Good morning!

Holly- I hear ya! I love staying home with the kids, and my husband makes a decent enough living for us to get by pretty well with one income, but it`s never enough. I do like to spend, and it`s something I am working on. I just notice every time I go shopping, prices seem to keep going up. Food, household items, cable bill, EVERYTHING. I hate stressing over money.

And a kick in the pants to ya!! I couldn`t do that though, you sure have had a lot going on lately. I not only stuck at 227 for 2 months, but I had gotten down to 221 in April only to gain those 6 pounds back (like overnight) and stay there until June. No one could kick me in the pants, not even a $100 bet between me and my sister who could lose the most weight by 4th of July. We called the bet off by the next day. :p

Welcome Jacque! I wish I would`ve smartened up at 22, I`ll be 30 in October and I don`t want to spend another decade like this. This site has been such a huge help keeping me on track. In all my years of trying to lose weight I`ve never made it this far. A month ago my form of exercise was mopping the floor. Now I`m doing over an hour to an hour and a half every day, And I`ve fallen in love with it! I`ve seen lots of 100 pound losers here, so it`s not that insane and it can definetely be done! :) Lots of luck to you, and I`m happy you`ve joined us!

Gray- where you at, girl?! Hope things are going well for you.

Wish you all a great weekend ;)

Hello Ladies......

I want to apologize for not being here the last month or so. My life has been a whirlwind or a mess.

Sounds like everyone is really putting forth the effort and have their ups and downs, and MORE UPS! Yeah, keep on keepin' on.

Holly - So sorry to hear about your friend's son. I don't even want to try to imagine that one. My kids are my heartstrings... The hives really stink. I had them for about 6 months before they figured out what was causing them. I had to take benedryl daily and it didn't always work. Mine always appeared between my b**bies and thighs (middle torso). FINALLY, after telling my therapist about them, he said to tell my GP to put me on Buspar for anxiety. Hives are a reaction to anxiety attacks about one in a bazillion people. Of course, me. Anyway, I have been on buspar for about 4 years with only a few anxiety attacks and NO hives.

Girlie - Sorry to hear about your job situation. I began a new job in January. The atmosphere is so different and EVERYTHING is red zone. Even putting your hand on someone's arm while talking with them. I called myself a fat girl one day and got in trouble for that. It is hard to be someone your are not, everyday at work, HOWEVER it does get easier. I am better about it now.

Susie - glad you found your way back, I am looking to do that for meself too. We all need each other.

Hello to all the newbies, and everyone! Took 10 pages of reading to catch up on everyone! HELLO, HELLO, HELLO........

Here is my story. Food - no OP for a month, back to 264. No exercising. No excuse, just life and me not liking it.

On 6/22 at 6:22 pm, country road, not a stop for me, but a stop for the other direction, the man didn't stop. Hit the bed of my Avalanche, skidded me across the intersection and flipped me in a bean field. Truck ended up on the passenger side down. I hung from my seatbelt for about 10 minutes till they could figure out how to get this huge woman, hanging from her seatbelt, out of her truck. Needless to say it all was an ordeal-in-a-half. Took me two weeks to settle, the man DIDN'T have insurance, so mine had to cover it. Now I am drive a '05 Toyota Camry. Better gas mileage, but sure different than my '02 Avalanche. I have cried a million tears, however come to the reality that if I had not had my seatbelt on I probably would of died or seriously injured. Several bumps and bruises, aches and pains, but fully recovered now. No more tears and thankful. Just trying to get back on track with every aspect of life, mostly my health and eating.

Thanks for listening..it helps. I promise to do better with posting.

HUGS
Annie

Oh Annie!!! I was going to give you heck but I will pass along thankful hugs! So glad you weren't hurt badly. I understand the tears and sadness. Love to you!!

Caro~ our combined income is about the same as an average single income. We are both self employed and dont have benefits etc. Once again-These are our choices.
It just gets a little tough and scary sometimes.

