your guest leaves soon too. You know, you don't have to "let" her go to Branson with you. Weren't you going there with your sister? You could just say that you want some family time with your sister. Hang in there, my friend.

Morning all,
Something must have pinged in my brain yesterday because I worked like a little demon. Got all but a one thing off my plate and am now casting around looking for more work. That doesn't mean I have gotten rid of all the stuff I was doing, just means that I have done all I can for now. Eventually, much of it will end up back at my desk.

Laura - the email thing has been doing that for ages for me anyway. Even before Mel passed, I would click on the link. It would take me to one of her posts but not the latest one.
One thing I have found during weight loss is that if at first you don't succeed, you get depressed about it. I was going along quite well, not losing anything but shaping up, but then it hit me that for all the effort I was putting in, nothing was happening. That's depressing. You have exercised long and hard, and you deserve the rewards, but our bodies seem to think otherwise. Damn it.

Happy - Can't imagine your DH being too happy with some of the dithering old volunteers there. 'But my stuff has always gone there' I can almost here him saying that because it has always happened doesn't mean it is always right and have you ever thought that the way it is displayed is why it doesn't sell?'
People hate change. I see it everyday in my job, where grown men have been known to crumple at the unknown 'change' coming.

Jolly - hope you have good teeth then. That wood will have been there for a while. Try bringing small snacks in with you. See if the 6 small meals a day will work for you. Same calorific value, just more often until you adjust. It's never worked for me, my brain has portion control missing from its calculations, but it may get you over the hump where you tummy is trying to rule the brain.

Ceejay - think I may have kicked the 'guest' out by now. It can't be doing your brain and/ or body any good to be in a constant state of flux especially as you have long hours of work on shifts to concentrate on.

Michelle - As you see from above, the more they give me to do, the better I work. Hate being idle at work. I have a few butts to kick today to get some feedback and to get things signed off, but it will happen. Sorry to hear that D has been unwell on a drive back to CA but at least he had the sense not to go any further. Hope he has now arrived safely home.

Susie - It will be great when you get your home gym set up. You wont know yourself. We will all have to come over and work out together! :lol3:

So who have I missed - Annie :wave: Terra :wave: Hope you are both doing okay.

So what else is happening. Thinking, thinking......
My right hearing aid went dead over the weekend. Had to take it in for repair yesterday, consequently I am not hearing people too well right now. Oh well.
The royals are in town today - it's still raining - so I think I might stay away from the civic centre, in fact I might just grab some lunch from the Boulangerie across the road and come back to work. Not that I have anything against the royals, I am a bit of a monarchist myself, and these two are a little more down to earth than the previous generations, but I don't like crowds of children, mums pushing strollers and office workers getting clucky. No doubt they will feature on the news tonight. See better from the comfort of my couch anyway.

Okay, it might be time for me to move along. There was something I was about to tell you all, but it has slipped my mind for a the time being (just like portion control) I'll be back when/ if I remember my important bit of gossip/ facts/ inspiration/ encouragement.

Yesterday was a crazy day. I worked 11 hours and when I got home I crashed.

My Director's father passed away suddenly and he had to go to Texas for the week. I had a lot of work rearranging meetings and such, and then since I was out of the office last Friday I had a lot of emails to catch up and things to execute.

Today was a better day and I got 3 major things accomplished. I work tomorrow and then I'm taking a vacation day on Thursday and Friday is a paid holiday for us, it is for DH too.

We have everything ready for the painters to come. They have to work around some furniture in the office but it is what it is. I'll take the computer down on Wednesday morning. I might not be online until after Saturday after everything is painted and I can put the computer back. It will be the first thing that I put back in place.

My foot is hurting again. I am icing it when I get home. I think I will make an appointment to see my orthopedist. A co-worker told me that when she broke her toe, her foot hurt along the side and on he pad of her foot close to the toes, that is where mine hurts, and she had a shot of cortozone that helped as it healed. When I saw the podiatrist ,she acted like I just needed to give it time to heal. I can do that but having my foot hurt all the time is not going to work fo me. I need to see the orthopedist anyway. I could use a shot of cortozone in my knee. It has been a year and a half so I am due one.

I haven't seen the eclipse. My dad was always enthralled with that type of thing and always woke me and my brother to see those type of things. I remember one time he got us up at 3:00 a.m. to see a metor shower. Fond memories.

Shad: That dress is lovely. Very elegant and such a pretty color.

Happy: I saw August: Osage County and I liked it. It is not a "feel good" movie but it does make you relective and Meryl Strep is amazing! She is my favorite actress.

Laura: We had some snow today too. It was just on the grass and was gone this afternoon but it is chilly and we will have a hard freeze tonight.

You said you wanted to see Captain America..I do too! We are going to try and see it on Saturday.

I like your idea about posting movitational type things. I'll start looking for some. I have some on my pintrest account so I will log in and see what I gather there a while back.

Michelle: I understand the "funk". It just happens sometimes.
SRD is State Recogniation Days. At the end of the year when we send out weigh charts to headquarters they check them and then they know who has reached their goal weight, and who was a division winner in the state. TOPS breaks weight loss down by division on how much you weighed at the beginning of the year and where you ended up at the end of the year. That way you are being recognized for accomplishments that you competed with people in the same weight range you are in. Also, the is a State Queen and King that is declared overall again according to weight that was lost.

I will get my notes that i took on the diabeties talk and post them for you in a few days.

Ceejay: I think it is time for your company to go home. I am really proud of you for letting her know how yu are feeling. I remember the last time you just put up with it. You have come a long way! Good for you!

Hi Annie, Terra and Jolly.

Ok...time to get to bed. I hope to post tomorrow.