Val, I've never been called a goddess before! I think I'm gonna cry!

My motivation behind asking if people thought of our problem as a health
issue or a weight issue is a conversation I seem to be having with more and more people. If a dr. told you that you have a debilitating disease and needed a treatment that would both prolong your life and drastically improve your quality of life but your insurance would not pay for it, would you do everything in your power to get the money to pay for the treatment and also find time to take the treatment? Most would answer yes. Obesity can potentialy shorten your life due to the diseases it can induce and we all know it has a drastic effect on our quality of life. Why do we as women often feel guilty about "treating" our "disease". I've spoken to too many women lately that are feeling guilty about having to spend more money for healthy food such as fresh vegis, fruit, and whole grains, or for money spent on a gym membership, or WW meetings etc. If our husbands or children needed special food or treatment for a health problem wouldn't we make sure that they recieved it? Just my 2 cents but it is just something that has been bugging me. Why do we as women tend to value others more than ourselves?

....From a mom learning to love herself

Hi ladies! Hope everyone had a busy day. I was running all over today then stopped at my moms and once I got home was busy preparing for tomorrow. I love having people over. Its a lot of work but worth it.

Val, I am so sorry to hear what you are going through. You should be proud of yourself, how strong you are. I hope you can overcome him. I know you don't wish him on someone else but hopefully soon. I don't know what I would do in or situation. Congrats on the decision to make yourself and your kids priorty. Kids are all that matters. Nothing can replace them. I guess alls yo can do is put one foot in front of the other and go on.

Andrea, I did not try the video last night. I put it on and knew it was late then hubby walked in and i turned it off. I was only up to the part where she was talking about it. I also found a yoga tape for bad backs. I have to unwrap that. I will get to it. I just don't want to do it in front of anyone yet. I also have the goddess belly dancing dvd but haven't tried it. I gues syou can see my pattern that i buy these tapes/dvds with good intentions but never do anything with it. I haven't heard from the job yet. I am hopeing. Part of me wants to just stay home with my son and the othe part wants to get out of debt and be able to do things with him... its hard.

anyway, its 3am and i have to get up in a few hours and finish getting ready for my sisters/mom to come over. hopefully my nieces come too. talk to you later...

karyn

Hi all you lovely women!

I'm proud of myself, because I did do my yoga last night after the kids were in bed, and before that, actually, I also turned on some rockin' blues (not too loudly--sleeping kids!) and danced for 40 minutes. It was kind of fun, blues being my favorite music to dance to! I worked up a good sweat, too! I felt extra flexible doing my yoga after really warming up like that.

My husband will be here later on today, and since he couldn't make it in last weekend, he will not have seen me in two weeks. I wonder if he'll notice the weight loss and change in my body. I'm excited to find out! I also got a great, much needed haircut yesterday, and I'm feeling so sexy and stylish!

Wow Karyn, I was surprised to see anyone had posted so late last night! Being a West Coaster, and a late night person, I am often the last person to post. You are burning the midnight oil getting ready for this get together! Hope it's really fun! Good luck sticking close to your plan!

Well, have a good weekend all of you delicious Moms! I will--going dancing with hubby tonight!

Hi, everyone. I have watched this group blossom from the very start and wanted to join in. My computer has been trying to die for the last year, and I just coaxed it into going a little longer. Anyway, I am 37 years old with three children. And I have finally made up my mind that its time for me to make a change for myself. I have just found 3fc, and it has been a godsend. I really believe I can do this. I had begun to think that I couldnt, since I've never had a weight problem. I mean at 5'0 and 110 pds all my life I didn't even see myself as fat. Untill I saw a picture. I wonder why it always takes a picture I'll be the first to admit I was in denial when I saw this photo. Something had to be wrong with the film; warped or something to make me look that wide right? After shuffling through the rest of the photo's to compare. There's Ryan, long and lean as always. (oldest son). There's Victoria, slender and graceful, already taller than me. (middle child) There's the one of Adam in constant motion, looking just like my baby with that pudgy layer of baby fat still hanging on. And then there's me. My god when did this happen? I have always been the smallest person in the family! Yet here I am, overweight, obese even. So, with the truth staring back at me in the form of a small photo, I realized that what my mother had been trying to say without hurting my feelings, was that I had turned into a fat girl. So ladies after three children a horriable divorce. My ex-husband stalking me, a move of over 300 miles to get away from said ex.
It is know time for me. If the weigh in day is still up in the air, I would like to have Monday be the day, but any day would be fine as well. Hope I didnt get carried away. Now I'm off to fight with my Nordic trac.

