Deb~ tis the season for gardening and allergy headaches for me.I think it a joke from mother nature. The gardening is good exercise. Pay attention to your food today!!!
I always eat poorly when I have a headache.

Jodi~ I need to translate the good vibes into good food. I did great most of the weekend!!! Mindful. Hope your week is just peachy.

Judi~ in the good old days I used to go to bed at 7am. LOL!!! I am a Birkenstocks girls. I wear them everywhere and with everything( wooly socks too). I wear them as house shoes all winter. I am a wide size 10. I did find another brand that were contoured last year that were prettier( German brand) for $150. I didn't but them tho.

Girlie~ hope you enjoyed your time outside!!

Annie~dancing style is interpretive to say the least. Hope you shook your butt all night!!!!!!

Caro~ you are off to a great start. How was the weekend??

Susie~I wrtie everytihng down i need to do the night before, I even scedule computer time, dishes, All My Children........ The kids know I have a 1/2 hour on here at 9. They dont bug me anymore. It really helps!!!!!!!

Is it Monday?
She asks all bleary eyed.
That weekend FLEW by!!!!
I am achy from digging and placing patio stones. But it was so much FUN!!
DH and I worked together all day. He was SWEET and tender and romantic. Wow!!
Our path to the house is beautiful. It says ,Come on in!!

We made it out of patio stones that look like a slice out of a tree and squarish stones with leaf inprints in them!! then I spread wood chips in between and around them. It is so heartening to do the finishing work after 5 years of doing the labour that was necessary but doesn’t show.
I ate very well yesterday. NO bedtime snack.
Kids seem great!!
5 kids today. Storytime. Must do yoga. I still need to paint 1/2 the basement floor. may do it at nap time.
It is supposed to be nice again today. I may end up outside with the kids, then I will play in the perennial beds.
Best go get dressed and mix up tuna for DS’s lunch.

Have a spectacular day!!!!!

Good Morning all -

It's so beautiful here! The weekend weather was awesome! I didn't do all the cleaning inside I wanted to do because I was outside most of the time!

Friday night was our first softball game of the season. Our poor team needs work. In the last inning, the other team had 15 and we had 0!!! Somehow, we managed to score 16 points in that last inning and beat them! Their pitcher had gotten tired and was throwing crazy balls, and so we all just decided not to swing at anything and everyone walked! Crazy!

Saturday I spent half the day at a car dealership. I traded in my small SUV for a VW Jetta - I love it! I will be getting much better fuel economy as I wanted: 30-36 miles per gallon! DH stayed home and did school work (slept!) and I did all the negotiating by myself and that made me feel good. So of course I had to cruise around the rest of the day Saturday - a perfect day for a sunroof. Sunday I slept in and went to the gym, got in 63 minutes/5.1 miles on the elliptical...got dressed and met my father so he could take a look at the car and had Sunday dinner there.

I can't wait for the week to be over.

I need to find some sandals too everyone. My dad gave me a certificate for a pedicure...I won't get it done until I find the perfect pair of sandals. I have a pair of Birkenstocks too, and Dr. Marten sandals but they are not for work. I want something that I can wear in the office and for "play" as well. Not sure.

Food is so-so...last week I developed a pattern of not eating lunch and being starving by the end of the day. Must change that!

Hope you all are doing well.

Girlie

Hello All,

What a beautiful weekend it was, today is awesome also, however I am in my office and not at home. Got my dancing in on Sat night, it was a blast, however my ankle was dying all day on Sunday. (I broke it when I was 9 mos plus preggo for my son. Delivered him on a Friday in a full leg cast, then they took the cast off on the following Monday and put a plate and 10 screws in my ankle) Anyway the darn thing swells very easily, and that happened nearly 17 years ago. Hmmpf. HOWEVER, it didn't stop me from walking the dog for an entire mile, had to carry her most of the way home. 16 lbs of Jack Russell. Sheesh. I put her on my shoulders and carried her. Quite a site. haha

Eating has been perfect for the past 3 days, hope to do well tomorrow nite at TOPS. I had to miss last week due to hair appt, so hope to have a great loss this time. Fingers crossed.