Caro, what kind of exercise are you doing?? An hour to an hour and a half every day?!?! That scares me!! I don't think I could do that... I'm just not sure what I'd do!

Annie, I'm sorry to hear about your wreck :( I know how stressful those are on our lives...I had a bad one about 2 years ago and I still have nightmares from it! I'm glad that you are ok though!

Annie- Sorry to hear that :( But glad to hear you are doing better. My brother was just in an accident and his head hit the windshield pretty hard, luckily not serious, but if they had been going any faster without their seatbelts on it would`ve been so much worse. They do save lives.

Jacque- Yeah it sounds scary when I look at what I have scheduled each day, but I break it up through out the day. I do 40 minutes on the elliptical, ususally early in the afternoon (I had to work up from 10, 15, 20minutes and so on, but it was only a matter of a week or so). I do some strength training 3 or 4 times a week, about 15-20 minutes working the upper body (just some free weights and resistance bands). The other days I`ll do crunches and other ab stuff with the stability ball, and a quick ten minute belly dancing. Thats always easy to fit in.

Also a 30-35 minute work-out DVD in the evening, which last week I did 5 times, Been doing step aerobics but I have some more DVDs hopefully arriving any day now, so on the opposite days of the Step, I`ll do a dance or another cardio. My cable offers on demand fitness, so if I`m bored I`ll do something from there. Breaking it up does not feel like I really do that much. I guess I`m lucky to have the time at home to work out whenever I want, but I still have to work around the kids. I dont want to get off the elliptical every five minutes to make them a snack or change a diaper, so sometimes it`s hard.

I just found that I like it so much, why not do as much as I can. The benefits I`m already feeling, and seeing, are fabulous. I`m really trying to make exercise the #1 priority for me, and the eating better seems to just follow.

Unfortunately I`ve been running around all day so I havent even got on the elliptical yet! LOL So I should get on that real soon....

I`ll check in later tonight! :)

So do you do all this at a gym? Or do you have the equiptment at home?? Unfortunately I can't afford a gym :( I'll have to look into what it costs to use the gym at my college, but I think it's even $20/month! (GrRrR!)

I haven't been here in a few days, have I? I have just been so busy! Just a month until school starts now and I'm trying to get everything taken care of as far as day care, parking permit, etc. I'm a little annoyed that my weight loss seems to have slowed down. I was hoping I'd be one of those people who'd melt the pounds off in months. It doesn't seem that that is the case for me. As long as it comes off eventually and doesn't STOP coming off until I want it to!

I picked up the new People magazine at the store today because it was the "half their size" one about people who have lost large amounts of weight. There is a woman in there who is 6 feet tall just like me, and went from 260-ish to 150. She's a size 8 now! I'd love to be a size 8. I'm not changing my goal, but it's exciting to know that when I get to 165 I may be down to a 10 (I was guessing 12). That's really a thrill. I'm an 18 now. I was a 22 when I started this. My biggest success is that according to my BMI I am now "overweight" instead of "obese". That's a pretty big thrill, too.

Caro30, don't you feel awesome? I see you're down to 213 now. Way to go! You should be really proud of yourself. I'm sorry for being MIA. I've just been so busy! I start back to school next month and I've been running around like crazy getting daycare finalized, taking care of financial aid stuff, etcetera. I've been really busy.

Susie, do you use a video for yoga? I'd like to buy one or even just borrow one from the library but I don't know where to start. I would LOVE to regain some flexibility and yoga seems to be a good way to do that.

Debbie, where in Texas? I have family in west Texas near the coast and they hate the hot humid summers. It's hot here, too, but "it's a dry heat" so that makes it better. I know it's hard to make that effort when it's so hot outside.

Hollyhock, sorry you were up a couple pounds. It's got to be from the sodium. Hope those pounds come right back off pretty quick. Thank you for the encouragement. I had a little feeding frenzy on Wednesday, unfortunately. I need to just keep chocolate out of my house completely because I get that craving and can't resist. If it wasn't here, I wouldn't have eaten it. Oh well, onward and downward ;) right?

