Good Morning, Good Morning!!

How's everyone today? It is a glorious day here today, would of loved to have stayed home.

Didn't make it to TOPS last night, think I may just try this on my own AGAIN. Sunday thru today has been excellent. Eating OP, however not exercising. Too hot and humid to walk, dog won't even go. Today is simply beautiful, however, so may go tonight. I weighed myself at home and am at 258, only up a couple of pounds and hope to have that off by the next weigh in.

Susie - mmmmmmmm, vanilla sandwich cookies, I craved those when prego with my son. Kept them in the fridge, and were great with coffee. Haven't ate them since. Had left over carrot cake and left over white cake with cool whip cream icing from my birthday, brought it all to work today to unload it. Don't want to be tempted.

Debbie - my BF has a bike and he takes me riding quite often. I hope to learn to ride it someday soon. That is actually one of my goals before exiting this world, to learn to ride a motorcycle.

Curlylocks - It has been very hot and humid here for the past several days, but today is just beautiful, maybe some of this will come your way.

Holly - You are such a lovely person.

Hello's to all others....

Hugs

Annie

Hey chicks!
I am doing a 3 day parenting course at the kids school. I am off from babysitting so it is a kind of holiday. Day one was great. I am a little tired from sitting and using my brain all day. I have to do some hair appts tonight.
HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everybody,
I just got out of the shower and into something cooler. I beginning to feel human again.
I made it to curves today. I ate salad for lunch, so far so good. I found out today my boss will be out of the rest of the week. As you might know thats good and bad. I fill in for her when she's gone, but still have most of my duties. At least I'll be inside some. YEAH!!...

Holly: Good for you being so involved with your kids and the kids you keep. You are truly a wonderful parent.

Annie: You'll get that couple of pounds off before you know it.
Riding was also a goal of mine, I had rode some dirt bike as a kid so it came fairly easy. If you know some one with dirt bikes thats a good start to get your basics. Once you do that it's pretty much all the same. Once you try it you will love it.

Curly: I love shopping in 2nd hand stores I have a large one by my job that I stop at often. I never have much luck with my size but I can find great deals for the guys.

I better go these guys think it's time to eat. They are giving me the evil eye. lol

I have discovered I do not Love being gone from home for 8 hours a day. Well, yesterday was 13 hours. I almost cried when i saw my day lilies had bloomed while I was away.
the course has been wonderful. Very emotional issues came up and it was amazing to se ethe facilitaor use the skills we have been learning with a real person with a real issue. Very powerful.
DS had baseball. DD spent the day at a friends i went and got her at 8:30. then I returned calls and emails.I am slowly winding down.I did some yoga.
The house is super messy and dishes are piling up.People who do this all the time must have a very organized routine to keep up. I was putting away laundry at 12:30 am last night. sigh.
My friends Mom dropped off a whole bucket of perennials for me. I will come home at lunch and plant them.I am blessed.
Food was wacky yesterday .Today was better but not great. It is not the content so much as the timing etc.
I am looking forward to Saturday!!!!!

Hi Chickies,
I miss you. I have been too busy to post. I grabbed some of Holly's momentum and scrubbed 48 windows in my house inside and out on Tues. My arms are dead. DS was at his Godfather's house since Sunday, they had a couple golf dates planned, but the rain kept them off the courses. So, they went indoor rock climbing instead one afternoon, and the second afternoon, they went to an indoor soccer game. So not all was lost in the male bonding moment. He came home yesterday all happy, and ready to get back into his 13 year old life. He also got to experience some upper scale dining. NO, Subway or McDonalds, or Taco Bell. Not once. So that was a huge treat I would think, but all he said was "there was some weird food". I just was jealous. HAHA
Well, it is Friday again. DS has bike race, last week we got rained out. DH is racing tonite in Grand Forks, and tommorrow in Devils Lake. Huge weekend. Starting off with DS, and hopping over to catch DH race. I love summer!!!!!!