Sounds like everyone is enjoying the outdoors and the sun. Puts me in a great mood.

Have a wonderful day and week.

Annie

Hello Ladies,

Today, for a Monday was good. All the sleepy kids were back in school, ready to tackle reading, and math. It hit 80 degrees here in ND today. Let me say this, recess was a bit longer today, and we played hard. I walked extra longer, and my ducklings are growing. It is always Mrs......can we go for a walk with you at lunch. Now we are moving into a hike, around the school, and out to the track. Started with 3 and am at well over 20. Who would have thought that?
Eating went well over weekend. Hubby wanted to go have Chinese food over weekend. I was stress, then decided, You know, I am the one ordering here. I can get what I need, and it doesn't have to be fried. It all worked out.

Holly--you truly motivate me. You inspire me to keep at it, with my house, school, and life. Thanks.
Girlie-- I miss playing SB, no one around here wants to play a girls league. They only have a beer league, and it is all single guys who live with there mothers. Not for me. I bought my very first car about 5 months ago, BY MY SELF. My hubby was shocked, and really didn't know how to respond. It is good for us girls to do that once in a while. We are competent, smart women, who really do know what we want. I need to try an eliptical.
Judy-- I need/want new sandals too. Let me know what you find, and off I will go. Haven't bought any since I bought my born's 2 years ago.

Tommorrow, I weigh in and turn in my final paper for my class. I hope all goes well. We shall see.

Last note, Holly, went with lasagna, cookies, garlic toast, and a huge salad to venture to see new baby. She was soooo beautiful. Newly married teacher right out of school, 1st baby, ohhhh, I remember those days. It was fun to see, and enjoy in the excitement for them. I remember when my own DS was born, and still smile.
Babies in the spring. What could be better?
Happy day to all tomorrow. Wishing you flowers in the garden BLOOMING.

Sandi

Good morning everyone;
I had a much better day yesterday. Headache gone! I ran errands, thats one thing about living in the country I had to put 120 miles on the car to get all this done.
I did better on food. Watched my portion sizes. I ate a few pistachios (sp?) but other than that I didn't snack. I had my water and didn't drink any sweet tea, now thats a sucess!!
I made it to curves. Went back last nite for the food group. Nothing new there after dieting for decades I was more informed than the lady leading the group. I just have problems DOING what I've learned all these years. I like the weigh-in. The scale still hasn't moved... but next time it will. I plan to go to curves again today. Then do
some basic housework and get ready for work tomorrow.

Sandi: great choice on the chinese.. How wonderful to have company on your walk. I'm sure after a ND winter everyone is ready for a spring walk. What age are the kids you teach?

Annie: It great you didn't let your ankle spoil your fun.. Keep dancing.

Girlie: WOW! you are very active. I haven't played softball in 20yrs.

Holly: Glad everything is going well with you. You are a true inspiration.

Judy: I love sandals, But I can't wear them. I have flat feet and have to wear arch supports. I wear a 10 ww.. thats a 10 willy willy wide.. lol. They are shaped like Fred Flintstone's feet... square!

Spore, Susie and anyone else I missed.
Hope ya'll are doing well.

BIG HUGS TO ALL

Spores??? come out and play!!!
Sandi~ I adore new babies. How old are your own kids? What do you teach?
All you chicks ROCK!!!!!!!!

No "Plans"!
Huh???
There is lots to do but no deadlines or commitments! I have 3 little guys today, all of whom nap.
Possibilities: Pay a bill, book campsites for Dh’s family reunion in July, buy hooks for shelving unit, clear off diningroom table,sweep/wash floor, sit on my *** watching mindless tv, read a brilliant novel, take a shower, get dressed.........
Apparently I will change a poopy diaper first.
Tomorrow night i am presenting my parent handbook to the Home and School Association. DD has dance photos at 5pm first.
I had a small( less than 1/2 cup) bowl of ice cream before bed last night.

Nothing too fantastic to say today. I slept 8 hours, exciting.
It is going up to 26C today. Very summerish for April. we need rain. It has been in the forcast but has not appeared.

Off to face the diapers.

Good morning everyone!

I think I'm going to head over to the department store this weekend. Clark's sandals are on sale - a cute pair of slides with flowers cut out in the leather, for $49.99 which is good for Clarks. We'll see.

