Good morning, ladies
 

Found some cappucino this morning. ahhhhh..... :coffee2:

Things here are okay. It's going to cost more to get the van fixed than what we thought but God has provided all the money necessary so no worries. Just frustrating.

Like TOF-I had a Christmas party last night and I over indulged as well. *sigh* Oh, well. As Tony Little says: move forward. Always move forward.

Today's a new day and a new chance. So, I'll do better today.

TOF-hang in there! I get frustrated too b/c it's such hard work sometimes to be healthy and make healthy decisions. But, I know I feel better when I make the more positive healthy choice. We can do it! Let's cheer each other on! :cheer:

Marie-I'm curious as well to know how you like your gazelle. Keep us posted.

Ladies, I need an attitude adjustment this morning towards life in general. I'm feeling resentful towards DH and his illness-even though I know he can't help it. I just get so tired of being the one to always take care of everyone else. I keep thinking of the song from the first Princess diaries movie-I'm supergirl and I'm here to save the world but I want to know who's going to save me? Just voicing my feelings-knowing the feelings are neither right or wrong-they're just feelings. This morning, I just wanted to stay in bed and knew I couldn't b/c there are too many people counting on me. Then, I wanted to push DH OUT of bed and tell him to get moving-do something to make this situation better. Then I wanted to push DS off the couch and tell him to get busy on finding a place of his own. *sigh*

I do, however, in times of wanting to give up remember a line which is accredited to Winston Chruchill: Never give in. Never, never, never give in. :)

Well, must finish cappucino and listen to new Christmas cd. maybe that will help lift my spirits. Thanks, ladies for letting me vent!

Hi Skinny, I can relate. I felt that way when my husband was out of work. It's hard. My only salvation was finding something that I could sink my teeth into and looking for the positives of his time at home. Also sometimes looking around and realizing that no ones situation is ideal. Person A might have all the money they need but a very difficult spouse. Or another person may have time to be home and not work, yet they have a disabled child. It sometimes helps me to look around. One last thought, I tend to feel the way you were feeling today mainly when I'm tired. Any chance that you're tired. You do have a lot of emotional stress right now.

You are strong Skinny and so capable, that's why a lot comes your way. I'm here to support you in any way I can. We're on a wonderful journey - we're getting healthy and learning a lot along the way. I hope your day ends with a bit more peace.

All's well here - better than yesterday which was filled with unexpected turns. We had the holiday concert at our school. The children singing and playing music filled me with happiness and joy. The songs about peace and happiness were very beautiful.

OK eating day - not the best, not the worse but I'm maintaining until Jan. 2. Then I'll be back in full force. Hopefully there won't be any gains between now and then.

Take care.

Good morning, ladies
 

Not so good eating day yesterday. I'm finding myself doing a lot of emotional eating again. I don't want to go backwards! :( I'm not exercising right now either. So double whammy! Just hold my feet to the fire, ladies!

I think I'm going to start cross stitching again. I use to do that a lot. I thought it would keep my hands busy so I can't be shoving food into my mouth! :lol: I think I'll pick up something small, maybe a kit, this afternoon. Plus, it's pretty relaxing.

TOF-thanks for your words of kindness and encouragement. They were, as always, very helpful. DH and I had a good talk last night. Shared a lot of frustrations w/the illness. He needs to start therapy but is reluctant b/c of the financial strain we have right now. I insisted that he contact someone soon. If he had cancer, he wouldn't delay chemo b/c of our finances so why should this illness be different? Anyway, we had a good talk. He cried. I cried. It was good. Thanks again. Hope you have a great day today.

Isn't it amazing how music can change your mood? Truly, music has been calming this savage beast this week! :lol:

Marie-are you so addicted to the gazelle that you're still on it? :D Let us know how things are going. Hope you're having a great day, too!

Gotta run. Talk to you later. Thanks for being here.

Hi Skinny and Marie, Good to hear from you Skinny. I'm glad you and your dh had a talk. I know it's hard. I can understand his reluctance to pay for therapy - I hope your health plan helps out a bit. I know that our plan helps out quite a bit.

I know you won't go back to lots of emotional eating. What other things can calm your emotions. I like baths. Also, just shopping and trying on clothes really gets one back on track. Try on a bathing suit or two for real incentive! The rationalization for not buying is that we'll be much thinner when we really buy in the spring. Sleep is also good, but with stress sometimes sleep is hard. Large healthy smoothies with lots of strawberries can be very calming. I'm sure you have a list of things too. Your stress is difficult and I think you are doing great with it all. Keep communicating. I don't mind "listening" at all. You've been there for me and helped get me through the course and I appreciate it.

