Carol-
I am glad I am not alone with the scale issue LOL. I brought my scale with me this weekend you should have seen my boyfriends face :P I am happy to say I went to a Thai place last night and had 2 pieces ofa sushi roll and some salad. Usually when we go we get soup salad a main meal sushi and desert. I was very proud of myself for only having a small bit of food. It took alot of willpower but I kept thinking how bad I want to see the scale at 155. I am hoping I can do it before I start school (September 11).

Also as for my boyfriend it could very well be he is scared. He has always said he tends to like thick girls but I won't stop this journey I've come to far to not finish it. Next summer I am loking forward to being in a size 6!
Now I am a 10 so its not that far off.

Hope everyone has a great day !
Nikki

hi, ladies--

I went to bed early lat night and slept like a baby! I spent three evenings last week watching documentaries that made me sad and furious--two nights with Spike Lee's movie about New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and then "The Boys of Baraka" on Thursday, about kids from Baltimore dealing with family and godawful school system in Baltimore. So I watched "Monk" last night and was in a much better mood! Got up early, meditated and did yoga. I'll be headed out to a party shortly, so I am putting on my game face, and eating a little soup before I head out.

I want to say something else about the BF's comment about 'obsessing.' Men aren't socialized like women are to keep judging their own looks, weight, 'flaws,' etc. Compare the ads and articles in men's and women's magazines, if you don't believe me. Plus, unless you're living in a hospital on a liquid diet, you have to be a little obsessive to change the patterns that make you overweight, because you have to deal with choices and temptations several times a day. I certainly think about food all the time, have thought about what I will and won't be eating several hours from now, etc. So even if Nikki's BF has no particular agenda or insecurities, it's not surprising to me that he's having a hard time relating to how much energy Nikki has to put into her journey. Anyone looking at my calendar, my little notes to myself, my books, videos, magazines, favorite websites (like this one), etc., might say the same thing about me, a woman my size who reads Shape and Fitness magazines! Sorry to go on so long about this. Nikki, you should do what you need to, in a healthful way, to reach your goals.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

judy

Hi girls~
Still having problems loading the pages in this site.
And it did it again~ I have just been writing a long message, with personals and all and it disappeared.
I'll have to try again tomorrow, I will write it in WORD and then copy and paste it here.
Marie, Judy, Carol, Penny, Nikki,~ you all have a good weekend.

Morning everyone, yesterday's party was great. Spendy since I served New York Strip steaks, but it was a great celebration that the witch is gone. The weather was warm and beautiful - great for a pool party. I rarely invite people over since I'm an introvert and my husband is even more so, but it just seemed right. I haven't logged my calories, but I'm guessing I was under for the day. Pretty strange - if I log the next day, I'm always under since I guess in my head and always round up.

An exercise nut??? Maybe, but the cool thing is I'm not doing it at all to lose weight. If I were, I'd take a day off since I'm basically lazy by nature. I do it because I'm bipolar and stopped all my meds last August. I use the exercise to stabilize my moods. I'm definitely happier and more calm when I exercise. The couple days that I didn't exercise before work this past spring, I was moody and edgy. Twice I even pulled an exercise DVD I have in my desk out and exercise there and solved the problem. So really, honestly it has nothing to do with weight loss. Nice benefit, yes, but definitely for my mental health.

I exercised before working yesterday, then had a very physical day building computer tables. I'm a little sore this morning. So I did a 1 mile easy walk and yoga. We're taking the doggies hiking in a little bit since they missed their weekly hike (they like running - not me). Then I have work to do from home. I'm going to swim later. It's definitely starting to cool off in the evenings so I'm getting the message summer is almost over. I need to enjoy the pool while I can.

Judy, I've had the same conversations with two male co-workers over the last few days. One just thinks I'm nuts for counting calories and the other was a "hefty" child (his word not mine) so he understands how important it is for me to change what I've been doing. It's been interesting listening to their perspective. Then there's my underweight son who goes "ooo, an extra 20 calories. Wow that will pack on the pounds..." He definitely doesn't get 20 calories here and there adds up and is what caused the problem all together. Luckily my DH does.

Nikki, great job on the .5. I'm so impressed you're a size 10 at around 160. I'm a size 14 at that weight. I get to a 10 when I'm 135 - my goal. Which BTW is now officially under 50 pounds. 49 to go...

Carol, I too had a co-worker whose hubby sabotaged her because he didn't want her to attract other guys. Flat out said that. Personally I don't think that was a problem since she cheated on him at least 3 times (that I know of). But it's amazing a guy's insecurities too. BTW, great job on the weight loss and staying strong through all your social events. That sure is hard.

Girlie, good luck with the site. Definitely cut and paste if you're having troubles. I did that for a while when I had a satellite connection. With DSL I stopped since I have good connection.

