Hi ladies-

Michelle- The water thing for me now, is much easier to drink than when I started. I start with a 20oz. water bottle and amazingly enough, getting four of those down in one day gets easiser as the days go by. It's almost like your body starts asking for it and you just automatically reach for the bottle.

I wake up in the morning and fill the first bottle. That's the slowest intake for me, the mornings. By noon, it gets easier and and I drink more. And I keep in mind as to why I'm drinking so much. Water is the one thing that helps flush your body out. Plus the "side effects" of drinking water is.... shinier hair, softer skin, and less bloatiness!! I try to get all my ounces in before 7:00 or 8:00, so I will be able to sleep. (I go to bed around 11:00-12-00) And so far, I do pretty good.

Ok, enough from me for now, I will post later tonight and let you know how I'm doing.

Have a great day ladies
Marti

Yo Chopped Liver!!!!
Hows it going?....lol

I am so unhappy with myself right now, I have gained too much this past summer, and I am now going to be tough on me. I have this other club I belong to and there was a woman in there that really inspired me to get my butt out of the house and start walking, so even thou its bRRR cold Im going.
later
Angie

How is everyone doing today?? Good I hope.

A woman on the 21day thread left this website and I thought that I would put it here to for you all to read. It's about water and why we need it. Very good info.

http://www.weightloss-dieting.info/water.html

I'm doing pretty good today. I went and seen my grandmother today. Her cancer has returned and I felt that I needed to go visit her awhile. Almost 6yrs. ago, she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer... then 3yrs. after that, the cancer returned to her colon.... now after surviving that....she has it again. Only this time it has spread to her spleen, pancreas and bowels. How much more can this little lady take?? She starts Chemo this Thursday. She has been the mother figure in my life and I just pray that she'll pull through it once more,,,, but I just don't know.

On a brighter side (that was getting too sad for me) I found out today that I was accepted to return to school!! Hurray!! I was supposed to hear about it Friday so I was worried that they turned me down. But everything is ok. Can't believe I'm going back to school....AGAIN!

Ok ladies... I better go make myself some dinner. I'm thinking of having a chicken sandwhich.. That's gotta be good for you right??
Take Care

Marti

Hi ladies,

Marti - I agree about the water - I crave it if I haven't had enough. And it really does help in so many ways! Thanks for the website.

Angie - c.l. checking in ...lol! Now is as good a time as any to start up again! Yay for you, starting to walk! Seems like several of us are all enthusiastic at the same time, which makes it so much easier.

Mary, DD22, is due 3 weeks from tomorrow! She is getting tired easily and is having some Braxton-Hicks contractions. Little Caylin Dale Paris will be making her debut before we know it!

My good news: I had my popcorn tonight, as planned, and felt hungry still, so I opened a can of green beans and ate them right out of the can. Yay for me! Also, tonight I used Splenda in a recipe for dinner and the fam never even had a clue!

Be good!
Jana

Check out the before and after of the house in the Photos thread. I finally posted some. Maybe next time I will post before, during & after of myself!!
Let me know what you think!

Marti

Good morning to all,
I woke up late this mornings,,,and so did the kids,,,both boys are sick. Tanner with a icky cold and Brandon with his asthma/migraine. And I know the migraine is from the barometric pressure coming in. Poor kid.
We had snow last night...*sigh Normally I get so depressed waking up to snow,,,just the thought of a long cold winter makes me shudder. But I woke up feeling really good.
1st off, I have a job interview on Monday at Pennington's,,,cross your fingers ladies....
2nd I read in the paper about a course I really am interested in, and I have all the qualifications,,,so I may be going back to school if they except me!
The play Im working on now isn't going to take all my engery like the last one. Im just doing one job and thats stage management.
Jana aka CL I love the baby's name, and I feel for Mary,,,that heavy feeling...egads, always felt like Tanner was going to fall out...lol How big were the twins at birth?
Marti, I used to drink so much water, and just drink barely 4 glasses a day now,,,when it gets cold I have a tough time getting my water in, all I want is hot chocolate and coffee. WARMTH.
Anywho better run
ttfn
Angie

Good Evening Ladies

Marti - congrats on going back to school ...
I have always believed kids should work and the parents should be the ones in shcool.... somehow we don't appreciate the education until later in life....