I haven't posted lately, but I am doing great. I went out with my best friend last night and we had a ball. She is a SAHM too, and we just needed some girls time out. We laughed till it hurt. We have been best friends since 9 grade. We will both be 38 in August. One of those friends you know you will have till one of you dies. Anyway, it was a great boost. Also, she is overweight too and told me she could tell my butt was smaller! God, I love that girl! Anyway, I have done very well on my SBD. We went to TGI Fridays and they have a carb friendly menu. My friend even ate off of it with me! So sweet! I have done well with my walking. And I just need to up my intake of water. Anybody got any good suggestions on how to make yourself drink water when you really don't like it???????
Well, I will be back in a little while and read everyone elses posts. Gotta run for now!

Thanks all for the words of encouragement!! I am a really easy going, laid back, fun loving kind of person who lets most things roll right off me, and I've definitely learned to take one day at a time and enjoy it to the fullest (sometimes it just catches me off guard and makes for a day when I just don't feel balanced).

Karyn--good luck with the job, I know how hard it is to leave a little one at home and go back to work (although it has been awhile). I think you may be an exercise video addict. I have yet to see you say there is one that you don't already have! Also, I hope you have a great time with your company this weekend.

Joan--You are totally right, I caught myself feeling kind of bad because the grocery bill went up noticably when I first started doing this diet, but then I thought, I've got to spend a little more to get to what I want oh well. I'm going to do it. It has so paid off too. I really like to eat this way and I feel so much better. I used to go out and eat a BIG lunch everyday at work and by the time I got back to the office I would just want to take a nap. Now I walk for my lunch and eat a quick salad or whatever I might have leftover from dinner the night before and I'm ready to go! I have also discovered that I'm not satisfied coming home and cooking dinner and plopping down in front of the TV anymore, I WANT to get up and move around and do stuff, my energy level is so improved.

Andrea-- Your lunch sounds delicious, I'm going to have to try that! I still haven't taken my measurements yet but I did find my old Dr. Atkins diet book and I had written down my beginning measurements in it when I started that diet so I will have to use those for my starting ones here although I'm sure I weighed about ten more pounds when I started this diet. Good luck with the hubby tonight!

Well I started doing the yoga dvd this morning and was into it a ways when my phone rang and I just couldn't get motivated to start again after that, I did go for a hike in the woods with my sons though and worked up a pretty good sweat, installed my new screen door (who needs a man! ), and I need to mow and do some yard work, plus we have another ball practice tonight at 5 but this one is only an hour. Last night I was playing catcher for the girls who were warming up for pitching so there was alot of up and downs!!

Has anyone checked out the member gallery? I was thinking about posting some photos and was wondering if anyone else had plans to.

I FEEL WONDERFULL!!! and I hope you all are feeling it too!!

Welcome gentlesong, glad to have you here!!! What is your first name? It sounds like you are going to fit right in and if you read my earlier post then you know we have something in common in crazy ex's

Kim--great news about your butt and SB diet.

Thank you Kim for the welcome. My name is Sabrina I did read you post earlier, and can compleatly understand where you are coming from. I've went through the same things with my tires being slashed, my home broken into, and my most precious possessions stolen or distroyed.
I am sending good thoughts your way. I had hoped that moving away would solve alot of the problems with him. but he has still managed to come to where we live now and sugar my tank, and slash my tires. :sigh:
Sometimes I do wonder where the kind gentle man that I married all those years ago went.
I find myself feeling sorry for him for so many reasons. But, mostly because the children now fear him and don't want to have anything to do with him.
Right now I am just glad I haven't heard from him for over 6 months.

