I took about an hour out of my afternoon and read all the threads up until this one. Sounds like a great group of gals. I was hoping to be the youngest, (turned 40 in Oct) but Barbie40 and Tulip-Fairy beat me . Is there a new thread? Or is the one I join, if I may join? Thanks for that chat room and site, Curlylocks, I'm going to check that out too.

Like I said, I turned 40 in October. My name is Mary, but most call me Turtle. I'm divorced and have a steady (not living-in) boyfriend, two cats and three turtles. I had gastric by-pass in 1999 and lost about 95-100 pounds. It was not what I expected and although it's a touchy subject with me, I have to live with what's left. And that's the fact that I'm still over one hundred pounds over weight and have NO food restrictions from that surgery. I'm very lucky health wise and I count my blessings daily for my physical mobility AND my great new job. I'm a police dispatcher. And although I've been a police dispatcher for over thirteen years, I only have about one year in at this new position. It's a great job. I just need to shed this weight to find an even greater level of comfort.

I hope it's okay to just jump in.

Oh and I just joined TOPS this week. Not sure what diet I'll be using, but I've always liked WW's POINTS.

Sorry to hear about Myah, curlylocks! Will she be okay after a couple of days? I lost my cat, Bailey, (hence my name) in October 2004, she had feline diabetes and finally after 24 hrs. she gave up her fight and went to sleep very peacefully. I miss her so much!!! I don't think I'm going to get another pet tho', I don't think I could go through that again. So, I'm really hoping Myah is getting better. What do you think of those vet bills? I was at the new board today and it looks good, you've done a great job and I thankyou again. For some reason I got light-headed today and kinda felt sick so I didn't do the rest of my exercising but at least I got some in Had a 1/2 cup light cottage-cheese and some brocolli and cauliflower for lunch. We buy these kg bags of large shrimp when they're on sale (currently have 5 in freezer) so then I just run them under cold water and serve with cocktail sauce for a side dish instead of fattening stuff. A little long winded here but I got to go now, see everyone tomorrow. Have a great evening!!!

o dont even mention the bill .. i dont want to think about that, i am on a VERY limited income.. i am home today becuz they said i can bring her home, the challenge now will be to get her to eat, shes burned the inside of her mouth pretty bad.

i dug out an old scale that i have .. it says ive lost nothing this week grrrrr! but i dont tthink its working right...

Good morning!
I stepped on the scale and have disposed of another pound

Kids have 1/2 day today so my two youngest will be coming to my school to particpate in "Jump Rope For Heart" the money will be donated in memory of my husband and of the husband of another teacher. Her husband died 2 weeks to the day before mine. The kids are so excited about doing this too.

LIZA We just hit our 3rd anniversary of his death in Jan. My children were 10 8 and 6 at the time. We take it a day at a time with tears mingled in between.

Time to get my rear and gear and get out the door.

Lisa

hi hotcupojava!
welcome .. yep just jump right in!! nice to have u join us!

I was worried for a minute that no one saw me sneak in. Don't ya hate when you pour your heart out in a thread and no one ever talks to you? That has happened to me before. I tried several different threads at an entirely different weight loss site (shhh I won't mention the name), and no one would EVER talk to me. I thought it was just me. Hmmm. But I feel right at home at 3FC. And now here too. Thanks! LOL. I'm glad to hear I can jump right in. You all sound like a great group. Even if I'm NOT the youngest one here.

I'm recovering from a nasty cold I caught right after Easter and was finally able to make myself walk for ten minutes (set my timer like Flylady says) on my "dreadmill" doing a slow walk. It was the first exercise I've done since I got sick and since I joined TOPS. It wasn't a full on work out, but it's a start.

I hope everyone has a great day. I work afternoons and I spend the better part of my time on line, reading and commenting in journals and threads right here at 3FC. Hope to see and hear from you all, later.

not to fear... im usually yak yak yaking on here but after the lil mishap at my house, with my kitty i have been offline (dial up) cuz i had to wait for the vet to call... BUT shes comming home today!!!

How close are u to Winchester va? i have lots of family there..

Glad to hear the kitty is coming home. I lost two of my kitties last Fall (to age and sickness). I was down to one. Elvis, my senior citizen cat. He's 18. But someone dumped off a gorgeous grey girl kitty. I tried to find her owner, and then a suitable home for her. But it looks like I'm keeping her. I named her Squeak. I'd still like to find a home for her, but alas, she may be mine.