Welcome, Jaque! I'm glad your first week went so well. 3 pounds in a week is great. Please stick around, this place is wonderful to keep you motivated. Our apartment complex has a wonderful gym/exercise room available to us, so that's where I go. I'm also a college student and I plan to use the (fabulous) student health center when I start back to school next month. You should definitely look into it at your campus. Most colleges, it's free if you're a student. I know that's the case at the college where I started out, and at the one I go to now. I hope that it'll be easier to fit my exercise in once I've got my kids in day care part time. I can just go right after classes before heading over to pick them up. I do an hour to two hours most times that I go, and I'm trying to get to the gym 5-6 times per week. I haven't gone in 2 days but I'm going as soon as my husband gets home from work tonight.

Annie, I'm sorry about your car accident. I'm glad that you're okay. That's what matters most. I hope to see you here more as you get back on track. It's nice to "meet" you.

So what happens to us and this thread when we're all under 199? Does it turn into "Race to our goal weight" or can we just keep posting here, or do we need to find somewhere else?

Jacque- No gym here. All in my living room. It cost me less than $25 for a stabilty ball and some resistance bands, and I get dozens of exercises from them. I have some 5 and 7 pound dumbells, eventually I`ll go up higher but right now it`s all been working great. I had the step bench and dvd from months ago, never used it til now. That was around $25 also. I got bored with the DVD so I started doing a Firm tape with it that adds the weights, and I love it. I`ve bought a few other DVD`s and thats pretty much it. I had bought the elliptical back in April but my husband was trying to sell it because it was never used! I got it for $150 and it`s now down to $120, not a bad deal. I know I`ll upgrade if I keep it up, I`d like to get a really nice one probably the end of the year, but I`m sure getting my money out of this one.

Gray- It`s coming off fast only because it`s the first few weeks... it`ll slow down soon and I`m trying to prepare (mentally). I DON`T want to lose it too fast, so if it keeps up at this rate I`m going to up my calories a little. It sounds very strange to hear myself say that. Don`t apologize for being busy, we all go through it. Just don`t forget to take care of yourself when things get stressful! And thanks, I do feel kinda proud! :)

I have a stability ball and 5 pound weights... maybe I'll look into some resistance bands :)

Today I walked for an hour... 4 miles :D

Hi all!

I just found this website, and this thread, and would love to join the "race" to 199!

It's been awhile since I seen that number. Probably before I got pg with my son. The summer before I got pg I went on a diet and lost 30 pounds. It was great!, but then I got pg and gained 50, and have yet to lose it all. I kind of started dieting again in Feb, my starting weight was 242, and I'm at 233 right now. However in that time my husband and I seperated, and are now going through a divorce. Everything will be finalized in 4 months. Soooo, as you can imagine I haven't been completely focused on losing weight, but that is all about to change. I'm ready to focus on finding a new me. And that includes shedding these unwanted pounds!!! My ultimate goal is 150 - the weight I was before I got pg with my daughter 6 years ago! Hopefully I can find support here and work my way to a healthier me!

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Welcome dkkrf! I'm still new, but I'm sure you'll fit right in here :) Congrats on a 9 pound loss!! But I am sorry about your current situation :( I know that can be horrible on diet plans :P But you've got all the support you need here!!

Welcome, dkkrf! Sounds like it`s time for you to focus on YOU!! Sorry about the divorce, I`ve been with my husband for 11 years and we`ve seperated twice, it was tough. A couple months the first time, and a few weeks just last year. Both times I dropped weight fast in VERY unhealthy manners, only to gain it right back and then an extra ten or twenty. Not good.