Me, I am OP, doing all the weight/toning fitness program 3x a week, meals are A O.K. So, why is it I weighted in on Tuesday and was UP over 3/4 of a pound. I am YANKED. I have decided that I cannot worry about it. It is soon TOM, and maybe that will have something to do about it. I'm really at a bump, haven't done anything significant for almost 3 weeks. I am still way to heavy for a plateau.
DANG IT. Not even sure how to get out of this slump. DANG. Maybe increase the H20, or squeeze in an extra walk, for about 20 minutes. I am not going to give up. I did go shopping the other day and am down 2 sizes. I was sooooo happy. I am boxing all the other clothes and taking them to a consignment store, and see if they can't get rid of them for me.

TTFN,
Have a sparkling weekend, with rest, love and family.
Sandi

Wow, I haven't posted all week. It's been mostly good, but a little emotional, talking to so many people about moving on to a new job. My eating has been okay, not great. Made it to Curves yesterday, and have been walking every day. My body is getting used to the 25-minute walks to and from work, so next week I will practice getting off the subway a stop earlier, and will see how that goes. My apartment's exercise room was dreadful during the 90-plus degree heat wave. Now that the weather's cooled down, I will start dragging my sorry butt back down there at least twice a week, on days I don't go to Curves.

I must be getting my shape back--homeless guys I walk past in the evenings think I'm hot :beach: , and last week a cab driver asked me if I was married (I said "Engaged," and hopped out of the car really fast :lol: ).

Sandi, hang in there! They say that tweaking either your exercise or your eating helps shake your body's metabolism off its plateau. I've been stuck in neutral forever, because I'm not being consistent about eating or sweating--but my body is definitely getting smaller. Congrats to you for going down two sizes--that's wonderful!

Hello to everyone, hope you have a fabulous weekend!
:wave:
judy

Hello All,
Sorry to not get here (once again) for a few days...life..it just keeps rolling.
I was excited to have a loss at my weigh-in on Thursday. I was down 1.5 lb. Just a couple of more and I'll be back at my lowest weight for as long as I remember.

I could really beat myself up for gaining and losing and gaining the same 5 lbs for the past 6 months..but where would that get me? Nope..I'm just moving on...moving on DOWN!

At my TOPS meeting on Thursday we had a discussion on why we don't have "self-control" so much of the time. I'm really seeing that a lot of us are multitaskers...in control people, organized...with a plan..we can whip into shape everything around us, but we struggle with our own self-control..any thoughts on this?

It's so good to read all the posts and see everyone so upbeat. Even if we are struggling with something..we aren't giving up..I don't know about you but I think that's a battle won in and of itself!

I'll be around off and on this weekend. Stay stong!!
Susie

Good morning, Just a quick post to say all is well. I've done fair on food.
I've got to get out to my garden before it gets hot. We moved it the year and I'm still having trouble keeping the grass out. I just try to stay ahead of it.

Susie: CONGRATS!!:) That a great loss.
It does feel good to break thru that
lowest weight barrier. You can do it.

Judy: WOW! Down 2 sizes. When that scale finally bust loose. The loss will be a big drop. Just hang in there.

Sandi: "Let's go racing!! boogity...boogity"... have a great w-end!

Susie~ my thought is that it is much easier to "work" on the stuff around us than really look at ourselves honestly and change. It is scary.
Congrats on the loss!!!
Judy~ great walking!!!
Sandi~ 2 sizes is a major success!!!!!!!
Deb~ Morning!!! Enjoy the gardening!

Yeah!!!! Saturday!!!!!!!!
I am sooooooo happy it is Saturday.What a loooooong week.
I am feeling very validated in my choices as a wife, mother and homemaker. Our life would be AWFUL if I worked outside of the home.
I had no idea how much I love my home and garden and how important they are to my happiness. I feel completely disconnected from my hubby. He is grumpy and snappy.
The kids are worn out too because we have done a lot of running around in the evenings.We have not sat at the table all together for a good meal in 4 days.
The upside is that the course i took was amazing and I am very glad I was part of it.
My weight is okay because I haven’t been eating right, LOL! No junk just odd and not enough at the necessary times. Lots of water but no time for exercise.
We have a family reunion in Sarnia this aft. It will be fun.I was feeling overwhelmed last night about it but today I am feeling like I can cope. I need to bake a ham and slice it and bake a cake.
I will make a nice omlette for my crew in a few minutes. I love my family soooo much.
Housework will happen when I can squeeze it in.
Hugs chicks. I missed being here too!!!!