Fairly good eating day. I went out to dinner with two of my sons and I ordered a salad, but it was one of those fat salads with high cal dressing and fried chicken. I wasn't thinking. Not horrible though as I hadn't had much else to eat all day and I won't eat anymore. In fact I think I'm going to go out as soon as my husband gets home and finish up the last few gifts I need to get.

Take care. Hang in there.

Hi,

Me again. Just checking in to get some strength and see how everyone is doing. Hope you have a nice day finishing up the details for the Christmas celebration.

Take care.

Hi Skinny and TOF,

I'm glad to hear everyone is doing all right. TOF, your ideas for staying on track were really good. I like the one of trying on bathing suits. If that doesn't stop the munchies, nothing will. Skinny, I'm relieved that you and your hubby had a good talk together. It's not an easy problem, but it's also not the worst in the world and should never be used as a reason or an excuse to screw up because there are meds out there that make the symptoms go away pretty much.

I got the Gazelle but pulled a muscle that's making exercise difficult, so I've only used it for a few minutes. For the little I did use it I did like it. I think it's going to be a good all over workout whereas my exercycle is just legs. It should be interesting to see how long I can go. There's a bit of resistance and I have it on the lowest resistance. So I thinbk that I will aim for 15 minutes for the first time and if for some reason I make it to a half hour, then I'll be happy.

I finished the stained glass that was ruined by UPS and it's on it's way back to Texas. I had to send it UPS again and I hope that they don't destroy it (or the other panel I sent to my in-laws). Turns out Fedex doesn't ship Ground from my little town.

Eating has been bad; calorie intake okay. I keep choosing the unhealthy choices. I have to get off this track and onto a healthy track. I bet I'd feel better if I did.

Better get going. I'll be back tomorrow morning.

Good afternoon. All's well here. I made a gingerbread house and cookies with the boys today. They liked it. Lots of cleaning and getting the house ready. Eating has been a bit off but nothing like last year at this time. I'm maintaining until Christmas and then I'll be back on track after the New Year. Take care Marie and Skinny. Thanks for being here.

Good morning, ladie
 

Hope all is going well for you both. Things here are interesting. Not bad food wise-I have eaten different things than normal-ie-dessert every now and then-but do not feel that I've overdone it. I still haven't started exercising yet. I know I need to; for myself and everyone around me! :D Plus, it would be a good example for my DH as exercise is one of the first things docs say to do to help w/BP/depression. I am determined, though, this week to get back on track. Hold me accountable ladies! Thanks.

TOF-we've been in baking mode at our house, as well. Our usual Christmas baking includes potato candy, fudge, sugar cookies and peppermint candy. Some of this will wait until after the DD's get home from their father's on Sat. 12/25. Yesterday a friend took us out for lunch at China King but I made good choices. Thanks for your healthy alternative list! I did buy two small cross stitch kits this weekend. They are for my DD's. When the picture is done, it will be a picture of a crown w/the word princess over the top. I'm making it to remind them that their Heavenly Father is the King of Kings so therefore, they are princesses. There are so many negative things pulling at teenagers these days that effect their self esteem. I want them to always remember that they are beautiful b/c they are God'. I'll be working on them this week. I'm excited about doing cross stitch again and this small project is a good way to get back into the swing of things.

Marie-I'm glad you like your gazelle! Also, congrats on getting your stain-glass done! I hope it makes it safely to its destination. About the gazelle, the video that I have suggests you start out w/10 minutes a day, every other day, for about two weeks. Then, go to twenty minutes for a couple weeks. Last, shoot for thirty. That way it eases you into it and keeps you from getting too sore. Just a thought.

Ladies, let's hang in there. The holidays are a difficult time to eat healthy but let's keep our eyes on the prize-a slimmer, healthier us. We've come so far and we can go even farther. Let's keep encouraging each other and cheering for each other. :cheer: :cheer: I know you ladies are helping me a great deal and not just w/my weight loss. I appreciate you both very much, my internet angels! :angel: :angel:

DH has an appointment this afternoon for an assessment for therapy. So, keep us in your thoughts and prayers, please. I'll let you know how it turns out. I expect it will be outpatient as he's not nearly as despondant as he was in March but DH is willing to do whatever the docs say. So, we need open hearts, minds and ears and wisdom today. Thanks.

Talk to you soon. :merry:

Hi Skinny and Marie, It's so nice to hear from you. I agree with Skinny, Marie. It's great that you got the stained glass back on track to its destination. It seems like such an awesome job to me to create stain glass masterpieces. It's a wonderful gift. I'm sure they appreciate it. I bet your husband is proud too that his wife took that much time to honor his parents with a wonderful gift.

Skinny I'm glad to hear that you are doing well. The cross stitch sounds wonderful. I'm sure your dd's will love it. It's a good reminder because there is a lot of temptation out there. I think the world is particularly hard on young girls.