I started looking back at the last few years of my life and realized that I had become a emotional eater. Whenever anything in the least upset me I would have to eat something anything. I was so surprised when I realized that and now I am determined to change it.
Well Im getting long winded again. I do have a question though. How many calories am I burning working out on my nordic trac ski machine for an half an hour?
Bye for now, Sabrina

Hi everyone!!! this is a great group, I would love to join in. I am a working mommie of 2 boys, well 3 if you include hubby (7 & 4). I truned 30 last year and decided to take care of myself, I have be doing it for about 15 months. Making good choices is a struggle when your working and raising a family.

I am doing the WW plan and I also attend meetings on Wend. night. What plan are you all following if any? Do any or all of you work outside your homes also? I need planning help for meals and spending time with my family, I work 7 days a week, any suggestions??????????????

This is going to be a long post ladies. I missed so many posts… not being on yesterday. So here is goes.

Andrea, I am a night owl too but once I start working again that will have to change. I usually sit down to watch TV around 9 and go to bed around 11 or 12 during the week but when I am planning a gathering I go to bed when I am done enough to only have a few things to do in the morning. See I don’t like to leave stuff to the last minute because I always oversleep. And that morning I did just that. Woke up around 10. Matter of fact my son went to bed around 11:30 that night. After icing my cake yester day morning I cleaned my house like a mad women vacuuming and power cleaning everything before my family go here that I really worked up a sweat and couldn’t wait to shower, so that had to account for something. Anyway my gathering went very nice. Everything worked out well. And the best thing is there wasn’t has much dessert as usually. There is a small chunk of my cake left over, a few cupcakes and my angel food cake (0 fat) and strawberries and fruit..yay the good stuff for my diet…Oh and some cookies. And I won’t tell you there weren’t a few pitches of mudslide made. Oh my sister makes a mudslide to die for..haha…I did have some but didn’t go overboard. Downfall there is beer left over…uggg.. Well I will just have to have friends over..huh….

I have read somewhere that dieters who took one day off of there program (instead of counting points/calories)) lost more weight faster then dieters who actually stuck to the same number every day.. so mix it up sometimes. I know when I made goal the last time I was on weight watchers and I always stuck to the highest number every day and it worked. Sometimes if you stay at the same amount and one day you go up on points/cal you will see a gain on the scale but if you mix it up it doesn’t. See if you say at say 1200 cal every day and one day you eat 1500 your body goes out of starvation mode and gains. And if you stay at the same number your body won’t accept more. Does this make sence? I am not saying eat 3000 calories but if you want to splurge on that one piece of cake once a week its not going to kill us. Think about it, 1 piece of cake did not do this to us.. yes the whole cake did..

Sabrina, welcome to our board. Sorry to hear about your ex. I am glad that you moved on with your life and our kids are the most precious things in our life. I wish I could say I was only 110lbs my hole life.. But I have always been a yo yo dieter since I was 12 or something like that.. sixth grade.

I have a solution for weigh in day. Maybe we should make it on Mondays but if Friday people want to use Fridays weight they should. Its only a few days difference but what does it matter if Friday people post there weight on Monday and mondy people post there weight on Monday. As long as it’s the same day right? What do you guys think?

Kim I have a suggestion. I hate water and I put crystal light or andy supermarket brand with 0 calories. Weight Watchers always let us could it as o points so go for it. If you want like I make mine a little weaker so its not so strong tasting. Also they make 0 calories water flavered with lime and orange. Propel puts out one and so does the one with splender. Anything with Splender in it you can drink as water.. so drink up.. Alls I drink is the crystal light type. There are so many flavors so you won’t get board. Congrats on your smaller but and congrats on going out having a great time and sticking to plan.. I hope I can do that eventually.