Can you see the difference? I can see the difference!!!
The family reunion yesteday was wonderful. The wind was cool but the sun shone all day. DD even swam in the lake. She was cold and whiney after but it was worth it. I sat in the sun on the beach watching.
My SIL who has been avoiding the family for a year came with BIL and niece.We had some good conversation.
The food was brilliant. There were a lot of unique and wonderful salads.mmmmmmmm. I made the standard really healthy chocolate cake, LOL!!! The pan was scraped clean!!
Okay, the before and after victory!!!! There were photo albums of pics taken previous years. The reunion is every 2 years. there was a pic from 2003 of me with my cousin in law. I am smiling and happy but the difference in my appearance from then til now is remarkable.I am 18 lbs lighter now.My face looks different.My belly stuck out as as far as my boobs. I am thrilled with the changes I saw. Yeah, NSV!!!!!!
Our last sunday school is today followed by a potluck brunch. It is for Father’s Day too.
I am going to CLEAN all aft!!!!!! I want to CLEAN all aft!!!!!!!!

Have a glorious, peaceful, light and airy day!!!!!!

Holly, thanks so much for sharing your spirit and your energy with us! I hope your desire to clean up rubs off on me :lol:

I finally skootched down a bit more on the scale, to 230.5. It popped up three days in a row, so I will claim it as my new and improved weight, after being mired in the same 4-lb range for six weeks. I am bearing down on this program, wanting to see 227 once or twice before July 4....I can feel the momentum beginning to build....

Let's do it, ladies! I hope you all have a tremendous week.

judy

Hello everyone - remember me? LOL

I am so sorry I am not posting regularly. I can't do it at my job...I really took it for granted at my previous job. Now, I'm being watched all the time, since I'm in training, and I don't have the privacy that I used to. Our whole office is very open and everyone can see what I'm doing. I'm posting from home right now. I will have to start trying to do so.

My eating has been off. The good thing with this job is that I don't eat nearly as much as I used to during the day. I have an All Bran Bar, smoothie or cashew butter and jelly pita and then nothing until lunch - which is usually pretty healthy since I'm in view of everyone and they look to see what you're eating lol! The problem is that I'm so hungry by the time I get home that I basically pig out.

Something weird is happening in that I get off of work, run a few errands, next thing you know it's 8pm...with only 2 hours to go until I should be in bed, I grab some sort of take out for the husband and I and that's it. Actually, I did cook 3 nights last week, then had chinese once and a rotisserie chicken another night. Not too bad, but I've been horrible about snacking before and while I'm cooking, because I'm so hungry. Then I just eat whatever I cooked for dinner whether or not I'm hungry, just because I worked to make it.

Time to get on the ball about exercise. I went shopping this past weekend. Found lots of cute things and sales, but feel like my body has gone out of control. I still wear a size 18 on top, 20 on the bottom...but typically get a 20 on top too because of my bust. Bottoms aren't tight but not loose. I want them to get loose. I am finding so many cute things that are now available in the 14 16 18 sizes, unlike several years ago when I was in those sizes. By the end of the summer, I will be in 18s. My favorite clothes are fall clothes - wool cardigan sweaters and jeans, and the great textures and materials are back out - plaids, wools, herringbone twills, houndstooth, etc...I want to be able to wear cute stuff.

My bottom is huge. I was trying on stuff...and the reason why I need a size 20 is because my butt sticks out so much - my shelf booty, I call it. If it wasn't for that, I'd look pretty streamlined LOL. Well anyway, I tried on a lot of clothing and felt really icky...and all the sales I couldn't participate in!

I need to get out of this rut. It's so hot that I don't want to do anything. Then again, I crave the sunshine. Maybe I'll hit the track tomorrow, just for a leisurely walk with headphones and start there. That's something, right? I've been wishing I could run again. I've been remembering how great it felt to be able to run a couple miles without any problem. But those thoughts are pushed out by the evil side of me saying, "oh dream on, fatty!" And then my dreams of smooth gliding steps turns into me out of breath.

