Hi Everyone. I am not a happy person right now with my weight. I went to TOPS last night and I thought "I am going to be down; I have been watching my food, eating in my calorie range, on the treadmill" and the scales showed a 4 lb gain!! I just couldn't take it. I left after I weighed and when home and cried. I just don't understand.

It has taken me a lot to come post this. I am mad, hurt, depressed, feeling unmotivated. I know I will get back on the tract because I can't stay at this weight...I just can't! But I have no energy for it right now.

Any advice...how do I get through this "BLAH" feeling?

Susie - Sorry about the gain. A few questions...is it at or near that time of month? Have you been eating a lot of foods high in sodium? Restaurant foods, pizza and processed/packaged foods have a lot of sodium. Have you been drinking enough water? (caffeinated beverages don't count toward fluid intake, and diet sodas have a lot of sodium).

Are you eating any of the calories earned while exercising?

I would suggest keeping up with the tracking, even if you have a bad eating day, track everything, then you might be able to see where you want/need to cut back.

Also, is your MyFitnessPal set up for a certain daily calorie allotment or a number of lbs per week goal? Try and go for a lower calorie allotment or a higher number of pounds per week.

One other question...I'm not sure what percentage of your food is carbs versus protein, but I have heard that unburned carbs turn into fat...at least that's what a doctor once told me.

Have you been under a lot of stress at work or home? Stress causes our bodies to produce cortisol which is our body's fight or flight hormone, that causes us to hang on to calories in case we need it to fight or flee from the threat causing the stress or in case there's danger of a famine.

As for the "Blah" feeling...just take the scale as information...it's just feedback. Even when you're doing everything right and there's no way to improve, sometimes our body just holds on to calories/weight.

I can almost guarantee that if you keep exercising, don't eat the calories earned by exercise, eat a higher percentage of lean protein and veggies and fewer carbs, and limit sodium, you should see the weight come off over time.

One last thing...are you sure the scale was set to "0" before you stepped on? Just a thought.

Total attack of the munchies...except this time I really feel hungry. I was just about to try and justify in my head why I "deserved" to purchase some of those yummy shortbread cookies from the vending machine, and then I remembered I have even more yummy (or differently yummy) Quest protein bars in my desk. Almost the same amount of calories, but at least the protein bar has 20 grams of protein and lots of fiber to balance out the carbs. While I would've preferred to avoid these calories all together, at least it's better than the cookies' empty calories. *Bummed that I don't have time to hit the gym today to burn off some of these calories.*

Morning all,
Just a brief post before I go out in the garden again. I have some timber sleepers to cut and fashion into garden beds. That should make my garden easier to manage since I don't seem to be about to keep to a straight row in the normal garden and then can't find the carrots or the onions or whatever.
DS2 came over for dinner last night. Neither of us could finish the dinner. Never the less I am up today on the scale. Still just have to hitch up the pants and get on with life.

Susie - so sorry to hear that after all the effort, you are up again. DO NOT GIVE UP. Much as we try it is not going to all come off in one go. It didn't go one in one day, so why should it come off in one day. Just keep going. Keep exercising, watch portions, drink the water. Ensure you get enough sleep and balance your life. Once you get all the things of a good life in balance - health, wealth, spiritual, physical, etc. then you will find the answer. It is never easy.



Michelle - get your fingers out of the snack machine. It isn't good for you. Those 11lbs will always be the hardest of your life and feeding the munchies won't help.

Laura - pity you had to miss weighin, but you will no doubt make sure you get there this coming week. Happy birthday to B/f.

Okay - better get on with it. Otherwise today will slip away from me and I will achieve little. I'd like to take a trip to the mountain tomorrow - day off from the hedge, the garden, the house, the car, the cat and the cleaning and clearing. I'll be back.

Will call my uncle in a few minutes to tell him I'm not coming this week end. I just am not in the mood to drive that far. Plus I'll need to go next week end for the concert.
With the furniture gone I do have more space in the living room. Was busy rearranging the furniture yesterday.
Thunder woke me up early this morning around 5.30 and we've had more rain this afternoon. We were beginning to need it. It's supposed to rain sometime during the day through out Tuesday.