Marie

Carol - I hope you lose a whole pound too next time. I keep going up and down half a pound so I need to get focused and do whatever it takes to start losing consistently again. Did you find some good stuff at the garage sales? I haven't been to one this year and the season will soon be over. I used to do a lot of eBaying and made quite a bit of money selling stuff I found at garage sales and at thrift stores, etc. I had several good finds - one of the best ones was a plate I bought for $2 and sold for $420! One of my girlfriends volunteers at a clothing resale store and they get some really great stuff - lots of high end name brands. I like shopping there as I can find several really cute outfits for under $20. I've had lots of compliments on my clothes but it's my little secret where they came from .

Nikki - It's good to see you're still making healthy food choices, even though you've been under stress lately. Take your BF's comments with a grain of salt - I bet he likes your slimmer figure!

Judy - I envy you for sleeping like a baby - I can't remember when I last had a really good night's sleep. You're right about it being necessary to be a bit "obsessed" about losing weight in order to keep focused. I have to constantly remind myself why I'm doing this and I still slip up quite often.

Girlie - It must be frustrating for you to keep losing your posts. Good idea to put it into a Word doc and copy & paste. Hope you're doing well and staying on track.

Marie - Exercise is definitely a mood booster for me too. I'm still feeling weird from this bug or whatever so I haven't walked for a few days and I'm really missing it. Congrats on being under 50 lbs. to go!

I had a little NSV the other day. Last Thursday was my annual day at the beach with some girlfriends so my DH went out for lunch at our favorite sushi bar and the waitress asked "where your son and daughter today?". She was a bit flustered when he told her I'm his wife! Needless to say, that didn't make him feel too good (he's 62 and I'm 57) but I felt great when he told me!!!

I've added a -7 lb. goal for Thanksgiving. Hope it will help keep me motivated.

Have a great week everyone!

Marie, congratulations on reaching a big milestone of having less than 50 more to lose.

Girlie, keep trying to post!

Penny, isn't it nice when people genuinely think you're a lot younger than you are? I am terrible with gauging people's ages, but I'm still very pleased when someone thinks I'm still in my thirties.

I didn't have much in the way of healthy choices at the party, so I barely ate anything and left as early as I could. Today is a quiet day...preparing for one more crazy week at work before the official end of the summer (yikes!).

judy

Well I did a little ruff choice making yesterday. I went to have dinner with my SIL as hubby was off with a friend. We had chinese and yes it was fried. The rest of my day wasn't bad but I did have some cheese in the evening. A friend got back from Vac. and was so proud of his good finds he shared. Well the hubby isn't crazy over cheese so of course I ate it. So I was a bit worried to get on the scale today. I think I am okay but still didn't want to be disappointed so I will use the scale on wed. I am taking the oldest grandson to our state fair this afternoon. So healthy cereal for breakfast a salad for lunch already made and then I will save my cals for the fair as far as dinner goes. Gotta have my baked potatoe for sure. My grandpah and I used to always go get one. So I like to keep that tradation going and a choc. milk small. Its just part of the fair time and better than yesterdays choices. I will save about 1,000 cals for the fair time. So I should be fine. Balance is what I need to do. Also lots of walking while there so that will help too.
Nikki I also wear a size 10 most of the time now. I have a few 12's in pants but there cheaper brands or loose. That is a good feeling. I never will see a 6. But being 5'7'' and bigger boned a 10 is okay with me as long as I stay there. I now have purchase a few new things for myself including a smaller size bra. Good thing I could afford to lose there or I might of been in trouble. Some gals don't want to lose there. I have lost my wt. evenly I think which sure helps the overall look. I hope to someday try on a pr. of 8's and have them fit. If I continue to lose my extra 10lbs. it will happen I am sure. It would be great to do that by christmas but I think that is real wishful thinking on my part. I lose kind of slowly as I don't really give things up completly just cut back etc. That way I don't feel deprived in anyway. I have tried it other ways and it doesn't work for me. If I give it all up I sneak it or over eat it when I get the chance. This way I balance it in and don't go without just less of it.
Marie I forgot about your health concerns and I am so glad the exercise helps and that medication isn't needed. My niece whom had to take the meds never found a good solution that helped other than making her gain a lot of wt. Wish she had found the courage to try what you had. Keep it up your doing super.
Judy you are so right with your wisdom. I live with a husband whom has never had a wt. issue and never will. Its hard to even talk to him on this subject as he has no idea what its like or can even relate to my feelings. So its a subject I stay away from and just do my own thing. But thats okay I wish I had Maries support she gets from her hubby. Way to go Marie! But life goes on and sometimes we need to do whats best for us. I sometimes get the oh you don't cook like you used to etc. Yah and I am not going to either is what I think when he says that. I still make his favorites not as often though. Not so much pasta or potatoes etc. and he is a meat and potatoe man as little as he is. Go figure! He doesn't live for food though or even really think about it like me. Oh it makes the world go around different strokes for different folks.
Penny I will get that lb. off yet! You too! Together it will come off so lets go!
Elyn keep trying I had trouble again to. But just getting to the site.
Have a great day everyone make good choices and keep moving.

Good Morning everyone (well, afternoon for me but morning for you all)!

Slow start on monday as per usual but I am gaining momentum as the day wears on!

