Hey girls...Im from Jackson, Mississippi. Im in the Middle East though. My husband and I moved here from Biloxi, Mississippi. Confused? I move around ALOT. Anyway, I figure I still have that southern eating mentality. They fry everything here. Mmmm...and KFC delivers. Anyway, just wanted to join in.

I'm 21, 5'2", and 163lbs. I started at 175 and Im trying to lose a total of 50 lbs. Im doing Weight Watchers.

What plan are y'all doing?

Love,
Deanne

Hey vixen, whats up? thats wonderful that you lost 12 pounds.. way to go.. .. myself, i do the LOTS N LOTS OF WATER plan..lol.. with lots of exercise, and watch what i eat... no bread, sugars, NO POP...just diet...lol..
Sometimes i cheat tho...lol... and eat things that im not suppose to....
Its starting to get hard to keep focused, when i am gonna have my day already planned for me... at times i dont know if i am going to even have time to eat.... all i can do is TRY, but since i am going to be on the go so much, the only choice that i am going to have is FAST FOOD.. Fast Food, means FAT food...lol
Hope yall are keeping up the good work..
Tru Luvin

Hello ladies. My name is Gloria and i was wondering if you have room for one more. I've lived in Florida for the past 25 years which is about as south as you can get. I've been married to a wonderful man for 32 years and have two grown kids who now have lives' of there own. My son (Will) is married and lives in St. Louis but as yet, no kids. My daughter (Jamie) came back from Iraqi last year where she met her now fiancé.

I've been battling my weight for as long as i can remember and have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to lose the weight by myself, so if you have room for one more i would sure love to join you.
Gloria

Hey y'all! We always have room for one more! I'm 22 y/o and married, no kids! I'm 5'4" and weight about 145. I need/want to lose about 20lbs. So far, I've reduced my calories and tried to eat healthy, more nutritious foods. (no more empty calories) I've been working out 5-7 days a week. And forcing myself to drink more water, which is really hard because I HATE WATER. I do allow myself one small, miniture piece of chocolate everyday. It's my crutch, and if I don't allow myself some, I will give in and eat a ton! But I cherish my daily dose, even if it's 3-5 grams of fat that I don't need.
My weight went up significantly once I got married. And I know that if I don't get it under control now while I'm young, I will have more of a challenge years down the road. But even now, it's not easy.

Morning girls! I swore I was not going to get involved in another thread as I run one (Time For Serious Fun) and post with Steel Magnolias, but you guys are just so much fun (though everyone of you probably could be my dd as I have a son who is almost 32! ) ***Except for Gloria, whose post I just saw!***

I am gonna kill my dh! We have AOL and I have call alert and had typed out the recipe and some replies and he called so I had to take the call and it dumps you off when that happens. The little booger wanted to order something for his laptop and had logged on at work and saw that I was online so he called me! URGGGGGGG! Ladies, I have been married nearly 33 years and I adore the man, but ain't they ALL the SAME?????

Everybody, let's give each other the lowdown about each of us, besides what we want out of our weight loss program. I am 51, have two grown, married children, Jay is almost 32 and Kelly is going to be 28, have 1 grandson, Thomas who is going to be 5 in two months, I have been married almost 33 years to the most adorable man in the world who treats me like a queen. I don't work anymore having tired of dealing with the doofus business/legal world (no I am was not an executive, was a legal clerk and a secretary), am working on setting up my own business making and selling soy candles, am learning to play bridge, which is whooeee something else to learn as I definitely don't have a perfect memory (maybe I should stick to Texas Hold Em Poker at the Casinos... ) and have until 1989 moved every three years. I have lived in Va Beach, Va twice, here 3 times, El Paso, Tx, Las Cruces, NM, San Diego, Ca, Mishawaka, IN. I am a voracious reader and have two pets, who substitute for my children; a yorkie named Fortune and a cat named Butterscotch. Now, I am sure you are all a lot more exciting than this old lady!

