Wow, I thought sleeping would help with how tired I am... but I woke up MORE tired, and still sick. On the other hand... after eating anything and everything, and drinking pop, coffee, slurpee's, and NO exercise (mostly due to being sick tho), I am looking like I'll be DOWN 1 pound on Friday. I was a little shocked this morning when I got on the scale to see what happened, last time I went home to my grandma's I gained 8 pounds, heh. Thanks for the welcome :)

-Aimee

Hey girls! Where are ya?

Check out my ticker--soooo close to my short term goal!! :)

Hey, Aimee. Sorry you're still feeling sick - bummer. At least the spectre of familial comfort foods didn't overpower ya, though. LOL

Wow, look at that ticker. Jen! I'm back to the business of getting my ticker to move in the correct direction. I didn't weigh last week and am a little scared to weigh tomorrow, but I have to be realistic. I know I've gained, because my 18 Venezia jeans, formerly been sliding neatly down without my unbuttoning them, are now just fitting again.

I can't let myself get down about that, but must make the right choices and know the weight will once again come off.

Howie had to be at work at 8:00am, so I missed my normal wake-up call and slept in until almost 1:00pm (in all fairness, I was up until 4:30am). I've not slept well for several nights and it felt wonderful to snuggle down and listen to the storms blow through, cuddle with the doggies, and just relax.

The rude awakening was getting up and finding out the power had been blown out by the storm. No coffee! I borrowed Nancy's car and went to McDonald's for coffee, and by the time I got home, our power was back on. But, like I told Nancy, I couldn't have had an ice cream cone at home. ;)

Good morning all!

Kimberley: I know what it's like to dread the scale, because you just KNOW it is up! One thing I'm glad I decided to do this time around is post my TRUE weight, no matter if it is a gain or a loss. Pretending that I didn't gain does not help me at all. Look at what years of burying my head in the sand got me!

This weekend should be a nice mix of chores and socializing. Tonight we are meeting friends for drinks at the local pub; tomorrow we are going to a graduation pool party in the afternoon (and knowing the adults, will last through to the evening!); Sunday will be laundry and housework while Alan goes to his parents to help his dad with a project; Sunday evening will be a nice family dinner with our housemates, then some telly and then bed!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

I forgot to post! My weight Friday morning was 214. It's a starting point.

We worked outside today, putting up lattice on our side of the next-door neighbor's unsightly old fence. We only covered the four sections near our back patio, but what a difference it made! We also planted some of the annuals we bought. Tomorrow will be more of the same, minus the lattice-hanging. We'll get the veggie garden in the ground, for one. I love working in the yard -- hardly even think to eat. ;)

Hi ladies!

Exciting news from the gym today! In the last month, I have lost 10 lbs of BODY FAT and 9.5 inches from all over!

I went back and checked my records from Jan 1, when I weighed and measured. Since then, I have lost a total of 28 lbs and 36.35 inches!! Absolutely amazing!!

Kimberley: your fencing sounds so nice--very cottage-y!!

Jen--wow, that is awesome! Are you still doing the mostly-liquid diet?

Well, the weekend in CT is over. The reception for my sister and my now brother-in-law went well, but I left early. We flew up on Thursday night, and I worked from my parents' house for much of the day on Friday (at least it meant I didn't have to use any vacation time). We all went out for lunch together to my cousin's diner, and at night, Jeff and I went out to dinner with my friend from high school. Jeff and I actually had the same exact thing at the diner and then we both had sandwiches at dinner (Red Robin--I had a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a shake...not particularly healthy, but not too out of the ordinary).

Saturday morning, I woke up with a bit of a funny feeling in my stomach, but I woke up later than usual, so I thought I was just really hungry. I had a bowl of Special K with yogurt and berries with skim milk. That didn't help--my stomach started hurting more. It felt like sharp gas pains, but I wasn't, well, gassy. By 1pm, I was at the hall decorating for the reception, and my stomach was just gurgling and stabbing. Went back and napped for about an hour before the party started at 5pm, then went and bought some Immodium and a small bottle of ginger ale (I discovered that Pepto and Alka Seltzer both have aspirin in them, so I can't take them).

Once dinner was served at the party (buffet style), I sat in my seat and couldn't even bear the thought of food. Jeff tried to get me to eat at least a little something, so after dessert was served, I went in the kitchen and had 1 barbecue chicken wing (not at all spicy), 1 roll (potato bread, I think), and 2 stuffed strawberries. I hid out in the kitchen for a while because I just felt so icky--dizzy, lightheaded, headache, stomach pains...and then my face started feeling hot, almost flushed, but I was freezing. Yup--fever struck. Complete with stiff neck and sore muscles. Jeff and I left and went straight to bed at my parents' house. I woke up a couple times shivering despite the 2 blankets and Jeff laying next to me. Then around 11:30pm, I woke up SWEATING--woohoo, the fever had broken! What a miserable way to spend a party.

All day Sunday, my stomach was still very unhappy. I had some fruit salad and a small bowl of pasta and drank nothing but water and diet soda (in the hopes the carbonation might help my stomach), but as of this morning, my tummy is still not quite back to normal. Aah, well...hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I'll probably leave work early today--it's not a symptom I particularly care to share in a public restroom like here in the office :o But hey, if nothing else, it kept me from overeating during the party, right? :devil:

Hope everyone else's weekends were a little more pleasant :^:

Sorry to hear you were sick, Jill! And that kind of illness I could definitely do without! Do you think it might have been food poisoning?

