Good Friday!!!!!

Where are you Jolly? I'm ready to read your morning post!

I heard that they put tidal wave warnings out from the Japan earthquake for as far away as Alaska. I thought about Raven and Chach.

Not alot going on here. Right now it's a beautiful morning but we have a strong cold front on the way with a moderate risk of severe weather later this afternoon and overnight. I can handle thunderstorms but when the wind gets to kickin I dont like it! If they issue a tornado warning I pace and pace. Scared to death of them! We had 3 to touch down last Spring in our area, one of them was 1 road over from where we live. Too close to home for me!

We are going to Holiday World Theme Park Sunday. We are taking Jordan and his best buddy for their birthdays. They are so excited. I'm excited that My hubby is taking saturday and Sunday off.

Talk to you all later

Good morning all. Chachee, so glad to hear from you. I am glad you had a chance to chat with Raven, and meet her daughter. I hope she is doing ok, even if she is busy. I am also glad to hear your pain is getting better. How are your babies doing? Hopefully housebreaking is going well, and not all over your new floors. Hippee, this must be the weekend for family outings. I am going shopping with my mom. She has been wanting a mother daughter day. Should be fun. I hope you have a good time with your family. What kind of park is Holiday World? I hope the weather is ok by you. I have a friend who lives in Nashville, and I always get scared by the number of tornadoes near her too. Stay safe.

I did not make it to the gym again today. The foot starts to feel better, then flares up again. I did take the dogs to the dog park last night, which they totally enjoyed. I am going out to ride tonight. My pony and I can both limp around.

Well, off to work now. Have a great day all.

Hello you lovely ladies!!

Just a really really quick note to let you all know I'm thinking about you. My brother's phone lines were messed up, it turned out there was a staple through one of the lines, and they were cross connected. It was finally fixed yesterday, and this is the first time since then I've been able to sit down and actually get online.

Chachee - Thank you so much for showing me your lovely home, your absolutely incredibly disgustingly ADORABLE puppies (I still want Peanut) and for understanding so much about how short I was on time. However, the next time you're down in GA or I'm up in AK, we will have to make plans for a slightly more lengthy visit! Ladies, Chach is lovely and witty and a total joy to chat with!! p.s. I had forgotten about your sciatica and you didn't walk with any difficulty at all and that's fantastic!! I hope there are no more flare ups!

Jolly - I miss you girl! I miss my pony, and I miss our horsie e-mails! What do you take for your foot? Have you ever tried Aleve? I hate guys that make noises about getting together then never follow up.

Happy - Hey, I'm with you on the Dr. Phil thing. He annoys the ever living poo out of me.

Hippy - Hope the weather is good and you have a great time this weekend!

Tracy - Haven't read the journals yet, but I hope you're doing ok!

My dad is safely and happily ensconced in his new home now. It's beautiful, and the lady who runs it is great. There are a couple of the other residents there who are already tickled with my dad, and love to spend time with him. I have to admit, he loves the home. It's been a very emotional week, but not a bad one. It's also been a week filled with eating just about every waking moment. Everyone wants to feed us! I don't know that I've ever been so happy at the thought of getting back to my chicken breasts and yogurt! *oof* Not to mention my own routine.

I probably won't have a chance to write again till Sunday night or Monday from work, so I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Good Morning!

My guys are still sleeping and I'm just having some coffe and relaxing before the day gets started. I'm not use to both of them being home at the same time so I'm sure it will be a hectic weekend!

Jolly, Holiday World is like Six Flags, not as big but alot of fun. Rides, Games ,shows, water park. The water park is closed for the season already but that's okay, it's going to be 64 degrees tomorrow so I will be taking a jacket.

Raven I'm glad your trip seems to be going well.

My little dog is so funny! Gary got her for me for my birthday last year. She's a little rat terrier but the vet called her a type 2, I don't know, but anyway instead of having long legs and being real tall, she's short and had great big ears. They stand straight up and she is so cute. Anyway, she just woke up and she is just like a kid, she jumped up in my lap and sge puts her paws up on my neck and kisses me every morning then she just lays her little head on my shoulder! I swear she thinks she's human!!

Off to have a great weekend with my family. Hope you all do the same!

G'morning chickies...

Hippy - I have a rat terrier, too. She turned out to be rather a mutant, she got a lot bigger than she was supposed to. I love the little monster, though. :)

Well, today is the day we head back to GA. And that is said with greatly mixed feelings. I guess now that Dad is in his new place, I feel more comfortable, but I'm scared this will be the last time I see him. I think I'm going to try to come up again next summer for a couple weeks, depending on whether my ex is still living here or what. But I want to rent a mini-winni and take it up to my cabin on the Denali highway and see if the place is still standing. There was an earthquake up there which was pretty high on the scale, plus no one has been up there for about 10 years, so it's questionable at best as to whether the old place has survived. That's why I'd take the Winnebago. Plus it would give me a chance to see Dad again. I hope.

There is one thing that made this whole trip a good one, and that is that my Dad remembered me, and he remembered my kids. Seeing us and getting him out of that horrid hospital room seemed to trigger a lot more memories, and he remembered that Mom had passed away, which was a sad moment. There is one lady who is resident at the assisted living facility who is only 56, and is a nurse. She has had major health problems, and her knees are shot, so for now she's on disability and lives at Shirley's. She's a really neat lady, and had already kind of adopted Dad, I think. It's an absolutely gorgeous home, and Dad's room has these big bay windows. We moved his own dresser in there, plus a table to put by the windows so he can sit there and drink his coffee and read the paper in the sun if he wants. We put a TV/VHS combo thing in there, so that I can take videos of all of us and he can watch them right there in his room. It's really hard to leave him, really hard.

But he has my brother here, plus my other brother is coming up next month, and I'll be sending him stuff. I hope he's going to be ok.

The flight is a very long one, we leave here at about 8 tonight, and don't get into GA till noon tomorrow. Even with the time difference, that's 12 hours of traveling. *cringe* What I do to save money, eh!?!?

Alrighty then, well, I'd better get my tail feathers in gear and go get milk for the coffee (at least I drank skim milk while I was here!) :lol: and start some laundry and get a little organized before we go up to see Dad this morning, then we're going to run over and see what's become of our old house in Turnagain, and show the kids the high school I graduated from. It's been a very FULL week, in more ways than one!!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Morning you glorious chicks!!