Angie.... crossing fingers and toes....

Well I started today... so far so good...

What's that saying... the beginning of a journey starts with the first step....

Step taken... now to keep on the path
But with such a great support group it shouldn't be too hard...

ttfn

Robin

Hi ladies-

Robin- I have always thought that kids should wait to go to school. Well maybe the middle and high schools. Get rid of all the peer pressure and emotional crap. Who can concentrate on school when your a teen? (oh, am I talking from experience??) But thank you for the congrats.

Angie- Saw the house? It was a lot of work. But the pictures don't really show the back breaking that we put into it. But we love it.

Jana- Ever since you mentioned popcorn,,, I've been meaning to head to the store and grab some! I can't remember who had the popcorn festival... but sure wish they had one in Oregon!

Nancy!! Hope all is well. Hope you get your computer up soon so we can hear from you!

Cristie- Everything ok? We haven't heard from you in awhile. Wait... did I see you on another thead? Hope all is working out for you.

Well, I didn't do so well with my choices for food today. For breakfast I ate some potatoes, the frozen kind you get at the store, kind of like hashbrowns. And then for lunch I ate, not one but TWO..... can't believe it..... hotdogs!! It just sounded so darned good that I ate them both! With all this salty foods, drinking water has not been a problem! So, for the 21day, I'm doing ok. With the eating,,, not so good. At least not today. I will make sure dinner is better.

I am trying to figure out how to put my "fat" pictures on the computer, and then my current pictures. I don't have a hang on how to do all this stuff on the computer. James usually does it for me, but I think I need to learn. I was going through some pics. and I thought, man, I sure look chubby in the face. And that was 10lbs. lighter than my heaviest!! Glad I don't have pics of those!! Although that would help keep me motivated. I decided to make a weightloss journal/scrapbook. Which is why I've been going through these photos. Just haven't quite figured out how to lay it all out. One thing I noticed in some of my past pics. Was how long my hair was. I almost miss it. But then I tak a good look at it and realize that I did absolutely nothing with it!! Maybe when I reach my goal weight, I will think about growing it back out and having someone show me how to style that would compliment me rather than make me look shabby.

Ok,,, I've wrote enough. I think I was on a roll there and I could probably keep typing!!

take care
Marti

It's me again. It's getting to that time of year where we'll see lot's of pumpkins!! Do any of you have a great recipe to share that involves pumpkins?? I have pumpkin roll recipe that I love and James make pumpkin pie from scratch!! But I would like to hear if any of you have other recipes that are tasty!! Let me know!

Marti

Hi Ladies,

Sorry for being MIA The fair last week was great, had a good time. Got home to bad news though, found out my BIL, well ex, but he was still part of the family, my nephews father and a friend, was killed in a car accident, he wasn't wearing his seat belt and was thrown from the car, actually truck. Since then I haven't felt much like doing anything. I've seen enough death in my family to last more than a lifetime. Add to that my computer is being ******ed. Turned it on this morning and the screen was blank. This is the second time in two weeks it has done this and we still have the pink screen! I am waiting for it to poop out on us any day now. Oh, well just an excuse to go get a new one.

Marti, thanks for asking about me. I have posted on a couple other threads but after those two it was enough, didn't have much else to say. I took a peek at the photos of your home and the after pictures look GREAT! Also, glad to hear you are going back to school. I went for a year last year and enjoyed it, even thought about going this year.

Angie, I'm keeping my fingers that you get the job! Also, sending you some luck

Jana, I bet your dd is anxious about the baby, and such a gorgeous name. How do the twins feel about having a new baby sister coming soon?

Last week wasn't such a good week but I got back on track Monday morning, well the eating is so so-I hate being an emotional eater! But I have managed to get some exercise done and lots of water drank. So, two out three ain't so bad.

Well, ladies it is late and I am getting sleepy. EVERYONE take care. Talk to ys later...