Val I thinking posting photos would be a great idea. It will make us accountable for us. I notice that Andrea has one in her profile.. Way to go Andrea your accountable. I think it would be cool for us to see what we look like anyway.. Good suggestion. And I am a video junkie. I see an commercial for this and that and say oh that looks great nad buy it and then never do it or even open the package. So lets do it..

Alchina welcome. I am trying to eat right and I still use the WW knowledge that I learned years ago (before my son) when I am choosing foods. I still figure out the points and say oh that’s under 5 points its okay. If you know what I mean. Anyway I would suggestion eating more Salads with your meals and plan. And honestly there is no need to make separate dinners for your family and yourself. It will make you crazy. Weight watches for me while I was working were easy cause I would plan my breakfast lunch and snacks and take them to work. Then dinner eat with my family. I am at home with my son right now but I am contemplating going to work again. I went on an interview on Wednesday and I am hoping that I will get it. My son will go to a daycare/learning center while I am at work. He is 3 and needs to be with other children. He loves kids and is just bored with being with me anyway. haha.. I don’t blame him. What is your name?

Hi Everyone! I went to church today and got really upset at a friend. Another friend had asked me about the SBD and how I was doing. I told her great, and I felt better than I had in a LONG time. The other friend (the one that upset me) said Oh, I tried that and it didn't work. Said she couldn't do it. Lots of negative things to say. I was furious. Why is it that people always want to bring you down when you try to do good? RRRRRRRRR!! I told the other friend to read the book first, then make her decision. It is fine for people not to do it the way I am doing it, but please don't knock it!
Anyway, now I am more motivated than ever to do this. She really upset me!

To more serious things.......
Val, bless your heart. Your story is incredible. I don't get how someone can be so cruel. Then again, if he is on drugs, that explains it. You are a brave and extremely strong person. I don't know you, but I can say that I admire you tremendously. You are a great inspiration.
As far the SBD goes, I will be on Phase 2 beginning Tuesday. Any good recipe ideas are very welcome. I can't wait for the next phase! YEA! I have done extremely well though. I will weigh in again tomorrow and will let you know! I feel great! If only people would leave me alone!!!!!

Serafyn, did your hubby notice your weight loss? Good for you feeling so sexy and stylish! Go girl!

Sabrina, don't you just hate pictures? I do! They tell the truth. I can't even tell you the last time I had my picture made. I am always the camera/video person on vacations, parties or whatever. I refuse to have my picture made. I figure if I talk in the video, the kids can at least look back and say "hey that was mom talking!". Anyway, welcome! Glad you are here with us! Sounds like you have been through **** and back too. You ladies are awesome!

Alchina, welcome to you also! I don't have a full time job. I am a PTO mom at my sons school. I cater part time also. It is a very part time job. I have 2 events this month. It is hard work and I really don't want to do it all the time. Preparing food makes you hungry. I don't need that. UGH! Good luck to you!

Karyn, thanks for the ideas for drinking water. I guess I will go and get some crystal light and have a big jug of it in the fridge. If it is something I don't fix BEFORE I want it, I won't go to the trouble. Lazy.....how sad I am!!!

Well, the hubby just asked if I wanted to go take a walk, so I guess I am leaving for now. I hope you all have an absolutely fantabulous day!

Hi again!, Thanks everyone for the great welcome! My first name is Andrea, I see you already have an Andrea with your group. I'll go by Andy so theres no confusion, confusion is easy for me..

Karyn, Thanks for the advice about planning. Good luck with getting that job. You are lucky that you have the time with you son, enjoy every minute. I get jelious (sp) of my husband because he is unable to work, and gets to stay home with my children. Long story, so I'm working two full-time jobs, usually a total of 72 hours a week. I'm lucky he is a great father and husband (lots of support). Just no good with making the right meals for me.

Kim, you are also very lucky to be involved with your son and his school, cherish every second. I could never cater though, I don't know how you do it. I would be eating everything insight, I give you lots of credit. Good Luck on your two events, that has to be a tough job, making everyone happy!