Ok i have missed os much i am..like..what??when where???who??
Raven..so you went where chachee lives..to see your family...and your father is out of the hospital room..right..please forgive me if i am wrong...did you um take any wiggling cute little puppies wiht you??Lol I bet it was hard to resist. Did you call your hourse??i bet he missed you madly!!

Chachee..very cool on the money..it is great especially at this time of year...kinda like another littl bonus to get you through!! Where are the pictures of the little guys??

Hippy..now we all kow that whne we talk about the animlas..i have to have a pictue.. I want something warm and fuzzy..nad my outside fish do NOT cut it..lol pictures/.

Jolly what the heck happened to you foot. Oh sure I am gone for a few days and boom.. What is going on...hhmmm...do i have to come up to Wisoconsin and give you a Mommy lecture about taking care of YOUself!!???

On Dr. phil..ugh..i used to think he was the bees knees...wait do bees have KNEES?? But now..get a life..like he is skinny!! SOrry...but watching him do an interview lately..he has NO compassion

OOps went on my tirade..lol I will save that for the journal..lol

Love ya all!!

Tracy

Good morning wonderful ladies. So good to hear from you all. Hippee, hope your weekend was well. Your dog sounds cute. It is funny how hooked we all are on our "fur children." Raven, so glad to hear from you. I am glad your trip turned out well, if emotional. Can't wait to hear more from you. Tracy, I always miss you. You have to remember to post, or email. I like to hear from you. HOw are your classes going?

I had a busy but good weekend. Have been a bit ill, so haven't worked out like I should, but plan on getting back tomorrow. My foot is starting to feel better.

Take care and have a great day.

Alright. I'm back. Now what? My boyfriend is going to the doc Wednesday because he's concerned about mild numbness in his left arm, and once in a while his chest feels a little heavy. Enough to make me really nervous.

Jolly - I'm glad to hear your foot is starting to feel better! I'll shoot you a horsie e-mail from work tomorrow.

My little hedgehog Harley passed away today. My daughter let me know. I had him for around 8 years. I cried, my daughter cried, my son cried, and we buried him under the butterfly tree.

My brother gave me a video camera, it's the kind that tapes directly to a vhs tape. I'm amazed at how good the pictures are. I love it. My kids horsed around with it today and took some really funny videos. I love it! OTOH, I look HUGE! Perhaps that was the inspiration I need to get my butt back on track.

My alarmingly huge butt. *sigh*

I was still feeling kind of out of it today, but I'm slipping back into my life. I didn't go see the horses today, because I was just worried enough about Richard to decide I'll stay home in the evenings till we find out what's going on, if anything. I bought my healthy choice lunches, got bananas and yogurt, some balance bars, and made an attempt to drink more water. All this went to **** in a handbasket when I got home and drank 3 glasses of wine, made chicken parmesan with a disgusting amount of cheese and texas toast, and had two really wonderful chocolate chunk cookies for dessert with milk. *rolls eyes* THEN I saw the video. *cry*

I guess I need to get my mind around the motivation issue. Going to go to bed a little earlier tonight, perhaps that will help my mindset tomorrow.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Hello ladies!

Had my follow up with the doc regarding my sciatica. He is sending me to physical therapy for the next two weeks. He is keeping me on the muscle relaxer and taking me down to Vioxx for the next month. I am feeling better, but he said to just ease back into things.

Started SBD today. I had to have peanut butter with my celery. Didn't care for the Laughing Cow too much. I am full, but still have my snack/dessert for later. I didn't make the ricotta creme, but I did bring the sf jello and the lite Cool Whip for my dessert.

Raven: I'm so sorry about Harley. I know how much he meant to you. It was so good to meet you and your daughter. We definitely need to schedule more time next time, whether it's here or in Georgia. You were a riot and I want to let all the ladies know what a fun and sweet person you are! Your daughter was so cute with the puppies. I know Peanut has a home if we ever want to get rid of her. (Like that's going to happen!) Please keep me informed on how Richard is doing. I'm glad your dad is all settled in and it's a nice place for him.

Jolly: How is your foot? Have you seen the doc for it yet? Have you made it back to the gym?? So many questions! The puppies are housebreaking relatively well! They are a hand full, though!

Hippy: Did you have fun at Holiday world?? It sounds like fun to me. I love going on roller coasters!!!!

Tracy: How is the real estate world? Isn't that what you are doing now, right? I really need to get pictures of the puppies, but the computer is still not running. Modem is blown, so now we have to fix that.

Ladies, time to hold me accountable. I am going in January to have a consult with a plastic surgeon to have a breast reduction done. I need to lose 50 pounds by then, that's a big goal, but I know I can do it if I stick to a plan. I'm asking you all to hold me to that and to check in as often as possible. A kick in the butt? Yep, that's what I need and I need to get serious and quit messing around with the loss of weight.

Thanks and check in with you soon.

Chach

Welcome back Raven! Those little rat terriers are about some mischevious little poochies aren't they! Buffy is little, about 10 pounds. I call her my show dog reject!! Her ears are too big and her tail is too short!! I didn't get her to show anyway...tome she is beautiful!! My mom and brother have one and they are really tall. Jordan is going to show me how to put her picture by my name over in the corner.I have no clue! DUH!!!

Holiday World was fun. We got rained on 3 times and hailed on once. No lightning so they continued to run the rides. It was suppose to get in the 60's but never made it out of the 50's. I had to buy a sweatshirt because I was freezing. The boys ran around soaking wet from the rides and the rain and thought that it was great! It didn't rain all day so we made the best of it between showers.

Let me tell you about my eating..........AHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I had a sausage biscuit for breakfast, loaded nachos for lunch, pizza and french fries for dinner, was that enough? NOOOOOO!!!!!! I also had a big chunk of fudge and a chocolate dipped waffle cone filled with rocky road ice cream. I'm soooooooooooo ashamed to tell this about myself!!!!! It felt so good to be eating great food and having a great time! I'm back on the program today. I haven't weighed and think I will wait a week or 2!!!!!

Talk to you all later!!!!