Kell: Ok, kiddo let's try this again, just understand that after all this time, I cook more like your mom or grandma by feel so this stuff is approx, but should work fine:

Chicken Fried Steak w/ Gravy

3 cube steaks
1 c flour
1 carton egg beaters
1/8 to 1/4 c ff milk
salt and pepper to taste
Pam

Gravy
1 can ff beef broth
2 TBS flour
1 C water

Spray skillet fairly heavily with Pam, mix egg beaters with milk until they are a light yellow, use two flat bottomed bowls (pie plates work great) fill one with egg mix and one with flour (I do not use salt to cook and don't like pepper so I make dh put it on after it is cooked so you need to use as desired if you want it cooked onto the meat) Dip meat in flour, egg batter, flour and place in heated skillet, spraying top of meat with Pam. Brown both sides and cook for about 20 minutes. Spray more Pam into pan if needed, but ALWAYS spray the top side every time you go to turn it over (this is what causes it to crisp up a little) Gravy: heat can of broth to boiling, mix flour and water in a lidded jar until no lumps, pour slowly into boiling brother until smooth and thickened and use a little water if too thick. **I have no cal/fat info on this so you will have to figure it on your own or you WW folks use you calculator thingy! Serves 4

O2: Wow a neighbor! We have lived in Memphis for 4 years this time, but we were stationed here twice with the Navy in Millington in 1973 and in 1984-89 when he retired. I don't LOVE Memphis, but it is ok. The racial problems here sadden me, but my dgs lives here and so I am happy as a pig in mud! When we get to know each other better maybe we can meet sometime. I don't work so am bored silly most of the time.

Deanne: I am using just a fat and cal program with exercise. I exercise 6 days a week, 3 weights and 3 treadmill. I made weekly charts that I use to keep track of my food, water, and exercise that helps a great deal. Right now I am struggling to get back. I had a slip and fall in a restaurant last year and tore up my knee, than 3 months later hit a deer going 55! On top of that, I am going through menopause and don't take HRT because I think it is too dangerous for obese women so fight with that and also have allergies, which right now are driving me nuts. I have gained about 20 lbs since last year and have recently gotten back to eating proper etc. Good luck with WW as I know it is a very fine program.


TruLuvin: I always tell anyone who e-mails me about my loss so far (I have a website and get e-mails from that) that you have to decide which you want more to be fat or to be thin and go from there. It sounds simplistic, but the truth is that you have to desire to be thin more than you desire to remain fat to succeed. I thought I would never ever be able to lose the weight, but once I got going did very well. I don't think I would have gained and would have continued to lose if I had not been "laid up" with the knee so that I couldn't do anything, then the other accident, then wham menopause symptoms, which I found that for me I would have periods where like ladies having PMS, I was always hungry. I am starting to conquer that though. I did look realistically at what things I was really addicted to and took them totally out of my life forever. For me, that was sugared soft drinks. I don't drink coffee, so drank gallons of soft drink packing on lbs just with them. Some things we absolutely can't keep control of and I believe you HAVE to put them out of your life forever.

Ok, since I have written a book this morning, guess I better go.

Everyone have a great op day and stop in and say hello at Time for Serious Fun if you like. We can always use more ladies there and we do topics, pts everyday etc.

Faye

Hello kellbee, I'm 53 but people tell me i don't look or act my age. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, i don't feel old but when i look in the mirror and see a person standing there who weighs 190, that's when i start feeling my age. Believe it or not, but I'm still trying to get rid of my baby fat after having my daughter 26 years ago. I also HATE water! How can anyone drink a lot of something that has absolutely no taste. I love riding my bike everywhere and have found that bike riding is a wonderful way to reduce my fat belly. I also joined the Y.M.C.A and attend water aerobics classes so hopefully i will be thin and have a nice tan by the end of summer. I am on the South Beach diet and have finally found a diet plan i can stick too. Chocolate is one of my passions and if there's chocolate in the house, i have trained my nose to find it. I have bragging rights to being able to smell a chocolate bar thats a mile way. Also, ice cream has been my downfall. That wonderful creamy ice cold stuff melting in my mouth just sends me into chocolate heaven. Eating and growing my own vegetables has been very rewarding for me but have yet to find a recipe for ice cream that also includes broccoli or spinach. Maybe i should send my idea for a new flavor of ice cream to Ben and Jerry's. No? Well, it was just a thought.

Have lots to do today so best be gitten to it.
Hope to meet all of you soon.
Gloria

gma--Thanks for the recipe. Next time I go to the store, I'll pick up some cube steaks and try it out!

OK.. Faye.... here you go.

I am a divorced mom of two beauties... ages 5 and 7. I work for a weather company in Oklahoma as their payroll manager. I am 37 years old and I've been fighting my weight battle since getting pregnant with my first child back in 1994. He was still born, and I've had problems every since. I am 5'2" and my highest weight was 184.00 (pregnancy). I have struggled with the rollercoaster of losing and gaining and losing and gaining... and now I am back on the losing (or at least I hope so) ride. I started back seriously on March 1st at 162.50, and I am currently 153.00. My goal is to get to 118.00.

I live in Oklahoma City now, and have for the past three years, before that I was married and lived in Texas (DFW area and the Houston area), but I was born and raised in Arkansas.