Hi Sabrina, I had to laugh at the whole picture thing because I remember talking to my sister-in-law about taking photos. I told her my secert about having my oldest son either sit on my lap or stand in front of me to hide my blubber....Pictures tell 1,000 words they always say...Keep up the hard work and soon you'll be wanting to get in the picture....

To everyone else good luck in your daily struggles and remember your never alone.......

Andy

Hi all, I was wondering if you chicks every use the chat room on this web-site? Anyone every try to setup a chat date?

Hi Everyone and I'm happy to see you with us Sabrina and Andi! Welcome!

I had a really fantastic weekend for the most part. My husband, his daughter Sarah (11), her mother and her little friend Rachel(11) came on Saturday. I didn't get much of the cleaning I wanted to do finished on Friday, so I spent Saturday morning rushing around doing laundry, vaccuuming, sweeping and mopping and cleaning the bathroom. So, I was pretty active and hopefully burning lots of calories then!

When the Ron and the rest arrived, it was Laura, my stepdaughter's mom, who first said anything about my weight. She had forgotton that I had decided to get serious about my weight and overall health, and her reaction was actually pretty fun. She turned the corner into my kitchen where I was preparing the vegetables for cabbage soup for lunch, and stopped in mid-sentence about being glad to finally be here and said, "WOW! Andrea, you look 'tighter' or something! This is from yoga?!" I laughed and said, "Well, yes, and watching portions and calories and such." She told me that I was inspiring and she was going to get back into yoga again. (She did quite a bit of it for awhile a couple of years ago, and she got into the best shape I've ever seen her--part of why I got interested in it.)

Ron was here a while before he deigned to say anything, and then he said, "Looks like it's working, Mom." How romantic, huh? Still, he meant well, but has a hard timen being verbally expressive. It's one of the areas where we differ quite a bit and it causes trouble, actually! But he does try to be supportive by getting me out and about doing physical things like hiking, which I LOVE. And...last night we were more intimate than we've been in a couple of months at least, if you know what I mean!

After lunch on Saturday, Laura, my 5 yo daughter Stella and I walked to the beach (about 10-12 minutes away), while Ron drove the rest of the gang down in the van. (Having the van there makes it easier to get all the kids home after they've played hard at the beach for awhile and are tired.) Then we all played on the beach and threw sticks into the ocean for my dog to chase for about 2 hours. Fun!

Our dinner Saturday night was delicious! A local friend of mine gave me about 5 lbs of very fresh hardshell butter clams--her husband digs them for a living, so she has them often and gets tired of them from time to time. ( I don't know how anyone could EVER say that!hahah...I love the darned things!) Anyway, I sauteed some garlic in olive oil and poured some dry sherry and water over that, tossed the clams in, shells still on, and steamed them. They were SO good. I served them with rosemary and olive oil peasant bread and a lush spinach salad with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. Mmmmmm....

Laura watched the kids for Ron and I to go out, as planned. Turns out the place we met my friend at doesn't even have a dance floor! It didn't matter, though. The music was FAR from danceable! It was kind of folksy and sleepy actually, but it was interesting, too. And the place was interesting, with all sorts of weird stuff and art hanging on the walls. We had an OK time. I had a single glass of house red wine. I didn't enjoy it very much, though--alot of calories for something that gave me a bit of a headache and I didn't even like! but I was still well under my max goal of 1500 for the day.

This morning we got up extra early (6:00 am) to go clam digging. There are razor clams available on the beach here. They live in the surf and dig down under the sand when the tide is low. A few times a year the beach is open for clam digging, and literally thousands of people with clam licenses come here to dig for their limit of 15 razor clams a day. This weekend was one of those times. I just got a 2005 license, and the kids can clam for free, so we went out for the first time. It was great fun--well worth getting up at the crack of dawn and bundling up for a slightly damp, cool, cloudy, early spring morning at the beach. The little kids couldn't really dig the clams, because it was a bit too difficult for them, but they helped find the "shows", which are little dimples in the sand that tell you that a clam is hiding down below. The older two girls and I got our limit of 15 clams! (Razor clams are really big, by the way.) And the walking and running up and down the beach and the digging especially, were good excercise! Later we cleaned the clams, cut them up and fried them. Everyone, except me, ate fried clam strips with a homemade cocktail sauce. (I did taste a couple of pieces). I asked that they set some aside for me to steam or sautee in a little olive oil, and I had mine for dinner tonight after they all left. YUM! And, by the way, clams are VERY nutritious--HIGH protein content and Vitamin B12, among other good things and low fat to boot! We had enough to freeze some too!