Good morning everyone. So much to read :) I am glad to hear from everyone. I am glad you are back, Raven. I am sorry to hear about your boyfriend, though. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious. I am also sorry about Harley. It is always so hard when you lose a pet you love. I hear you on the picture thing. I see pictures of myself with the pony, and I look just huge. I hate it! Chachee, I am glad your pain is better. Now just follow doctor's orders. I am glad the pups are doing well. I can't wait until you can post pictures. I bet they are adorable. Beagle babies are so cute. Of course that grown up hound voice can be a killer. I had a wonderful beagle mix when I was growing up. I taped her howling once and played it back to her. Scared her under the bed:fr: Hippee, I am glad you had a good trip. Back on track now. We will definitely hold you accountable.:dancer:

I am dealing with several things right now. My foot is still sore, but manageable. I did make it to the gym this morning, which I think was amazing. I helped a friend move last night, and there were just 3 of us. Late night, lot of work, and I was dreaming we were still moving all night. And we were vampires ( I just finished an Ann Rice novel, don't ask.) So I was very proud that I made it to the gym. I am going to go to kickboxing tomorrow night too. ONe thing I need a kick in the butt about. When I rejoined the gym, I was told I had 3 free personal trainer sessions. I want to use that to have someone look at what I do, and help me set up a work out schedule, including :eek: weight training. For some reason, I have had a real hard time asking about this. I don't know why. Every time I get ready to do so, I don't. This is not really a difficult thing. What is my problem? There is definite room for improvement with my eating. I have become addicted to McDonald's new Sausage McGriddle. Not really the best start to the day. Plus, been busy so not eating healthy. Sigh. I have started reading Bob Greene's book, and there is a section in there about identifying our emotional eating triggers, and what to do about it. Woo hoo. Lastly, I am considering applying for a higher up position that may be opening up. It is something that I have wanted, but it is scary.

Anyway. I will check in later. Take care everyone, and have a wonderful day. Does anyone want to start a challenge through the end of the year? I need some motivation. I would really like next year's show pictures to look better, and not like I am bigger than my horse.

Good morning!

Sharla - I'm so glad you had a good time, in spite of the weather! The only time I've really been to a big park like that was when we went to Six Flags, and I rode a roller coaster for the first time. I was scared out of my MIND, but I have to admit it was fun! I screamed the entire ride.. well, aside from the very beginning when it was clacking its way up to the top, then I was chanting "oh no, no, nononono." *ahem* Yes, I'm a weenie. I'll have to see if I can attach some pics of my dawgs. I know I have a few of the Rat all grown up, but the last digital pics I have of the dane are when she was about 4 months old ... or at least where I can get to them, anyway. I know we have more. I'll have to look around. Those two are great buddies. From what I can tell about the Rats, there are (like your Vet said) two types, one is closer to the Jack Russell, and the other is more like the Fox Terrier. Mine could easily pass for a Fox, if you weren't sure what you were looking at.

Chachee - OMG don't think it was just Peanut! *lol* Buster was a handful, but you know we couldn't take one without taking the other! Lordie but Nickie was bugging me all the way home about getting a couple beagle puppies. Even if he has this obsession with my leather jacket. ;) I'm so glad your sciatica is subsiding, but yes, definitely don't rush things. It probably wouldn't take much to re-aggravate it, and I know you don't want that! I just wanted to let you know that the time we spent with you and those puppies really did help me. You were so sweet, and those puppies were such little bundles of puppy smell, warm, and love. I could have spent all day with you and been quite happy talking and chasing those little boogers away from my coat.

Tracey - Yep, my Dad is out of that nasty hospital room and into his beautiful new house. His room is wonderful, and he actually likes the place. I know he'd rather be at his house, but there's no way that can happen, plus I think he's better off where there are people to chat with. Now he has a reason to get out of bed and get cleaned up, and it's a LOT less depressing. How are your classes going??

Jolly - I sent you a horsie e-mail. :D Chachee's little Buster was already starting to try out his bay, it was the cutest thing, this little teensy weensy 4 pound smidgen of a dog baying his little head off. I hope my BF is ok too, personally I'm thinking it's probably his blood pressure. He's under a LOT of stress at work, and the drive doesn't help, and I know money has been really rough this last year. I'll feel a lot better once we know what's going on.

Ok .. it seems like we all need to get back on track and need some motivational kicks in the rear. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to approach this phase in my weight loss, but I do know that I need to do something. I think a challenge of some sort might be in order - I'll have to think about what I'm going to do. I know I'm not going to make any specific number goals, because with the weights, the numbers on the scale just don't work. Perhaps inches? A huge issue with me has been time management, and I really need to focus on how to fit everything in without burning myself out completely. I need to be realistic, and not make goals which will simply NOT happen. I tend to set myself up for failure. So lets all think about where we want to be, and the best way to get there, and get our tails in gear, eh??

Onward and upward! ;)

Warning, rant ahead!
 

Hello Ladies!

Alright, so yesterday I did pretty well on SBD. I woke up this morning and recognized the face in the mirror—it was Miss Sabotage!! She took over my body as I stuffed three Oreo cookies in my mouth for breakfast. She left for a little while and I had a healthy salad for lunch, just as set forth in the menu. That b**** came back and fed me an ice cream bar. You think she would have had enough, but then she’s staring me back in the face as I pop spice drops for my afternoon snack.

Why do I do this to myself? I want to lose weight and I want to be healthy. I know it’s not easy, but dang, it shouldn’t be this hard. I guess I really need to look inside myself and discover what the problem is and why Miss Sabotage comes into my life.

I honestly believe the only time she didn’t appear was when I was on WW. I think “diet” makes that part of me appear and be so self-defeating! With WW I didn’t feel deprived and knew I could have something if I wanted it. I could save up for it. I still have all my stuff from WW and am thinking about doing it.

See, I am already writing off SBD. It’s the thought that I “can’t” have something that makes me want it even more. Last night I could have had SF Jello/Cool Whip for dessert. NOPE! Had to have an Oreo. It was the thought that it was on the list of “no’s” instead of “acceptable”.

Am I the only one feeling like this? Why is it so hard for me when I know it’s the right thing to do and want to do it? Some people say fat people are lazy. I don’t believe that. I think overweight people, myself included, are very stressed people. If I was fat because I was lazy, then why don’t I have any time to myself? I’m fat because I can’t control the stress in my life, therefore controlling life, so I can control the food I put in my mouth. Up to this point it’s been bad food, and that’s one thing I need to change. I also need to change my control issues. Use them for a benefit, rather than a derogatory effect.

Sorry I rambled. I needed to share with you ladies and get myself back on track.