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Susie
Don't let this weight gain get you down as Michelle said there are a lot of factors that could have caused it. Sodium is my worst enemy.

Shad
So you are back home and in the garden and getting things done around the house.

Michelle
I'm very proud of you for taking the "bull by the horns" on your weight loss. I didn't realize that your surgery was scheduled for November. Sending good vibes to your friend Bob.

Laura
You are a busy girl. What is truffle fries?

Happy
Have a safe trip

Laura ~ Yeah, The white chicken chili was very good but it was a little on the spicy side due to the seasoning packet my mom added to it, She added 4 packets cause she double the recipe but it was just too spicy for me so I cant wait until she makes it again, She said next time she isnt gonna add as many seasoning packets so hopefully it wont be so spicy next time.

Michelle ~ Yeah I track on my fitness pal also, I walked outside Monday Morning trying to do 30 mins but since its been awhile since I have walked outside I could only do 1 time up the street and back to my house when usually I could do it 4 times in a row but I'll just try harder.

Susie ~ I went from 284 back up to 293 so I have gained also so your not the only one , Im here if you want to talk since right now we are in the same boat. We just have to try harder.

checking in early. don't have that much to do today, except rest and relax. I am going to finish decluttering in the spare bedroom. I had moved most of the small stuff in there to get it out of the way of the workers who put down the new flooring. I still have a lot of things to go through before I move out of the apartment next year. And move to Missouri. I also have a lot of questions for my sister.
I need to plan out a menu for next week. Think I will go with the whole foods. That seems to work best for me. I'm going to keep it simple.

Terra
One walk down the street is a good start to getting back on track. If we didn't have so many young hagglers on my street I would do that. I may start going back to the gym. I'm thinking very seriously about it.

Thank you everyone for all your support and advice. It took me a couple of days but I have my head back on straight and my mind set is back in place.

Michelle: Good for you for not getting those cookies. What you deserve is to be at a healthy weight and to feel good about yourself. Those cookies can not do that for you.

Terra: I'm sorry that you have gained back some weight. You are right, we just need to try harder. We can both DO THIS! I am here for you too!

Shad: Thanks for the advice and the picture. I printed it out and put it in my dairy (that I had not been using but am back to it....writing and reflecting helps me to balance.

Ceejay: Did you get your menu planned out for the week?

Laura: How is your weekend going? did you get to try on the new shoes and did you buy any?

Hi to Happy and Annie.

Morning all,
The best laid plans of mice and men go astray, as they say. Seems that I am going to have to plan my activities and plans for the house around the times that my friends and family work and have my weekends free for 'other activities'.

Hope Happy got away alright on her trip to Chicago and Mum. No doubt we will hear from her at some point.

Susie - good to hear that you are back and stronger than ever to get this weight off. With you and Terra being 'buddies' it should help to plan the war on weight. Maybe swap menus from time to time and critique each others food. Always helps.

Ceejay - Good for you to decide not to drive all that way every weekend. For those of us who work, there is a need to have a bit of ME time during weekends. And driving is not always a pleasure these days.

Hope Michelle is not munching. Maybe she is enjoying the weekend. And Laura is no doubt celebrating the B/F birthday. Have fun whatever you are doing.

So my weekend is over. I have been out to dinner with friends, had the DS2 over for dinner and regained a bit of weight. Need to try harder too, Today, I need to get over to the DS2's place and pick up some bits and pieces to get on with the garden beds. Apart from the other stuff I need to do, I want at least one of them in place today. The plants I bought wont sit in the punnets for much longer.

So having said that, have a good day. Think before you eat. Ask yourself do you really want to add that whatever to your food diary. Drink the water and get on with the exercise.

CJ ~ Yeah I think walking down the street and then coming back to my house is a start to getting back to walking outside, What are haggles? Just wondering.

Susie ~ YES!!!!! We CAN do this, I believe in the both of us.

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I woke up at 6:00 AM this morning just an hour later then I had planned. As always I got all of my morning duties done. Im currently eating breakfast before I do my 2 mile walk with my Leslie Sansone DVD. Im also gonna do a 1 mile walk at noon and then I'll do my 2 mile walk again later on tonight so then I'll have my 5 mile walks in before I go to bed tonight so thats good. Im also looking forward to going to Walmart today at 2:30 pm. We are gonna do some food and non food shopping.