If you look at the outline of the state of West Virginia, there's only one edge that's straight. I'm in that straight part. I'm much closer to PA and MD than I am to VA. Some say the outline of WV looks like a frog jumping down a mountain. If that's true, then I'm uhhh the frog's butt! LOL.

Have a great day and kiss that little kitty for me. Welcome home furbaby!

Finishing up today at the office and then have to plan the party at my house this weekend. I need everything. Poor DH had no lunch today, because I didn't have any bread. I am sure he survived, but we are down to the bare bones.

CURLYLOCKS - Poor kitty, sounds awful. Feeding her by syringe is going to work if she is hungry enough. I hope she gets better very quickly.

Yesterday's pedometer was only 7,400 since I mostly walked from one meeting to another. I didn't get to really walk but then I didn't get to eat either. Still trying to avoid cookies that everyone has at these meetings. Maybe it is a Spring thing, cookies and spring. I found my steps per mile note: 10,000 steps is approximately 5.25 miles. That really got my attention.

Welcome HOTJAVA - WW points system are really good, though I just can't go to another meeting, see above and I did the best when I went to the meetings. There are WW meetings at work, but I am just not feeling warm and fuzzy about the coworkers who run it. I love the name Dreadmill, though I do like the treadmill at the gym, I mix it up between the eliptical, the treadmill and rowing machine. Elvis and Squeak, cute names.

BAILEY - Your shrimp idea sounds good, I have a bag in the freezer most of the time too, very quick and simple.

LISA - Congrats on losing a pound, good progress in the right direction. I didn't realize your loss was so recent. I like the rope skipping idea. We are very active in a community foundation which works with programs to keep kids in school and getting them resources that aren't available from existing groups. It is the sort of thing he was interested in, like science scholarships and awards for brightness and effort.

Got a letter from the school health department to have DD's eyes tested, I don't think anything is wrong with them but I can't see anything so anything would be better than me. So I took the appointment for the end of May, this just isn't an emergency, especially since she got her bang cut, so that may have been the problem before.

Treated myself to Korean food for lunch, I know it is because I am way down on sleep. Got home from all my meetings last night about 9:45 so tonight I hope to get some down time, no questions, no decisions to make and just chill.

Not optimistic about a loss, so far this week only one day at the gym and I need four to make some serious progress.

Hello fellow losers! This place is really growing by leaps and bounds which is really a great motivator for me. Curlylocks, is she home yet? LisaBee, great on the lb., doesn't it make you feel great Welcome Hotcupofjava, this place is great. I know what you mean about other boards as I had the same experience, post a thread and be totally ignored or ask a question and get answers to everything but what you asked or get your thread hijacked, jeez!!! But not here Anyways it was laundry day today and I live in an apartment which means full makeup and everything so I held off on exercise until now. I've done my 1st 20 min. on the elliptical and this is my break before I go for my next set. Breakfast was bran flakes and banana and skim, lunch was a cup of brocolli and a cup of cauliflower and snack will be an orange. Dinner is chicken taco's for hubby and since I make them with breasts, I'll have lettuce and tomato and chicken, no cheese or taco's. I've done this before and it's very good. Hope everyone has a good evening! Am I missing anything in the chat room?

Hi ladies and Happy Thursday!

Sorry I have been MIA for a while, and now too much going on to try and catch up with individuals.

Curly~the site is awesome! You've done a great job with it. Now to remember to go to it!

Mary~WELCOME! I've had that happen before too! (no one talking to me) I feel pretty comfortable here also. My sis's friend had the surgery also and has nothing but problems since. She did lose a lot of weight but now she has a ton of medical problems because they guy who did it screwed up. And to top it off, now she has cancer. Even though she was big, she said she does regret ever having it done.

Lisa~WTG on the loss!

Hi to everyone I missed

Doing good with the eating today. Don't normally skip breakfast but did this morning and even ate less for lunch so that was good. Normally if I skip a meal I am starving and tend to overeat. Even got a mile walk in so overall today has been a good day so far.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day! See ya later!

Hi everyone, I'd like to join you all. I spent the last hour or so reading the posts from day one. I feel like I know you all. I'm 43, married and the mother of two boys, 18 and 19. I have been overweight all of my life and have yo-yo'ed from 225 to 133 and now back to 199. Last year I was at 207 and I lost 18 pounds, only to regain 10 of them in February and March. So I'm back on track and want a place to share - this thread looks like the place. I have no one around me that shares the same 40ish problems/concerns that I have. My friends at work are all younger than me and I'm a little out of their loop.