Here are my goals for the end of the year:

1. Lose 25 pounds. (I want to lose 50, but 25 is an attainable goal.)
2. Maintain a food log and track what I eat and when.
3. Stay on WW program starting Wednesday, October 1. Weigh-ins on Wednesday and report them here.

Okay, that’s me for today. Any feedback is appreciated. I wish you all the best of luck with each of your goals.

Chach

Chachee, I can TOTALLY, completely relate to your feelings of Miss Sabotage (I thought she only shadowed me) and your frustration with SBD and denying yourself things. I too looked at that diet - it probably is the right one for how my body deals with food but I can't tolerate any kind of artificial sweetner (makes me really ill) so to give up fruit and ALL sweets - I just knew I couldn't stay on that diet a week.

In my case, it's a matter of denial (tell me I can't have something and I immediately want it) coupled with when life gets really hectic, it seems that food is that one small area of comfort (and maybe control) in my life. Not binge eating, but not sticking to the things (food, exercise and water) that would get me on the road to losing, slow as it may be. And I have also found that sugar is a trigger for me. If I'm going to have something sweet, it's the last thing I eat at night - like one fresh baked cookie (I get the package of slice and bakes so I can have one portion and no left over temptations) with a small glass of milk. If I have something sugary at lunch, I crave it the rest of the day and don't stop at one cookie.

Like you, I'm feeling geez WHY do I do this? Because, right now alot of things are going on in my life, I am stressed out, bad things are happening each week and as I get over one hump, another is around the corner. I am overtired, not getting enough rest and everyone wants a piece of me and there's no more to give. What doesn't get done so I can spend an hour exercising? And how do I pump myself to do it when I'm dragging my butt already? And let's face it, food takes time. Planning and shopping and preparing and making things that are on plan that are more appealing than the quick and easy and off plan stuff.

So I guess the answer is time and committment. I do like Jolly's idea of a challenge and I am a bit better behaved in a challenge. One of the other threads counts points. Something like this - 1 point for eating on plan for the day, 1 point for meeting your water goal, 1 point for exercising and an extra point for the day if you made all 3 goals. 4 points max you can earn. I like the idea of counting points for good behaviors because it makes them a habit and it prevents the discouragement of trying hard and not seeing results on the scale. If you do all 3 behaviors each day, I would think you'd naturally see a drop in the poundage over time.

Sorry I'm blabbering here. I've been really out of it lately but I just had to respond to your post. I too, HAVE to do something already myself and I'm up for any ideas you might come up with.

Sorry I can't respond to you all individually at this time, I will try and get back here tomorrow.

Happy: Had to respond to your post. I like the points system. I am still under orders to not exercise, but my points would work like this:

1 point for staying within food points on WW
1 point for water
1 point for journaling my food

1 bonus point for all three accomplished!

We can keep track of our points and see how everyone is doing. I like it!

Chach

Hey all! I'm struggling to get back on track since I went on my pig out fest. I am soooooooooo damn mad at myself. I have had so much control for so long and now I feel like that weak, overweight loser is going to win again. OKAY!!!! Time for me to regroup.... I have done well on eating during the day but have to get control over night time snacking. I haven't done my workout since saturday, ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Time for me to set goals for myself. This morning after I post I will do my workout, I will spend the day preparing some type of sugar free something that I can have tonight if need be. Maybe I will try having a cup of hot orange spice tea instead of food. It's very important for me to have self control. To me this is the key. I control what I eat and when I eat it. I have to be bigger than the person inside my brain and not give in to what she wants to eat. I have to be the one to control it because noone will do it for me. Noone can lose this weight for me, noone can exercise for me. Noone will pay for my health problems that I'm facing as an overweight person except for me. It's all about me girls!!!! I have to do this for ME.

Off to do a workout and make some healthy food!!!

Good luck Chach, Miss Sabatoge is hard to beat but you can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good morning everyone. So much to respond to. I too struggle with why I sabatoge myself. I am always my own worst enemy. (Though I hear you on the denial thing, Happy. I am the same way with money. The minute I tell myself I have no money, and need to save money, that is when I go shop for stupid stuff, or even worse, food! It is that little child in me that just won't give up, or hear NO) For me, anyway, I think it gets back to the eternal question of self love. Subconsciously, I don't think I deserve good things, so I do things that keep me from reaching my goal. NO MORE!

I hopped on the scale this morning, and actually have lost 2 pounds. I also set up my first personal trainer session for tomorrow morning. YEah.

I really like the idea of using points for our challenge. We can each set 3 goals for ourself for the end of the year. I would suggest keeping this thread for general support, and start a new onefor the challenge. I need ot post my food and exercise on it, so you all can yell at me for making poor food choices (LIke the PMS induced bag of Reese's minis yesterday). What do you think???

(1 free point to whoever comes up with a cool name???)

Good morning, ladies :)

You all are so motivating!!

Chachee - don't feel alone.

I too live a daily battle with Miss Sabotage. Stress, fatigue, lack of time - all those things make it easier to give in to comfort and/or fast rather than planned and healthy. Last night for me it was tapioca. I made some for the first time in maybe 20 years, but you know, my Mom used to make it all the time, and after that trip to Alaska, I was craving tapioca. For whatever reason, food equals love and caring. And the more fattening the food, the better. Sometimes the "treats" I give myself are the only thing I get in the way of special treatment. And like now, with Richard heading to the Doc today to find out what's going on with his arm/chest, and having just come back from the emotional stress with my Dad, and having the kids kind of reeling from their visit with THEIR Dad, plus having to bury Harley - there isn't really anyone to comfort me, so ... I guess I'm comforting myself. I know if I could get out to the stables, it would be better, but I can't because I want to stay near Richard till we find out how serious this is. What I guess I don't understand is why is it that HEALTHY food can't equal comfort?? I mean, rationally I understand that eating a healthy meal is BETTER for me, but it just doesn't hit those emotional comfort buttons.

And just like you and Happy, I too can't stay on a restrictive plan. The minute it's "off limits" is when I want it the most. I do much better if I know I can eat pretty much whatever I want, as long as it is in moderation, and I know exercise is truly the key. And Happy, boy can I relate with the time issue. What do I NOT do so I can exercise? How little sleep can I live on before I collapse? Am I never to get any "down" time? Time to just sit, to think, to not have to move? I think we all need that down time, but how often do we get it? I feel guilty if I sit down for more than 15 minutes with my kids or my boyfriend to do nothing but watch a movie or some TV or play a game. Because there is always something that needs to be done. Several somethings. Way too many somethings.