Good morning ladies,

Marti - I will check out your pics as soon as I leave the chit chat thread. Have you tried the Walmart turkey hot dogs? They are only 2 points each, and very yummy. Why wait until you reach goal for a new hair style? Funny you should mention it - I just bought a hair do magazine and found one that I want to show to my stylist for me. Re: pumpkin, I have the recipes for pumpkin roll and pumpkin pie, and you already have those. I tried the WW pumpkin "crustless" pie and it was gross. But I bet you will find some new recipes.

Angie - Snow! I can't wait for it! And for the twins to see it!! They weighed 4.14 and 5.1 when they were born. Mary had an apt. yesterday, and her belly is measuring smallish, they said. She has gained enough - around 40 pounds - so hopefully the little sweetie will be healthy and big enough.

Robin - you did the first important step by starting! Good for you!! Just come here as often as you can and keep motivated, okay?

Cristi - you were missed!! So sorry about your bil, especially for his son. The twins don't understand that they are about to get a new sister. They turned 15 mos. old yesterday - how time flies!! If asked where is Mommy's baby, they will point to her belly, but don't really know what's happening.

Also missed are: Kat, Michelle, Mel, Carree, Ruth, Kaycee.

Well, today is my 6th day being back OP. I love the feeling of control that goes along with it! Even after just 2 weeks, it was difficult to get back in the groove, but once a person can string together 2 or 3 days of being OP, it gets much easier. Stringing together the 2 or 3 day really is the hardest part, I think.

I have to either do the ironing or donate all of it to Goodwill! It has been hanging in the laundry room for so long that I've forgotten what is back there! Hopefully my stuff will be all too big. Neal misses his shirts, though!

Gotta go check out Marti's house pics,
Jana

Good morning ladies,

It's kind of a gloomy day, ick! I had planned a walk at the park and we got an unexpected downpour. Add to that the wind is blowing about 100 mph okay, not really but it seems like it. It is bad though. I did however get a 3 mile walk in early this morning on the treadmill and hopefully sometime today will get a 20 or 25 minute bike ride. I just want to go back to bed, got up too early. I can't though, I have too much laundry to get done and about 3 shirts and a pair od slacks to finish off my ironing. I did most of it last night.

Jana, my oldest son when I was pregnant with my second didn't quite understand, he was 18 months, and boy when I was gone for two days and came back with a baby he was mad at me. I swear to you the kid did not talk to me for two days, serious! He was a bit jealous also, in the beginning. Kids are funny, cute too! When I came home with my dd I wondered if the same would happen and it was totally opposite. The boys could not get enough of their baby sister. Always wanted to hold her, feed her and when she was sleeping they wanted me to go wake her up. WTG on being back OP for 6 days! YIPPEE!!!

Marti, I don't have any recipes for pumpkin. I like pumpkin pie but to be honest I prefer Sarah Lee over homemade, weird huh? I'm not much of a baker anyway, cookies, cake and bread once in a blue moon, usually the holidays and that is about it.

Well, I hope everyone has a great hump day! Talk to ya soon.

Good morning ladies
WOW what a day already. Lots of posts!
Cristi Sorry to hear about your BIL, death is always hard to take.
And thank you for you luck.
Marti, I know about home renovations, my parents bought an old house and we literally gutted it and started over. I was 14 at the time and remember helping my step dad to side it...and let me tell you everything I learned I have used in my own home.
Jana, Mary is going to have a handful once the baby arrived,,,3 babies under 2 yrs old? My neighbours son just had his third baby last week, on our birthday...lol Now they have a 3, 1 and a newborn.
Last night I went to an information session about being an LPN, Im going to try to get accepted into the program.
Well better run, Tanner had auditions tonight, hes singing *Children go where I send thee* Hes been practising so much and with his cold,,,poor kid, hope he doesn't lose his voice before he goes on. Brandon is still home sick, and infact I need to get him on the machine.
ttfn
Angie

Marti - you might want to try this site for pumpkin recipes:

http://www.pastrywiz.com/archive/category/pumpkin.htm

or how about this:

http://www.acplace.com/recipes/pumpkin.htm

oh ya this past weekend I made pumpkin tarts. Really tasty and easy to make,,,,wondering how hard it would be to make a pumpkin bread? same recipe as banana bread, but use splenda or other artificial sweetner?
Ang