Good Monday morning ladies,

I had a busy weekend, and it went way too fast. And I've got a big graphic design project to finish up that I've barely started because I'm having trouble with a few of the key elements.

Anyway, I hope we all have a great week! Just as an FYI, my weight loss surgery isn't scheduled yet. It won't get scheduled until I'm at or within 5 lbs the goal weight the surgeon set for me. And then I absolutely HAVE to be at the surgery weight or below by the time of the operation. I'm hoping for November, which means, I'd better get these stubborn pounds off.

I'll try to check in later.

Much love to all,

Morning all. Sorry I was MIA over the weekend. No reason for it except I hate to sit at the computer after I’ve done that all week long.

It was a nice weekend, but not productive. I went to Jazzercise class Saturday morning. Breakfast with my friend was cancelled because her cat was very sick and she needed to take him to the vet. I did some laundry, swept the 3-season room, and that was about it. It was a beautiful day, so I did some reading in the 3-season room as well as outside in the yard. I also took doggy to the dog park. Bf had a couple friends over, but I was wiped out (Jazzercise did it) and hit the hay early.

Sunday was more lounging – reading the paper, reading my book. A couple more loads of laundry. Sewed on some buttons. Dog walk. Ho hum.

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Michelle – Truffle fries are really truffle oil fries, and truffles are some sort of mushroom, so they give the fries a really rich flavor. I’m not a huge fan of French fries and usually seek a substitute for them, unless they're seasoned nicely, and these fries were yummy. I hope you did okay with the Chinese food on Friday – it can certainly be a calorie bomb since the American stuff is all about gravies and sauces, as well as deep-fried stuff. And let’s not get into the sodium content! You’ve certainly considered the timing of the surgery carefully, so I hope you can get those 11 pounds off so the surgery can be scheduled as you want it. And then you have to make sure you stay at the weight by surgery date – not too much pressure! Re the snacking…when you’re truly hungry, it’s easier to justify “I need to eat something” – be it a junky something or a healthier something. All weekend I was jonesing for something chocolate, but there was nothing in the house. Same for salty junk. I ended up eating Laughing cow with a few crackers, and some almonds - could have been worse. But why wouldn’t I choose watermelon or a hard boiled egg? Sigh. It’ll always be a struggle. That’s all there is to it. But we won't give up!!!

Susie – Sorry the scale wasn’t kind to you, but I agree with the others. There can be many reasons for scale fluctuations. One I don’t think I saw mentioned was the muscles holding onto the weight after they’ve been worked hard, so maybe the walking and your other activity caused that. Regardless, it’s discouraging when you’ve been doing the right things. Like Shad said though – never give up!!! Get back on the scale this Thursday and keep plugging along. Re the shoes – nope, didn’t get out to even try any on. Shopping isn’t one of my favorite things to do.

Shad – Yes, I will get to a WW meeting this week. You were making me tired just reading about all you were doing!!! Did you get a chance to get away from the house/garden yet??

Ceejay – Nice you decided to stay home this weekend, especially if you want to make progress with your decluttering project! My mother is still working on getting my brother’s house in shape to sell (not by herself –she’s getting help), and then she’ll be working on her own house. She’s got a lot of decluttering in her future… So I have the same question as Terra – who are these hagglers on your street and what is it they want with you??? Must be annoying for you to not want to go for walks in your neighborhood.

Terra – That’s something I don’t like about cooking – the first time you try a recipe, it might not be exactly to your taste, so you have to tweak it a bit the next time. I always try to take notes so I can refer to them the next time. How did the walking go over the weekend? There’s definitely a difference between doing indoor walking and outdoor walking. Outdoors, you might not even realize there’s a slight incline making it more challenging for you - until you compare it to an indoor routine. Keep at it and make sure you’re challenging yourself!!

Hi Happy – Hope you’re enjoying your visit w/ your mom.

Hi Annie!!

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Where did the morning go? I got interrupted with a request from the boss and it took me longer than I thought. Oh well, makes the day go by faster.

Everyone have a great day.