Something about the points idea makes me happy, but then immediately I think "Ok, so what do I get for all these points??" :rolleyes:

Maybe I do need to institute a reward system. For a long time, I didn't need that, but maybe now just seeing the scale go down or the clothes fit better isn't enough. Maybe I need something to look forward to. I'm still thinking.

Jolly - Congrats on the loss!! I found them. I gained another 5 pounds while I was up in Alaska. *sigh* That's nearly enough to make me cry right now. I was doing SO well! This has to stop, or I will gain it all back, and I can't have that, I simply can't.

Ok, now I'm babbling too. Shall we all just babble together? :D

I'm doing well while I'm at work. I eat right, and at the right times. I need to increase my water, but I think that's a pretty easy one. I think once I'm able to go to the stables again, the evenings will be ok, too. My big huge monstrous issue is the workouts. I'm too tired and too short on time. I need to examine that and get real. If I don't exercise, I won't gain muscle (which is really important to me) and I won't lose the fat as fast. I know this. I *NEED* to figure this out.

Ok. Work. I need to do that, too. ;)

OK. Here's a quick thought. I know most people say to set mini goals, and reward yourself for meeting them. Sometimes, however, you have to reward the effort. Soooooooo. Maybe, we could all set 3 goals for ourself. Get a 4th point each week for meeting all three goals, and a 5th point if we have a loss for the week. Then, set rewards for ourself for every so many points. This way we are rewarding more for healthy behavior changes, and focusing less on just hte weight loss. What do you guys think????

(I know two rewards already I want to set for myself when I reach goal weight. One - jumping lessons. Two - new clothes of course, but most importantly a classy pair of leather pants :) )

I was thinking about this while I ran to the bank today. I think you have a great approach, Jolly. At least for me, anyway. I think I'd like to make the rewards something not money related (because I'd hate to get all these points then not have enough money to get my reward). But I don't want it food related, either. I need to figure out if there is anything I want that doesn't fall into one of those categories. ;)

I was also thinking maybe even of cascading rewards. Or choosing whether to accept the reward, or try for the next goal, sort of like betting all or nothing. :D It's kind of fun to be thinking of this stuff. Right now it's keeping my mind from tearing itself into little pieces with anxiety because Richards doctor appointment is at 2 and it's 1:30 now. *wrings hands* I am trying SO hard to stay away from the vending machine!!!

Some great ideas coming out of this discussion ladies! I have to admit, today being the first of a new month (can you believe it??) along with this points idea has already today kept me on the straight and narrow whereas I would have done otherwise if left to my own stubborness. And there was none of that I'm denying myself feeling either.

I like Jolly's idea of a separate thread to post food and activities. I was with her before on one and I have to admit, that really helped. And if you had a bad day (as we will from time to time) you can also post why you went off track which is helpful when you're trying to analyse why you aren't successful.

Raven, a couple of prayers sent your way that things work out well for Richard. I know it's a scary time.

As far as non money, non food awards go, how about after a certain amount of points (25?) you earn yourself an unabashed guilt free 2 hours with your horsie? No worrying about taking the time for yourself or other things you feel you should be doing.

Big congrats Jolly for the weight loss AND signing up for those personal trainer help sessions.

I'll be back later...

Hi ladies,
I was wondering if I could join your little group? I have been reading around some of the posts and I feel kind of as if I am eavsdropping. You all seem so awesome. I don't have a horse but my 14 year old daughter does. She also takes lessons and her goal is to get in a few shows. I love horses and she has told me to ride her (oops sorry) pony but I feel I am just a little to big for him but as soon as I am able to lose some weight my goal is to ride him.
Hi Tracy met you on another thread. How are you doing juggling everything around? Hope your doing good.
Thanks for making my day pleasurable by posting such great coversations.

luckycharm

Welcome Luckycharm! This place is great and so are the people!

Girls, I love the points idea!!! I have been on track all day. I was so mad at myself for screwing up but that was only going to lead to failure SOOOOOOOOOO, I'm back to positive me and ready to go.

Raven, hope all is well with your boyfriend....hugs and best wishes to you!

Jolly...2 pounds!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Makes me want to try even harder so I can report a loss!!

I think whatever reward we choose should be guilt free. Happy had a great idea about time with your horse. I will choose time for me. I feel guilty if I'm not always doing something for Gary or Jordan or both. I'll have to think about it.

Tracy, hope you are well.

Talk to all of you great girls later!

Hi there Lucky Charm :)

Always great to meet anonther horsie person! What style does your daughter ride? My daughter is 14, as well, and her horse is much taller than mine! I have a QH, and he's only 14.3 hands - my daughter's horse is a TB/QH cross and stands nearly 17 hands... I think she's 16.3. What kind of pony does your daughter have? I'm considering buying my son a horse too, but that will be down the road a bit. First I need to buy the truck and a trailer. ;)

Welcome to our little group!

Hi there hippychick and RavenToy,
My daughter has a Arabian QH cross. He is just under 14.2 but he is well built and really doesn't look that small. She rides english and has a great riding instructor. Linda is teaching them jumping and dressage. Most of the girls already go to shows but Kristi just got her horse in June so we have been having him trained so they maybe can enter next year.
Are you and your daughter able to ride a few times a week?
Congratulations on your weight loss. That is just great. Do you have any tips on how you have been able to keep what you've lost off and still managing to lose more?
Thanks so much for the welcome.
Luckycharm

Hello Ladies!

Welcome Lucky! Sure you can join in here. We are in the middle of starting something I think will be great!

Wow, what did we start here? How is it that we are all at the same place at the same time? I think this is going to be good.

Here is my suggestion for the new thread name: Accountable Saboteurs. Did I get the bonus point, Jolly?

I am starting this today. I have my weigh in weight and Wednesdays work real well for me. My goal/point system (until further notice) will be as previously stated:

1 point for staying in my point range
1 point for journaling my food--on the new thread and own journal
1 point for drinking my water--I am shooting for 64 oz a day, but hope to hit 96

Please remember I am four hours behind East Coast time, so don't ding me in case my entry on the other thread shows a different day. I'll try to get in here at the same time each day, so at least it will consistent.