All is well here. I've been busy with all the Christmas preparations. Lots to do in the next few days which I'm sure you all understand and share with me. Eating has been ok. I've been getting sweet treats and trying to taste but not overeat. I haven't been exercising, but I've been using a lot of energy shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. so I think I'm burning calories. As you may tell tonight I'm a bit tired - lots of grocery shopping and last minute gift shopping tonight.

Have a good night. Thanks for being here.

Hi Skinny and TOF, Things are going good here. I finished all the Christmas shopping except I forgot to get DS his annual ornament. We've gotten both kids an ornament every year so that when they move out they have a good collection. Well, I got one a couple weeks ago, but forgot DS1. For years he's been asking for a Snoopy bell that I got when I was in college. I think I will give him that one if I don't see something perfect later in the week when I do the grocery shopping.

I worked yesterday but now am off for two weeks. That will be very nice. I need to start a project or I will get bored. I haven't figured out what to do yet. I envy you, Skinny, for the cross stitch. You know what you want to do. I don't know yet but I will figure it out. Maybe for a while I will work on some stained glass. I'm making a howling wolf with a big full moon in the background. I also have some knitting I could do. So many options and so little ambition. I guess that's where I'm at - not a lot of ambition.

Food wise I'm doing okay. Not great, but just okay. I love Christmas treats and it's going to show if I don't step back from the kitchen. Exercise - absolutely none. Last Thursday I pulled my groin muscle at work (don't as me how, I don't know) and it's very sore. So I've gone for walk and that made it worse. The Gazelle - it's pretty and just waiting for me to feel better. My son really likes it so that's cool.

Have a great day and talk to you later.

Hi Marie and Skinny, I'm officially in the throws of Christmas. Goodies everywhere! Lots and lots to do. I just want to be home and tomorrow afternoon I'll have that chance. I'm excited about relaxing, sleeping, spending time with family and the boys. As for eating I've indulged. The good thing is that the indulgence left me feeling rather yucky and not wanting to do it again. The healthy food makes me feel so good. My dh is giving me a new pair of running shoes for Christmas to get me started on my New Year's goal of training for an Aug. triathlon. For the next few days though I'm not going to track. I'm going to put all my energy into making Christmas special for all of us. Then during vacation week I want to play with the boys and get caught up with work. After that it will be back to the healthy lifestyle. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the season. Thanks for being here and helping me to keep my priorities straight.

Hi Skinny and TOF, I hope both of you are doing great and enjoying the holidays. I do love this time of year. I love buying presents for my sons. I think I look forward to Christmas morning more than they do.

I braved the scale this morning and I'm still maintaining at 188. I was very thankful for that. The way I have been eating, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But since I just nibble through the day instead of eating real meals, I think that balanced out the calories so that I'm not going overboard. Although maintaining is the goal for the next week and a half, I've got to stop nibbling and eat real meals. So today that is my goal. Real meals and no munchies. Now, can I do it? For some reason, I doubt it but I'm going to try.

I used my Gazelle yesterday for 20 minutes. I was tired at the end so I think I got a good workout. Because I'm trying to lose weight, I am going o do it every day with a goal of 5 days per week. That's always my goal with exercise. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't. But I try and that's what keeps me on track.

I set up another web site and I'm just starting to put it together with Dreamweaver. I thought that would be a good vacation project so that I could practice what I learned in the class. And since I'm now our district's webmaster (officially) I wanted to learn a few things. So I'm designing a site for my dogs. I got free domain registration and hosting so it's not costing me anything.

Well, have a great day and enjoy yourselves. Eat healthy and keep maintaining. The losing season is almost upon us and we're going to do great.
Marie

Hi all. Great to hear from you. Today I indulged again and found that I felt worse and look worse. The healthy food and careful eating does a lot for my attitude, feelings and looks. I finished off with a salad. It's busy. I have a lot of wrapping to do. Next year I'm going to strategize about how to change some unhealthy traditions into healthy traditions. Hopefully the next few days won't be too bad now that I've had a chance to eat a lot of chocolate and a few other treats. Other than the Christmas and Christmas eve dinners I hope I'll get on track and maybe even fit in a little exercise since I'm off work! Take care. Hope all is well. I plan to weigh myself on 1/15 or so once I'm fully back on track. Hopefully I won't see any gain and maybe even see another loss by then.

Merry Christmas to all! Just checking in to see if everyone is doing well. Have a great holiday! I'll be back in a day or two.

TOF and Skinny, have a great Christmas. Things are going good here. I've been exercising and that's a good thing for me. Eating - I'm still a bum and am eating unhealthy but I did buy vitamins so that at least I have some healthy stuff going in me.

Have a great couple days. :)
Marie