Holly:
Let me know how your day has gone! It will be nice and relaxing - I'd sit outside near the house of course so I could hear the kids - and get some sun and read. :)

Debbie:
Wow, all the driving! I can see how running errands is truly an all-day thing! But I'm sure the comforts of living in the country are worth it! What part of TX are you in? DH went through military training at Lackland AFB there...he liked the area and has considered moving there but I would miss the change of seasons.

Sandi:
Good job on the Chinese. I usually tend to get one fried thing, but I try to get something like meat with lots of veggies and strain out the sauce, or angel hair with veggies, something like that...and I skip the rice. And congrats on the car. I left the dealer totally satisfied and didn't feel the least bit like I was pressured to do anything. It is a good feeling!

Annie:
Hope your ankle is feeling better.

Hello to:
Spores, Susie, and all I missed. :)

Girlie

Hello Chickies.......

Another beautiful day today! Hope everyone is doing a spiffy job and staying OP.

Got my walk in last night with the dog. She is getting used to walking further, and not wanting me to carry her quite as much. Had to coax her the last 1/8th mile, but did not carry her.

Tonight is TOPS and am actually looking forward to WI. My clothes feel like I am down a few, hope it rings true.

Had Special K for breakie, and then a Lean Cuisine for lunch. Got my 15 minute walk in with my buddy here at work this morning, and going to get my 15 minutes in this pm also. I know the Lean Cuisine has much salt, but it helps me so much with portion size. Portion sizes is one of my problem areas.

I finally feel like I am getting on track and staying on track. Every day I can stick with it, the easier it gets, but by no means is this easy.

I feel happy, jazzed, and excited about life.

Have a wonderfully groovy day!

Annie

Hi everybody. Sorry I've been MIA for a little while. Food/exercise/everything has sucked. Not sure what happened; faltered for a couple of days and just lost it. And for the past few days I've been a depressed wreck: extremely hard to get out of bed, crying randomly, watching television, feeling exhausted every minute, constant headaches, unable to get anything beyond the basic necessities accomplished. And of course, no exercise and very bad food choices to go with it. I know this is all connected. I'm just not sure exactly how. I've been reading a ton about the neurobiology of emotion and reason, and it's really interesting, but that doesn't get me closer to the treadmill!

Anyway. When I get into these sorts of states, I find that I just want to hide form the world and from feelings of responsibility, so I wind up not posting. And I miss it. Sounds like everyone is doing really amazing. It was so inspiring to read all the posts today.

So I'm going to work this week on getting out of this funk. First goal: post every day, no matter how awfully I've been eating. Accountability! And I'm also going to work on getting the exercise going again; even just ten minutes a day. And then food, of course.

Thanks everybody for all your support and inspiration and sharing your stories. Whenever I fall off a plan and feel like I've failed, I want to hide; I guess I feel embarassed or inadequate. I'm glad I can come here to talk about it and know that you all have gone through the same thing.

See you here tomorrow!

Sorry to post and run, but after this week things should slow down a bit. I'm on my way out of town, and am preparing to spend three days away without straying too far off my program. I may not be in front of a computer again before the weekend, but I will jump in and say hello before then if I can. This has been a hellish period at work, lots of work and random ill-will, but I am still maintaining a force-field of calmness around me, more or less, and not compensating by overeating. Your posts will inspire me as I pack my healthy snacks and make good choices.

I'll be back--judy
:grouphug:

Good morning chicks,
I've had a good couple of days. I've been getting my water in. Been to curves both days. I have done fair on food. eating smaller portions. I haven't had sweet tea in several days.
So things are good here. I think ds2 is going to move out soon. My mothers house has been empty for years. Its just 1 bedroom, That would be great for him. We haven't wanted to rent it to strangers, or mess with the hassel of the extra income,ect.
I plan to go to curves this am. I am having a yogurt and glass of green tea for b-fast. I am taking a ww dinner, and a orange for lunch today.