I am currently trying to stay under 1300 calories a day, walk/jog on my treadmill for an hour (at least 5 times a week) and do 20 minutes of a Pilates toning video (3 times a week). I gave up diet coke and all other sodas about two weeks ago to see if that would help, if nothing else, help clear up my complextion. I've been rather frustrated this month, I have only lost 3.5 pounds... and feel like I have been working my butt off, but I am not going to let that get me down, I am just going to continue with my program... Positive side, I feel much better, I have much more energy and I am enjoying jogging again.

OK.. back to work here!

Okay, heres the lowdown of my life so far. Was born in Phoenix Az. but moved to Anchorage Ak. when i was thirteen. My dad was a plumber but because he had a hard time finding work, we moved to Alaska where he worked on the pipe line. Lived in Ak. for seven years when i met hubby Carl and were married. Carl was in the Air Force then and after a year of married life in Ak, hubby's hitch in the service was up so we moved to New Jersey where he went to college and i was a secretary. Carl hated school so he went into the Navy and we moved to California where we lived for two years and where my kids got started. When i was eight months pregnant with my son, we drove to Virginia where we were stationed for four years. My son Will who is now 29, and daughter Jamie (26) were both born in the Navy hospital in Va.

After six years of Navy life, we decided to try civilian life so we moved to Florida. Carl's mom and dad lived down here and we found we could afford to buy a house so figured Florida was a good place to start our new life. The government had a program back then to help young military couples finance a home, so we took them up on there offer and was able to put a down payment on the house we still live in today. My house is small, but after 25 years in the same place, we no longer have to worry about a mortgage payment.

Back in 2003 i was in a car accident and had to have two operations. One on my hand for carpal tunnel and another for herniated disc in my neck. I am unable to turn my head by using my neck. I have to turn at the waste in order to see what's next to me. Because of this, i am unable to work but fortunately Carl makes a good living so there's not a lot of financial worries with the lost income.

I am 5'9 and large boned so an extra 10 pounds doesn't show but at 190, its getting harder and harder to find clothes that fit without a lot of tugging and pulling.

I have five dogs but that story is to long to tell today.
Want to get on my bike and maybe ride to the Y for a quick swim.

Take care.
Gloria

Okay girls, here goes nothing--

I'm 34, 5'7 and weigh 227. :sigh: I'm married, to my highschool sweetheart and we have two heathens. My son is 12 and my daughter is 9. We live smack dab in the middle of 40 acres and have 4 horses (2 paso finos, 1 walker, and 1 app.), 1 heifer that I've bottled raised, two cats, and 2 dogs. Wheew!

I've never been what you could call skinny. But right now I'm as big as I've ever been. I've lost weight and the pounds always come back-- with friends.

I've been taking Shotokan karate (twice a week) for the last 2 years and I've been making myself get up and walk after the kids catch the bus. It's only just recently that I've been drinking the water I'm supposed to have every day. Ugh, *glug glug glug*, all day long. There are times I swear my eyeballs are floating!

Looks like there are several Mississippi girls here. I'm camped out in Jones County myself.

Take care all!

I saw where someone mentioned tomato gravy. Have you ever had tomato dumpings? OMG those are SOOOOOO good.

I love to have Fried Cubed Steak, "real" mashed potatoes, creamed sweet corn, biscuits and gravy. YUM YUM!

I mentioned the tomato gravy, and I could eat my weight in it and biscuits! I've never had tomatos dumplings before though. Is it similar to chicken'n dumplings? Or no?

Hope you all are having a great day!

Okay, maybe I'm a Southern girl failure because I have never heard of tomato gravy...chocolate gravy--yes...tomato--no. what is it? (besides gravy w/ tomatoes in it!

I've never heard of tomato gravy eather.

So how many of you are from Georgia? I see that kclay61 lives in Georgia but i was wondering if there were others. Hubby and i are going on vacation next week to Blairsville Ga so that's the reason for the inquire. Carl and i just LOVE the state of Ga.

With all the talk about giving up soda I'm going to let you in on a little trick i do. You may think I'm crazy but this works for me. I take soda water and shove two caffein free tea bags down inside the bottle, then it goes in the fridge overnight. The next day i have soda that i sweeten with Splenda but no preservatives. Peppermint tea is very refreshing but you could use any flavor you want. I also am fond of blueberry and raspberry tea. My family thinks I'm crazy for doing this but soda just wasn't quenching my thirst plus regular soda left a funny taste in my mouth.
So, am i just plane strange or what?
Gloria