I understand the statements about being ignored. I've been there too. I look forward to responses and responding to people and if it isn't there, it's harder. I think because I'm fat, I take it personally, that I'm not worth their time. Stupid, huh? But that's the initial reaction I have. I'm trying to lose that.

CL, I hope kitty is okay. I'm a dog person myself (I have 3 large dogs) and I love my dogs to pieces. I bet you feel that way about your kitty. They become part of you and if they hurt, you hurt.

I count calories - loosely since when I'm at my goal of 135, I would try to eat like a normal person and so that's what I'm trying now. It's very slow, but I'm seeing progress. I have a Gazelle and I do that 3X a week and make a goal of being active the other days. Things like hiking, lifting, cleaning, etc. I really need to bump the Gazelle to 4X per week, but that's just not been happening. Time restraints or motivation gets me every time.

Thanks for this thread and now I'll go check out the new site.
Marie

Liza: How'd your party go? What kind of party was it?

Welcome Hotcubofjava: This so far is a pretty active group and one I hope you feel you fit into When I saw the words "I have a Gazelle" my mind for a split second thought...wow now thats a cool animal to own! haha

MARIE: Welcome to you also! Glad to see more new 'faces' joining this support thread!!

It is now 8 and none of us have eaten as my kids came home at noon (the elementary school and my private school had a 1/2 day....I had a full day since I teach PreK) They snacked all day long!! So now I have to figure out what to feed us all as none of us are very hungry.... my snack was 2 rolled up pieces of turkey and a cup of tea...feel like I already had dinner.

Lisa

Hi everybody

Hotjava, I think we've all experienced that lack of response. It isn't a very nice feeling.
I contemplated the WLS(by-pass) My doc(who isn't a surgeon) really thought I should. The extra weight is keeping my diabetes to a pt of no control. Diet and meds don't help and then I get depressed and self distructive and eat horribly. I'm just not comfortable with the surgery. But it would probably help the diabetes blood sugars get under control, but at what cost?
Good luck with TOPS. I think it's a great program. Unfortunately the chapter near me is a group of very elderly very sweet ladies from a small town nearby. It would probably be better if the group was a little more age appropriate.

Curlylocks, it's always sad when a pet is not feeling well. I hope she recoops quickly and comfortably. I've lost several cats over the last 30 odd yrs. It really hurts. I've also lost 3 dogs to illness and 1 to age. Went 3 yrs without a dog and my oldest and youngest sons(21 & 27) bought me a scottie for xmas. He's so sweet and cute. But I worry about him getting sick. He's like a baby. Never get a perimenapausal(sp?) woman a puppy

Bailey, how does one get by on cottage cheese and veggies. I would feel very unsatisfied. You must have such control. When I don't feel satisfied, I find myself picking later in the day.

Lisa, congrats on the 1 lb "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step"

Hi Liza, Cristi, Mary and everyone. I've rambled enough. Just wanted to check in. When I'm not doing well I have a tendency to stay away from the boards.But this is such a nice supportive group. I'm really trying to stick with it.

Have a great friday everyone
Donna
s

Hello all!!!!

I have been around, but just SWAMPED at work! My first week back after spring break and I have been on the run! It will probably be that way until the end of the month….it keeps me going I suppose!

Today I was soooooooo hungry by 10 am, I cold hardly stand myself…..I made one more stop and headed to Culvers for a salad at 10:45…took it to work and scarfed it down by 11:20. Got through the rest of the day okay……came home and went for an hour walk before I made dinner……added up my calories for the day and decided to just have a small hamburger with a slice of low cal cheese on low cal bread……well that did not last…..LOLOLOLOL….oh well, I had a diet Mt. Dew and a pkt of 100 cal Ritz Snack Mix….then later had a 100 cal bad of kettle corn…..Oh ya……then time of the month started today….I am sure that is why I am hungry and craving carbs but I BELIEVE I can make it through the night now considering I will be in bed in an hour.

I also have been brewing some ice tea in my ice tea maker….trying to do that instead of the diet pop…..I have a TERRIBLE caffeine habit…..1/2 a pot of coffee in the morning then hitting the diet pop by 10 am….usually 2-3 20 oz bottles a day….at least……so thought the ice tea would be a change……I will get decaf…..using regular now because that is all that is in the house! One thing at a time!!!!

Curlylocks...hope kitty is well...I have two myself....little monsters that make my day!

Well another week almost done!!! Looking forward to some relax time!!!
Lilybutt