I liked the idea Raven had also about the cascading reward program. I think what I am going to do is this:

If I make my goals each day for the week, I will reward myself by purchasing one of my collector mini shoes. I haven't bought one in over two years because it's a sacrifice I made for my family. They are not that expensive, but something that I consider a luxury. If I can make it two weeks in a row, then I will reward myself with three shoes. At the end of one week, I can decide if I want to purchase the one, or take a gamble and bet on myself that I can earn all the points to get three. That way if I don't make it for some reason, I will have nothing, but that was my choice to risk it.

Jolly: Great job on the loss and also on setting up the personal trainer appointment. I think it will really help and I would do it if I joined a gym.

Raven: Girl, we are so alike. I am sending prayers Richard's way and your way for help with the stress and anxiety.

Happy: I love we are starting this. Good thing we all were sabotaged at the same time, huh?

Hippy: I like your reward idea. That is always good to have time for yourself.

I am soooooooooooooo excited to start this!!! Where is the thread going to go up? Once it's up, let's start recording each day, okay? I'll journal in my personal journal today and report it once we get the other thread going.

I AM MOTIVATED NOW THANKS TO YOU ALL!! :grouphug:

Chach

Oh this is so COOL! :D :D :D Just think, we started the week on a so so note and look at us now just a few days later. Shows you what great minds can come up with :gossip:

I think Jolly should start the new thread (if she doesn't mind) because it was her idea to begin a challenge. Thanks Jolly for the opportunity for motivation ;) I like Chachee's suggestion for the name - Accountable Saboteurs - kind of a reminder why we're doing this. I guess if we're starting today, we should count up on points on Tuesday ie. 29/29- 4 possible points a day x 7 days = max 28 points a week, plus the extra point if we have a loss for the week. Wednesdays start a new "week" for us?

As for rewards.. hmmm, the hubby is subtling bugging me to lose weight so if I make 28 points in a week, I think he owes me a full back and foot rub for an hour. If I don't get at least 20 points, I owe him the same. (not gonna happen girls :no: ) I think too if I make at least 25 points, I'm going to put $10 in a jar each week so that by the time I start Christmas shopping in early December, I'll have guilt free money ($100) to spend on something I see that catches my eye. I will shoot for all 29 points a week but sometimes even if I'm good the scale does one of these to me :p so I'll take 28 and do a happy dance if I get 29!

Raven, hope everything checked out well with Richard.

Welcome Lucky Charm, you're just in time to join the challenge.

Big congrats Chachee and Hippy for staying on track today.

Jolly, hope you get some good advice from your trainer tomorrow.

PS. I made all my points today ONLY because of this challenge - thanks! On plan eating, water, exercise.

WOW! Everyone is so excited about this challenge!!! This is great! I love motivated people and people that aren't afraid to speak up when they lose motivation.

Okay, I'm switching eating plans so we will see what happens. I'm going from south beach to the diabetic eating plan so my goals will be to stay within the 1500 calories, exercise daily and no evening snacks.

Happy, a back rub......what a great reward!!!!

Chach....keep that motivation going girl!

Raven....how's Richard?

Good morning Jolly!!!

Have a great day girls!

Alrighty then. Sounds like we have a winner of a challenge here! I'm going to start as of tomorrow morning, because I always seem to do best when my weigh in or end-of-week is on a Friday. Today is already kind of .. well .. shot, sort of. Though I'm not taking it as a license to consume mass quantities for the rest of the day. My boss brought in a warm blueberry muffin from Dunkin Donuts for me this morning, and well ... I ate it. And last night, my kids and I consumed an entire quart of Moose Tracks ice cream. :rolleyes: One can hope we have gotten this out of our system, yes?

On the Richard subject. The doc can find no "immediate" danger. The EKG was good, his blood pressure is good, and they took about 3 pints of blood (Richard's estimate, probably a slight exaggeration) for tests. Cholesteral is one of them, and I'm interested to see what his will be. The doc is a little concerned about the pressure in his chest, but is a little confused because it isn't in the middle, which is typical of heart issues, but more towards the upper left. I told Richard perhaps he needs to see a chiropractor, maybe he's aggravated a nerve. But that wouldn't explain the heaviness in his chest on exertion. *twitch* I guess we'll wait and see what the blood tests show. There is the possibility that his cholesteral is high and he has a partially blocked artery. For the moment, however, the doc is quite sure he's not going to keel over and die on us. It might be that Richard is just putting a couple symptoms together which are not medially related. Perhaps the chest feeling is simply because he hasn't exercised in the last 7 years. Or longer. And it may be just a coincidence that his left arm is feeling numb because he pinched a nerve or something. At any rate...

I'm going to the stables tonight. Finally. I need so badly to see my Arashi Rei. I know Nickie needs to see Shadow, and perhaps we can get Machine up on one of the horses to ride for a few minutes. I wonder if he missed me? :^:

Lucky - Well that isn't really a PONY pony then! :D He's just about the same size as my QH! Or as my Quarter Pony, as I affectionately call him. What is his name? Actually we get out to see the horses nearly every day, which has kind of caused a problem with my darling boyfriend. :o I had to promise to spend more time at home or he was going to pitch a fit. Can't hardly blame him. Why bother being in a relationship if your partner is never around? He was beginning to feel like I loved that horse more than I loved him. I'll admit it's a close call. Some days.... ;) We board the horses, and the lady who owns the stable also teaches, so we take lessons. A lot of our lessons are paid for in labor, we help out with her pony rides on the weekends, clean tack, muck stalls, whatever needs to be done. My Arashi will be going through lessons himself, because he was originally trained in western pleasure, and he needs to learn how to collect himself up a bit for english. I don't think he'll have trouble with it, he's very giving and intelligent, and doesn't have that brattiness which so often comes with Arabians and Thoroughbreds. *pokes Jolly* I love them all, no hate mail, please. :p If you don't mind my asking, how much do you weigh? I've put on a few recently (sigh) so I'm back into the 190's :cry: and I'm riding. I know it would help my horse a bit if I lost some tonnage, but we seem to manage right now. As for how I've lost the pounds so far, I'm a calorie counter. I don't do well eliminating anything, so I tell myself nothing is off limits, as long as I keep it around 1500 calories a day. When I'm really OP, I work out 6 times a week, incorporating running/walking, weight lifting, and pilates into the week. I had gotten to the point where I could run a mile and a half with no problem, but ... I suppose I'll have to start out slow again. Weights are going to be fun to start again, that always hurts. :lol: And the pilates is rough right now because I have no DVD player. I need to pick up a cheap one again. I try to make sure I keep my water intake up, and get enough protein and fat along with my fruits and veggies, but I can't drop the carbs too low or I get dizzy and puny. I use fitday.com to track things, have you tried that??