I'm a little pensive right now. Reading a bit back I can see everyone is doing well. Hello Holly, Sandi, Susie, Curly, Judy, etc...sorry I've been away and I really miss you guys :) Wish I had you guys to talk to here.

Girlie

Hugs Girlie!!!!!!
Judy~ it's a 2 way street I receive a lot from all of you too!!! But thanks and HUGS!!!

Have I ever mentioned that my husband is a real life MacGyver? (remember the show where the guy could make a bomb out of a gum wrapper and twigs?)
Most of our tools and electronics have been refurbished in some way including the step ladder.
So, I had picked up this pretty windchime at the dollar store and decided to hang it.I place the step ladder along the side of the shop and send DS on a quest for a nail.
I am on the ladder hammering away and the ladder decides to fold up with me in the middle of it. So, now there is a a large redhead hanging onto a nail with one hand and clinging to the side of the shop, spiderman-like with the other with both legs completely twisted into this ladder. My brave 6 yo son pushed down on the bottom step so I could wiggle one foot out and then unfold the ladder. Needless to say my right leg is scraped from knee to ankle and my body is seriously aching from being yanked and twisted .
Never dull around here.
I got ALL my cleaning done yesterday and i am enjoying it thoroughly!!!!!
I was a lovely day. The SS potluck was warm and fuzzy. I made smoked porkchops and lazy cabbage rolls for DH for supper. DS gave his daddy a book he made in school about the things he loves about his dad. It was very heartening and touching to see the ways DH has brightened DS's world.
5 kids today. 2nd last week of school. I am sad about that. I will miss everyone there.
We had baseball tonight.
I celaned the 2 shelves in the basement. (EW!!) And then pulled the tubs out of DD's closet and went trhough 3 of them and pitched all the old notes we passed in highschool etc. I threw out 2 little albums of pics of trips with old boyfriends??!! It was like looking at aliens, lol!
I saved all the old christmas/greeting cards for crafts for the kids. They made collages all aft. Apparently I like bunnies and cats and have since i was a little kid.
DH took the rod of DS's closet and put it in DD's. Now us girls can actually hang our dresses!!!!! Very exciting!!! Took 5 1/2 years!!!!!
Need to vacuum up there desperately.
5 toddlers tomorrow. DD only has 4 school days left.....makes me sad. I am glad she has another year of kindergarten.On the other hand I am not handling the fact that my son is going into grade 2 very well. He seems way too grown up.Cant believe he will be 7 in the fall or that I have known my hubby 10 years.
Enough nostalgia. Have a good night!!!!

Good morning,
I had a wonderful experience saturday at a ayce steakhouse. I have always been a hugh
eater.. Man-sized. After I filled my plate and was finishing eating. It dawned on me How little I had ate. I had gotten a small steak, some mushrooms and steamed carrots.
I realized I had not obsessed about what I couldn't have or shouldn't have. I just fixed my plate and enjoyed my meal ..mindlessly. I even had about 2 tbs of
cherry cobbler. For once I felt like a normal person. I've noticed a change lately but that was a pleasant surprise.
I never made it to curves yesterday. I had several errands to run. Going today!!

Holly: Glad you are ok, I also live in one of those houses. Where we repair and recycle everything to death. I have 3 males keeping everything together. LOL!
True red-necks of fix-its.

Girlie: Good to hear from you.

Judy: CONGRATES!!!! on the loss.
You'll make that 7/4 goal.

Sandi: HI! :)

Spores: If you are just reading the posts. We miss you. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hello All,
On a quick break for lunch. I'm having a good week so far with the food and exercise. I'm finding out that as long as I look at it as a lifestyle then I do ok. It's when I think "I've got to get busy and get this weight off" that I seem to want to overeat. What's that all about anyway?!

Sorry no time for personals right now, but I wanted to let you know I was around and out here celebrating your accomplishments and cheering for you as you keep moving along in this race.

Susie