I wish you lots of luck with your weight loss, and lots of strength to get through the the tough times. There is so much support on the site, and TONS of information to help you succeed at losing weight and just all around feel better. :)

Jacque- See, there ya go! Great job on the walk! Thats all it takes, get up and get moving. Exercise doesn`t have to be about expensive machines and costly gyms, or doing things you absolutely hate. Just move. I had a friend years ago who lost 50 pounds in a few months, all the exercise she did was turn on the music and dance in her living room for a half hour a day. ;)

oooo! Dancing in the living room :) That would be a blast!! Perhaps I'll have to do that some day when I'm all alone ;) (My hubby would die of laughter if I did that while he was here!)

Today's going to be a long day :( I work 9 hours... 9 miserable hours in retail! These days are my worst, when I usually go off plan! But I've got a snack for every 2 hours to munch, and a nice big salad with chicken breast for lunch!! (I put my calories into fitday in advance, hopefully another deterant to just binge out, and I'm only at 300 calories not including lunch!! So breakfast and 4 snacks = 300 calories :D )

My biggest problem is usually dinner... $$ is an issue and we just can't afford to go out and buy tons of food right now! (We've lived off pasta, rice and lettuce for 2 months now...) Thank goodness my husband refuses to be a mac n cheese/ramen type of couple!! That way I can at least pick, choose and try to stay healthy!

I weighed in today - 214! Only one more pound until I can change my avatar again. Most importantly, I have LESS than 50 pounds to lose now. 49 pounds to go, and I only have to lose 8 more pounds to be halfway to my goal! I wish I was seeing more of a difference in my appearance :( I don't think I LOOK like I've lost 34 pounds. My husband says that I look really different, which is nice. I just wish I could see it myself.

Caro, it seems like most people lose really fast at first. I bet you'll level off. 2 1/2 months in, I definitely have.

dkkrf, welcome. I ended up in this boat largely because of pregnancy, too. I'm less than 5 pounds from being rid of the pregnancy weight now from my 2 kids, so it CAN be done. I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with a divorce. I imagine that has to be very stressful. Take excellent care of yourself, it's very important. I'm glad you joined in here.


Jaque, we're on a very strict budget as well, and I've found our Sam's Club membership to be really helpful in eating healthy. We originally got it just to save money on diapers, but it has paid for itself in food savings several times over now. They have all kinds of fruits and veggies, in HUGE packages, for very cheap. We also eat a lot of fish, which is very cheap if you buy it frozen in bulk. It saves us a lot of money. It might be worth looking into for you and your husband. The membership is around $30 a year and as I said, ours has paid for itself several times over already.

Hello Everyone,
I didn't make it here yesterday. But I did something very good for myself. I played hookey from work! I NEVER do that! I just felt like I needed a day to myself, so I took it.

I ended up buying a Yoga mat. I priced them at Dicks, online and also at Meijer. I found one by GAIAM at Meijer for $29.99 It had a Yoga ab video with it. I'm going to check it out.

I can't remember who asked me in one of their posts if I did Yoga tapes or a class. I just started all this last week. I went to a class at our local YMCA, which I'm a memeber of and it just made me feel so good. A lady there loaned me one of her tapes to try out so I could do somehthing between that class and the next one. The tape she lent to me is a GAIM dvd and it's called YOGA conditioning for Weigh Loss. I really like the video. There are different levels and segments you can choose from. I've just been doing one segment of it every morning called Body and Beathe awareness. Today I did the whole dvd because I had time. I would recommend any of the GAIAM dvds. I found the one that my friend loaned me at Walmart and bought my own copy today. It cost me $10.00. I know that GAIM has a website, you can check out.

I didn't have my TOPS meeting this week. It was cancelled. I was so looking forward to weighing in. (I can't believe I was looking forward to that! :p )
Well, it just means I need to stay on track and show a big loss at this weeks weighin.

Last week I walked every day but Friday and I did my weight training, plus the Yoga and I did my ab work everyday. I think this week I'm going to add 20 squats to my daily workouts.

Everyone is doing great. Even if you aren't making progress right now, just showing up here is "doing great", because it means you haven't quit!

Let's do this ladies!
Susie