Chachee - I love the name. I'll wait for the thread to show up before I post my goals and rewards. I know what my goals are, I just want to make sure I don't let my enthusiasm overrun reality. I need to start sllloooooowwwwww. Then I'll add in things and gradually get back to where I was before all this Dad stuff hit. What the heck is a "mini shoe?" I have to know this.

Happy - I have really missed your posts. I know you're busy as all get out, but I'm so glad you're here. As for the backrub/footrub idea - dang. YGG! I hope hubby cooperates with that one! And I LOVE the setting aside money for Christmas idea!! That is so COOL! I may steal that one. Maybe I'll do a couple things.. like the money and the time, or something. I'm still not sure. I need to get that straight.

Sharla - We had kind of hit a low spot hadn't we? But like Happy said, it's so awesome that we all seemed to click into the same mindset at the same time. It's been kind of a rough summer for a lot of folks. Maybe with fall approaching and the weather cooling down, it's gotten us a little more refocused. I sure hope so for me, I don't want to just go back to living the way I was. I know I hated it, didn't like myself much, and felt yucky all the time. Eating right and exercising brought a level of energy and awareness to my life that I hadn't felt since I was in my 20s. This last slump has been hard, and I don't feel good physically. It's time to get moving again! Rah! :D

Ok Jolly... time to post that new thread!!

Good morning ladies,
And outside it looks like a beautiful day. Just might have to be a bike ride day.

Happy you must be my twin sister seperated at birth. It is like you can read my mind when you wrote about the denial and control and comfort. I thought it was only me. Thankyou. As soon as I think O.k I'm going to start something but the diet says I can't have something its like I have to almost binge on it the night before and then I feel so bad I just don't start whatever it was I was going to start.

Raven you have a great name for your horse. Kristi's horses name is Lucky. But the girls at the stable think that is not a good enough show name so they all thought about it and came up with Lucky Charm, and I am not original enough to come up with my own name so I took hers. He is a bratty and stubborn 6 year old so he had to go for training. He was broke to drive and I think western although he doesn't neck rein. He wasn't ridden very much. So he went in for training. He could only stay for 2 months because that was all we could afford but he learned quickly and now she rides him at lessons. She has been taking lessons for 4 years. Linda her instructor goes to Europe every year to buy Dutch Warmbloods. Then she trains them and sells them for big bucks. She does have a website you can get to on google search Meadow Rose Farms (located in Camrose, AB) and it shows the horses she has for sale. She just sold Siclay for $40,000.00 and he is already showing at Spruce Meadows and winning. She is in the process of trying to sell Superman $47,000.00 and he is also showing and winning at Spruce Meadows. Linda told Kristi that he was pony size and because Linda called him a pony, I have to call him a pony. Kids!!
Kristi had a big fall off Lucky last night. She was riding him back from a friends in the dark and they came across some combines running by a fence. He abruptly stopped, she did not. Both are ok though.
I weigh 235 lbs. My water consumption is zero. But I drink a pot of coffee a day. I'm on a see food diet, and my best comfort friend is cookies. So I can see I have a big challenge ahead of me. I get so discouraged because I really want the weight to come off quickly. Lots of it off tommorrow. I know it doesn't work like that. I had made it my reward that if I lost 30 lbs I would treat myself to a ride on the pony.
So my goals are to drink 8 glasses of water a day. If I can do that one I think I should be able to do all of them, Some sort of exercise for 30 - 40 minutes per day at least 5 times a week. My mother bought a real nice outfit and told me it was for me for a reward when I could fit it. It is actually only 1 size smaller a 16 so that is my other reward. My unrealistic goal is to lose 45 lbs by Christmas. My realistic maybe achievable goal is 20 lbs for Christmas.
Hope Richard is doing better. A chiropractor might just be the thing to help him out. That and get him on a horse also.

Hippy I see you live in Kentucky and I just have to say from the pictures I've seen of Kentucky it looks beautiful. That would be the first state I would love to visit in my tour of all the states.

Chachee, I am not familiar with mini shoes either so you will have to fill me in on what they are also. Good luck with being able to get 3 of them though.

Well I am off to start my goals for the day. A glass of water. maybe I'll try to get a few down at one time.

Thanks ladies and have a wonderful day.

Unoriginal Lucky

Jollygirl, where are you? Do we have to send out the search and rescue? :mag:

Ok, sometimes a visual helps keep things in perspective.

On the left is you. On the right is what Ms. Sabotage will do to you if you let her.

What do you say girls? :rollpin: :no: :no: :rollpin:

Hello everyone! I am sorry I have been absent. We had a state licenser at one of my group homes last night (late) and back again this morning (early). Needless to say, I am stressed and eating. I know, I know. Like this isgoing to help. But added to the feeling of being a horrible employee, and doing everything wrong, they just posted the upper management position I was interested in, and I feel like this visit from state will blow my chances. Sigh. I am overtired, pms-ing, and a mess.

I like the Accountable Sabatouers. Can we start Monday? I have off tomorrow, and won't be back on line until then. I really like the energy we all have about this.

I am sorry I don't have time to talk to all of you :( I will try to catch up on Monday. But welcome to Lucky. We are glad to have you.

Have a wonderful weekend all.

Evening

I am so sorry i have been absent

I have been so freaking buys

Forgive me...I promise in one month my life will be a wee bit calmer

But I do think of you...and miss you guys

am eating like a cow..sigh..i need to de-stress

HANG in there!!

Hello ladies!

Day Two: stayed in the WW points range, journaled food and got my water in. I'm 8/8 so far.

Happy: Loved the pictures. It's a good reminder! I like your reward system. Hope we can all get back on track togther.

Hippy: I didn't stay on SBD either. Just too restrictive. I am back on WW. Good luck with your new plan.

Raven: Glad to hear Richard is okay. I was a little worried about that. Did you make it to the stables? Guess what...we are leaking water in the basement again. Grrrr.....we are going to wait until Spring to complete the basement. I don't want to put all that money out to do the carpet and lino and have it be ripped up because of leaks. They got the rain gutters in yesterday and re-caulked the garage.