Short term goal is to be 115kg by November when I travel back to Indiana to see my family and friends.

Long term goal is to be healthy. I really don't have an "ideal weight" so I just think 90kg (that isn't too daunting) but I would like to be somewhere around a size 10-14. For my 5'9") frame I think that is good.

Hope you all have a great day!!!

/N

Nixie

Ok so today after being real good on my diet all week I weighed in gained 4 lbs !!!! I am in shock. I ate real good all week and drank all my water .When I went to 2 nice restaurants I ordered small side salads instead of real meals. I don't get what is going on ! I can't let this get me down though.

Nikki

Hi girls~
Finally found the culprit behind my problems loading pages on this site- one of my antispyware was blocking the pop ups from tribal fusion so I diasabled this feature and now everything is perfect.
Nikki~ don't worry about the 4 lbs. gain, probably just water. If you've been eating right then it's impossible to gain 4 pounds.
Cacmsc~ I hope you and your grandson had a great time at the state fair.
Judy~ I wish I have your will power to stick to healthy choices in a party, I always tend to eat what I want and then try to get back with my program the next day- oh well, that's probably why I'm overweight.
Penny~ Altho' I feel sorry for your husband, boy am I glad for your NSV! I must also say that you have a great, unselfish husband who obviously loves you, otherwise he wouldn't have told you- he wanted you to feel great. Congrats on the .5 lb loss. A loss is always better than a gain.
Marie~ good for you for losing that witch. It's nice that you were able to stop your medications. Exercise surely does wonders for the mood. Congrats on the 1.2lbs. WTG.
Nixxie~ Welcome

Welcome, Nixxie!

Nikki, ditto what Elyn says, don't freak out yet. Weight blips up and down for lots of reasons, especially salt and bloat (and it's August, after all), hormones and what's up digestively on any given day. Plus your body is fighting back! This is where folks who rarely weigh themselves have an advantage over the folks who live and die by the scale.

Carol, congratulations on the smaller clothes! I appreciate your steady, grind-it-out approach to sticking with the journey for the long haul.

Elyn--I usually struggle to stay on program at a social event, I was surprised that I held off. I think the self-hypnosis is helping me rmember my goals at times like these. I'll have lots and lots of opportunities to practice, as my travel schedule will pick up again soon.

Ooops, gotta run--judy

Hi everyone-

Thanks for the support. I was so frustrated with the scale I left it at my boyfriends. I will continue to eat right without the threat of the scale. I will weigh myself Friday and not before. Also, I realize my Tom is due any day so that prob influenced my weight in addition to everything you ladies suggested.

Nikki

Welcome Nixxi! I have the same main goal as you - to be healthy. Losing weight at the same time is a nice side-effect!

Just a quick hi from me today. I've changed my breakfast and snacks as of today, so I hope that might help get the scale moving in the right direction again. I think I've had "calorie-creep" - not being 100% honest with my Nutridiary! I've been seriously thinking of giving my scale to our son to use for target practice. He has some new ammo to try out .

Hope everyone is doing well so far this week. Nikki - hang in there, as Girlie says, there's no way you could have gained 4 lbs. in such a short time other than water weight. It will come off when TOM's gone.

Hello everyone,
Well the fair was fun and my grandson and I had a good time. Marie wish you were there for a Purnia Champion dog show. Wow it was great and we loved it and free too. We did a lot of free shows and ck'd out all the animals including the colored chickens. After we asked and they rub them with kool-aid and water with a sponge. Crazy to have blue, purple etc. chickens just funky. I didn't do overly bad on cals but around 1650 just added them up. So for a fair day not to shabby. I agree with everyone else Nikki hang in there forget the scale #'s keep going forward and the end results gotta be there eventually. Do something good long enough its a no fail. Just crazy water wt. it happens to all of us sometime or another. Judy I am trying to adjust to a healthy well being and its working. I just talked to a friend about our menu for camp we are going for 4 days. I told her there were certain things I would bring for myself and the hubby, in order to help me stay on track. I won't be perfect but at least I will have some healthy choices with me. Including fresh salsa, baked torilla chips, baked potatoes, tomatoes and fresh veggies. It will all work out. Some how I have to make it through the four days with out being too bad. As I have come this far and feel the need to now not let go of it all for four days away. A positive attitude will help walks and some down healthy foods . Maybe they will all change with me to be healthier. Now that would be something huh??????????? Not a chance! Fresh fruit to go to. Well gotta go welcome to the newbies. I will catch up later on if I get a chance working late due to taking off part of yesterday.

Hello Everyone!

Nikki, don't worry about it. I am sure you gained muscle. I freak out when I get on the scale at my friends house and I have gained. I just go by how my clothes fit.

Doing pretty good. Walked yesterday. Slow start but good. Today it is pouring down rain so I biked more than I walked. I took the stairs to compensate for not being able to get out there and walk.

No soda today! WEE!!

Stayed under 2000cal yesterday so that is great!

Hope everyone is doing well! Keep up the good work girls!