Spores: I don't have depression. But from time to time I get very disorganized and can go for days just doing the very bare essentials to get by. I catch myself watching hours of tv then I'll complain I don't have enough time to get everything done. I'll eat mindlessly. That's when I don't post for several days either. I might get around to reading them, but It's like I can't get my thoughts together. I just call it rambling around. I don't know what breaks the funk. I'll just wake up
and do better. Hope today is better for you!! SENDING A BIG HUG FOR YOU.

Got to get in the shower. Post more later.
EVERYONE HAVE A BLESSED DAY

morning everyone!! trying to stay positive. WOOHOO. scale not moving, but im keeping up with exercise and water. Trying to have 6 mini meals a day with all including either a serving of fruit or veggies.

I want to see 199 on the scale!! WOOHOO!!!!

Raining!!! Just started. A nice ground drenching steady rain. Farmers will be happy. They started to manually water wheat yesterday and they planted corn on Sunday.
My flower beds need it. The ground was too hard to dig weeds out.I went to the church board meeting last night. Interesting.
I couldn't decide what to do with my planless day yesterday so I did an hour of painting(stairwell-yellow), placed 4 patio stones,raked for an hour and then took care of the kids in between. It was enjoyable.( Not exactly relaxed Girlie, LOL)
Errands today.
DH is home so far today-waiting out the rain.
Dance photos tonight at 5:15 then drop kids at home and then I am presenting my handbook to the home and school.

I wrote last night but must have forgotten to post it!

Spores~ I used to feel a lot like you a lot of the time. What changed for me in the last year was journalling every single day and writing my feelings down, no matter how feeble they were. It got easier and I worked through the down times faster.
I think ALL of us on this thread have been where you are. It is part of the food issue.
Change one small thing today, like focussing on just water or posting your thoughts.

HI to everyone else!!!!!!!

Great morning All!!!
 

Hey! I hope you all are doing well!! I have totally missed posting! I have tried to catch up a little on the posts. I certainly can't read a whole month's worth though!!! I was able to check at the website for my actual race time this morning!! 48 min and 13 sec!!! Even better than I thought. I'm so excited about it!! I have also decided when my next 5K will be!! I am going to do another one that I did in 2002, it's in my hometown. It's about an hour and a half away, but there's something about going home to accomplish something like a 5k! That's the race that I won my trophy at in 2002 for my age group!! It was sooo cold. No one else in my age group turned out, so I got the trophy!!! Can't wait!! - Oh it's on May 14th!!!

I'm again without a job for the moment. I'm really learning to enjoy these days. It's such a nice rest. I'm getting in a good habit of doing cardio in the morning before breakfast and I hope that I can continue that habit when I have a job again. This morning I went to the local park and walked briskly for 27 minutes! My goal is to get at least 20 minutes in. And then to do extra cardio for at least 30 minutes in the evenings 3-4 times a week. I'm trying to keep everything a little lower impact until I drop a few more pounds! I think I'll add in some more jogging after I'm under 220 lbs. My eating is going well!! I'm just really happy at the moment. And I feel great!! It feels so good to already have cardio done this early in the day!!

Hopefully I'll post again tomorrow! I'll try to come to the library and check in. You all keep up the great work. Some days are so much easier than others!

Stephanie
234/222/125
SW/CW/GW

Oh Happy Hump Day!!

I am very excited...was down 3.5 at TOPS last night. WEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!!! Movitation level is high and I am jazzed!!

Spores - Don't fret about the down time. We all go through it. Just pick yourself right up, think positive thoughts and everything else will happen! Happy thoughts and hugs coming your way. One day at a time, one thing at a time, baby steps.

Deb - Great job on exercise and staying OP!

Staying OP has been good for the past several days. Bringing Lean Cuisine for lunch has helped tremendously. I have a dinner date to go to Mama Corolla's Italian Rest. Oh boy, this will be hard. The good thing is at TOPS last night, they pick one food item we can't eat for a week, guess what they picked....PASTA, rotten luck for Italian food tonight. Anyone have suggestions for eating Italian without eating pasta? This will help me stay OP tho.

Going to get one walk in this morning, and if the rain holds off then I will get a pm walk in too. Fingers crossed. Had Cracklin Oat Bran for breakie, and a Lean Cuisine will be for lunch.

Hello to all you chickies!

Be happy!

Annie