Lucky: Great goals! I used to drink all that coffee also, but have switched to tea about three years ago. I drink decaf coffee once in awhile, but enjoy the different flavors of the teas. If you get your water in, then you will lose a lot very quickly. I am currently 257, so I am right there with you.

Jolly: We can keep posting here until we get the next thread up. Calm down and relax. Work on your application and if it's meant to be it will!

Tracy: Girl, check in when it's not crazy!

Okay, let me explain about the mini shoes. They are called "Just the Right Shoe" and they are done by a sculpter. If you go to any craft or Hallmark store they are usually in a display case. They are soooo cool. All different funky and elegant shoes. They are about 4 inches long and about 3 inches tall, depending on the shoe. It's only the right shoe, hence the name of the brand. You can see what they look like if you go on Ebay and type in Just the Right Shoe. I'm a shoe fanatic.

Effective October 27th, I am back on day shift here at work. Lots of things went into my decision to go back on days, and my supervisor agrees with me. I hate the idea of putting my son in full time day care, but on the other hand, he needs to be in a more structured learning environment. Plus, our family will get more "family" time together. I'm happy about the change and so is my husband. Keep us in your thoughts as this all changes and for a smooth transition.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Chach

Chachee, I was at the podiatrist this week and she has displays of the Right Shoes in her examining room. They are displayed on the huge shoe with steps on it. They are adorable and so intricate! Now that I know what they are I wish I'd taken a closer look at them. Sorry to hear about the leaky basement. You're wise to wait on the remodeling until you're sure everything is going to stay warm and dry.

Tracy, sorry to hear that life is wacko again for you, but thanks for peeking in and letting us know. We worry about you.

Jolly, you've been through alot over the past year with your job. I'm sure that if you weren't the best you are at your job, you still wouldn't be there. You devote alot of yourself to your work and I'm sure it shows. Don't fret over the inspection and go for that promotion!

Lucky, we're not only twins but also members of a huge sorority. Funny how there's umpty bazillion diet programs and books out there and no one's found the answer to our issues. Or an answer we can accept :lol: I started a serious diet last year and the weekend before I started I declared I was going to have everything I knew I'd have to give up for a while - cheeseburgers, pizza, pasta, etc. Instead of scarfing the stuff down, I truly savored every bite of the forbidden foods and for a few months, it actually did help me to stay away from them. And I did break my lifelong Coca Cola habit. Someone here once said to remember that there's nothing that you can't EVER have again. You just can't have it right now and you can't have it every day anymore.

Raven, glad to hear that there's nothing life threatening with Richard. Maybe he should take it as an alarm to start making some lifestyle changes. Perhaps all of you can take a walk in the evening, get your exercise and have some quality time all in 30 minutes :lol: Hope you enjoyed the stables tonight.

Hippy, good luck with the diabetic plan. You'll have to keep us posted on what you like about it (or not) and how it differs from SBD. Curious minds want to know :?:

I got all 4 points today. Did well on food - passed up warm cookies and the mid afternoon urge to nibble on something, increased my water today from yesterday (AND horrors noticed I'm running out of toilet paper) and while dinner was in the oven I ran downstairs and did 40 minutes on the treadmill instead of surfing the Internet. Tomorrow will be a challenge as years ago I told my husband I don't cook on Fridays. It's hard for me to make a healthy choice when it comes to restaurant or take out food. But I am NOT cooking no matter what.

BRRRRRR.......It's 34 degrees here this morning!!

I've been reading the posts feeding off of everyone's positive attitude. I have lost mine and feel very discouraged. I ate well yesterday but blew it AGAIN last night. I never blew it when I was doing south beach. I like the diabetic plan because it allows more choices but it also has several carb servings in a day and I guess I just can't handle what they do to me which is make me want more. I'm going to take this weekend and regroup, write what I'm eating, when I'm eating it and so on. I will compare it to south beach and go from there. I can't give up now girls! I'm going to have to work hard to reach my Christmas goal. Anyway, enough about that.

Going to the grocery today. Have to go to Wal-mart and get some things for Jordan's birthday. He will be 13. I don't know where the years have gone.

Wish you all a great day on earning your points!

Good morning everyone.

Hippy I don't know if this will help but Today is a great new day and you haven't blown it today. Your back to beeing on track.

Well I almost made all my points yesterday. Got 5 glasses of water in. No coffee, just didn't have the usual amount of pep in my step. Kids were sick so didn't get alot of exercise in. Used liquid fabric softener so I had to go up and down the stairs twice as much. Does that count? Parked at the very far end away from the doors at the grocery store. Thats all I accomplished for yesterday.
While at the grocery store I bought my hubby a package of the halloween chocolate bars. I don't know why because I ate them all throughout the day. So did I actually buy them for him or was that just my excuse because I knew I would eat them?
But today is new and I will once again try for the points. No more little halloween snacks in our house for awhile.

I have to ask about the journaling on here. I haven't been in the journal section to much because it seems like this is a private thing for people. Is it hard to post your thoughts and have other people read them? Just wondering. But I will have to start in order to get all my points.

I have to go to the mall today so I am going to Hallmark to check out the shoes. They sound very cute. I will look on ebay if they don't have any in our store. Just aiming to get out and about.

Have a great day everyone.
Lucky

Hey all. I came to the library to get some new reading materials. Had to pop in and say hello. I am feeling better now, just need some caffeine - I haven't gone to get any yet, and I am headachy. Otherwise, things are ok. I am still uptight about the survey, but that's just me. Thanks for all the kind words.

Chachee, good luck with first shift. I hope it works out for you. Your shoes sound cute. Sorry to hear about your basement. is this something that the builders are still responsible to fix?

Happy, I am glad things are sounding better for you. Great job with your points. I think we are all feeding off each other's positive energy right now.

Hippee, tkae a breath. One bad food choice does not mean you've blown it. Just do better next time. you are ok.

Lucky, I am glad you have joined. I hear you on the chocolate thing. It never gets to anyone else.

Have a super weekend all. See you on Monday.

Hello Ladies.

I'm running behind tonight, so this needs to be quick.

I'm over on WW points today, but did good with journaling and water. That puts me 10/12 for the week. Not going to get the shoe, but will try to maintain 4/4 per day the rest of the week.

I'm off for the weekend, so I'll check in on Monday.

Hugs to all

Chach