Laura - Glad you had a nice weekend. So sorry to hear about your friend's cat. I hope it's doing better now. To answer your question, I asked my friend Bob if he'd mind if we went to Applebees instead since I knew they had a lighter menu and it would be easier for me to eat within my calorie budget there. He's totally supportive and wants to help me lose the pre-surgery weight, so he didn't mind at all.

Hi Everyone. I needed a moment of me time..so I'm taking a short break at work.

I woke up this morning to pain in my left foot...not the one that hurt in the spring that was the right foot.

This one is painful in my instep. Not sure what is going on but it is hard to walk. It might be from the walking as I have been going at a good clip on the treadmill--4.2 miles an hour for the most part. DH thinks I bruised my instead. So I'm icing it, and will do a gentler walk or a walk away the pounds DVD tonight and then ice again. I don't know what the heck is up with my feet!

Laura: It sounds like you had a nice weekend. You got a few things done and also relaxed. YES, you WILL make it to the WW meeting this week...I have faith in you.
I hope your friend's cat is doing ok.

Michelle: That is really nice that you could go to AppleBee's and that your friend Bob supported you in that way. I hope your graphic design project is moving along well.

Shad: I feel that my friends and family feel like I should keep my weekends open for them but with working I can't always do that. I loved the way you put it that "For those of us who work, there is a need to have a bit of ME time during weekends". I will be sharing that with them.

You are very good with the pep talks..your "Think before you eat. Ask yourself do you really want to add that whatever to your food diary. Drink the water and get on with the exercise." quote is going in my diary.

Did you get your garden bed in place like you wanted to?

Terra: I like the way you have broke up the walking to get your 5 miles in. How was the trip to Walmart.

Happy: I hope you are having a great trip!

Annie: How are you doing?

Hello All....

Just had my 3rd interview at Wells Fargo....I think I aced this one as well.
Thinking I may get an offer before week's end or next early. EXCITED....feelling blessed and happy....still need prayers for a great result....thank you all for everything thus far.

SUSIE...sorry to hear you are having foot pain....nothing like it. We have to walk and when it gets difficult, everything is messed up. Hope it gets better soon.

LAURA...glad you had a nice weekend, but sorry about your friend's cat. Just hate it when our pets are sick cause they cannot talk and tell us what is going on. Sass went through a day of having to piddle every couple of hours, outside, on the kitchen floor and once on our bed. I made a vet appt. but my the time Monday rolled around she was fine. Weird. I think she has issues when I give her the Trifexa pill once a month.

CHELLE...I am praying for your weight loss and surger. Just one thing...and I mean it with all my heart, DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC drinks anytime after EVER.. Very addictive. You don't know how bad it is. Just sayin.

TERRA...how is the walking going...are you currently working??

SHADDIE...yeah...best laid plans by man...the saying I like best is...Man Plans, GOD laughs....my old boss used to say that. Seems true in my life.
Also like your never give up cartoon...fits me perfectly!!

LAURA...talking about beer samples. I went to a wine fest a few years ago and really enjoy this promegranit (sp) wine that I do not remember the brewery, dang it. But it was very tasty.

CEEG...sounds like your move to Missouri is getting closer and closer...good for you for decluttering and getting ready.

HAPPY...hope your visit is going well and your momma is not driving you nutso!!

Sissy's water heater is out, they cannot afford to replace it just yet so they have been coming here for baths and laundry. Cool for me I get to see the babes every day. I may try to come up for the money for a new ont, but up to them to get installed.

Baby Boy will be coming up for his birthday meal on the 23rd. He will be 26, where does time go. He wants my homemade pizza, breadsticks, and something strawberry for his celebration. Also serving salad with my ranch dressing. A veggie tray on the side.

Babysit over the weekend. The babes were at my house. Sis finally called at midnight and said she and Chris would be coming over and would just spend the night with us (due to water heater being out). It was very nice, however I missed church on Sunday due to the chaos and not getting to bed till 2 am, and to sleep at 3am... Fix breakfast and they didn't leave till about 3 pm. What fun and chaos.

Bout it for me, homemade chickie noodles and mashed tators for dinner, will think of some kind of veggie to serve with, probably greenbeans.

Make it a good week ladies.

Love and Hugs