I know this is a long post, but I still want to address some of the other posts...

Sabrina--WOW! You sound motivated! Glad to have you join us! And, NO, you haven't gotten carried away--just look at MY long posts! We come here for support and to share our successes and struggles with others in the group, so please, feel free to let it all out!

Kim--I enjoy drinking water, always have, so I don't have any better suggestions than what Karyn offered. I just want to say that I think that water is water, and if you are best able to get yours by drinking it with flavors or by making tea, or whatever, then that's just fine! Do it that way! It's still good for you. I will say that I like tea and coffee, but because they are diuretics, I make myself drink a glass of water almost every time I have a cup of either, to make sure I stay hydrated. Good luck with getting your water. I think Karyn's ideas are great!

Also, wanted to say I can totally understand how it would be annoying to listen to your friend pipe up with all the criticism of SBD. It's hard not to take that stuff personally, I know, but try to remember that when people start knocking the good things you are doing to take care of yourself, it's usually because they need to convince themselves that it's okay that they aren't doing the same in their lives. They feel guilty or something and have to belittle the thing they aren't doing, but kind of want to do, in order to justify their percieved failure. Perhaps SBD isn't the right weight loss plan for her...perhaps no attempt at losing weight is right for her right now. Maybe she's just not ready. But, YOU ARE!! Yippee for your efforts! Don't let her and other's like her get you down. You are doing what works for you and that's fantastic!

Karyn--I think it's good to mix it up a little when it comes to calories, too, and also with the kinds of foods your eating--I think I read something similar somewhere and it made sense. You know--tricking your body into metabolizing more efficiently or something like that. I think about that when I think about the inevitable time when I reach a plateau--then I will have to get crafty with my food intake! Right now, I just try to keep my calories within a range of 1200-1500 a day, and some days I have more fat than other days (not necessarily on purpose--man, I'm just NOT that organized! hahaha), but I try to keep the fat intake to under 50 grams (haven't succeeded much, by the way! I usually end up around 52 grams!--at least it's mostly good fat, and not overly saturated or transfats)

Val--Just wanted to say that you seem quite laid back. I also admire you from the little I've gleaned from your posts. I like how you are involved with and really enjoy your kids, even when things could be so stressful for you that you might choose to just shut down. What a way to take the good and banish the bad! Yay for you!

By the way, I played a bit of baseball today too! With my lab . For about 1/2 an hour today, I threw a baseball for her to retrieve. It was fun! Made me think about how I used to play in an adult co-ed softball team several years ago. Pretty time-consuming with practices and games every weekend, but it was alot of fun!

Andi!--I'm glad you're here, too! Welcome! Great name, btw! And WHOO HOO! 59 lbs!!! You rock, girl! How long have you been working at this, and what are your secret tricks for staying with it!? Do tell!

Well, maybe I should hire a publisher for this post! Can't wait to hear from all you wonderful women again!

Val, in response to the end of your post--

I feel WONDERFUL too!! This has been so great for me in so many ways. I have much more stamina and strength and I'm more mentally positive as well. Yes, things are getting better and better!

Also, I thinking posting pictures is a great idea! I need to figure out how to do that (other than the one already in my profile--which was taken only a couple of months ago, by the way--about 213 lbs.) If I can't figure out how to posts more pics, I'll come back here and ask for help from you 3fc whizzes! It would be great to put faces with all these names and phenomenal stories!