Yep, I'm still doing the mostly liquid diet. I keep my calories between 1000 and 1200. It's taken me 2 months to lose 20 lbs, which in the liquid diet world is considered a little slow, believe it or not. But I am not worried--this is a marathon, not a sprint, after all. As long as I can keep my ticker sliding down, that's all I care about.

Sounds like your weekend was really a mixed bag, Jill. Hope your tummy calms back down soon.

Jen, your stats are awesome! Wowee! :dance:

I am confident my weight will be down this week; I've been eating right and drinking my water, plus have been more active.

Our fence-neighbors have moved to their daughter's house. Yesterday, the daughter and SIL were at the house next door, and Howie approached them to tell them we'd hung lattice on our side of the fence. We weren't sure if they'd be tearing it down, and wanted warning so we could remove the lattice. They didn't have plans to tear it down, but after they came around back to see our pond and garden, the daughter said, "wow, that fence really looks awful from this side!" and told us we could tear it down if we wanted to.

IF??

Howie and I tore into it last night, removing the vertical planks. I wielded a big pickaxe and whacked those planks clean out. LOL A friend's coming by this week with his reciprocating saw to take down the posts. Woo!

Hi Ladies!

I had a rude awakening this morning. My period arrived at about 5 am--it was enough to wake me up from a sound sleep. It was sort of unexpected. Since it was due about a week ago, I thought I was skipping this month. I know that losing weight causes your cycle to go a little wacky, so it's to be expected I suppose.

So what's up with you all??

Okay, so it looks like I am talking to myself again today....

I got a call from my gynecologist--my pap test showed a low grade dysplasia. I am scheduled for my third colposcopy on June 8. Depending on how this biopsy comes out, the next step may be a LEEP procedure. I'm not well read about that procedure yet. All I know for sure about it is it will be done in the office with a local anesthetic.

On a lighter note: I was thrilled that Taylor won American Idol last night....can't wait to see what he does next!

Goodmorning! Things are starting to relax around here, I'm finally catching up on some sleep which is nice :) My next thing will to STOP eating everything in sight and to start exercising regularly again. I think I was lucky, I ate whatever I wanted for 5 weeks and didn't gain a pound, infact the first week I lost a pound and maintained that.

Jen - how old is Taylor? I caught a glimpse of him the other day on tv and was kinda shocked. I thought the cut off was like 27 for that show. What is dysplasia if you don't mind me asking?

Jill - yikes what a nasty sickness to have! Hope you are feeling better!

Kimberley - heh, that was pretty quick to take down that fence! Sounds like it was an eyesore!

I'm so happy for the long weekend (even if it's already over), it means I only have to work 4 days this week.. and that extra day off is going to be a very nice break :) K, I am off to eat!

-Aimee

You're not writing to yourself--I promise that even when I'm not posting, I'm reading ;) Though our little group seems to have disipated quite a bit lately...

I'm way up in weight (still almost 290) and don't know why I can't get it together. My tummy feels better, so of course, that's the green light to eat anything and everything I want, right? Rrrright...

Jeff told me he's going to the movies with his friends tomorrow night. Boo. I won't force him to stay home--I have been in this area for over a year and a half now, so it's not his fault I don't have any friends. I just don't know how to meet people--I tried an all-women's social group, and I have fun at the dinners and whatnot, but it's always different people, and I never really connect with anyone. I have my weight loss group and I had joined a choir in Manassas, but the members of both are so much older than me (not that old is bad, but I'm not going to randomly call some 50-year-old married-with-children woman up on a whim to see if she wants to go see the latest computer animation or Heath Ledger movie with me, ya know?). Bleh. I thought about joining a book club, but then I remembered how much I dislike reading :p I put a "strictly platonic" post up on Craigslist, so we'll see if I get anything from that, but I doubt it...meh, c'est la vie.

I wonder if that's what's got me down and eating so much? I eat so poorly when I'm alone--maybe I am just sick and tired of having a lot of alone time! When I'm alone by choice, I don't turn to food nearly as much. Jeff's been working late to help some guy fix a computer he bought on eBay, so I've had more alone time than usual this week.

Anyway...enough pathetic babbling...work is still going well, and I've still got my health, right? :dizzy: ANd poor Jen...I should just be thankful I don't need multiple colonoscopies! Although from my last jon, I can tell you that colonoscopies are covered as a means of colon cancer prevention/detection for those with Medicare coverage (not that that relates to you, Jen, as you're not old enough for Medicare, but it's just one of those things I will probably never forget and yet never have a real use for :p ).

Okay, to clear it up: a COLPOSCOPY is where they use a highly powerful microscope to look at my cervix and take a biopsy. I definitely do NOT want a COLONOSCOPY unless I really really need it!! LOL

Jill, I have the same problems as you--I tend to overeat if left alone. That's how I got to be 340 lbs--too much alone time. Now, with Alan, we are rarely apart. We spend almost all of our time together outside of work, with a few exceptions. It's definitely helped with the extra eating.

Have you considered getting involved in community theatre? I found it to be a great way to get to know people while having a creative outlet at the same time. Some of my closest friends are in theatre. Just a thought....

Oh and Aimee: Taylor is 28 or 29...they raised the age at time of audition to 28 last year. Good thing they did--we would have missed some good ones!

Originally Posted by Jen415:
Okay, to clear it up: a COLPOSCOPY is where they use a highly powerful microscope to look at my cervix and take a biopsy. I definitely do NOT want a COLONOSCOPY unless I really really need it!! LOL

whew, sorry! I do know there is a difference--I just must have read too quickly and thought it said colonoscopy. Glad it's a colposcopy--certainly still not fun, but at least not quite as bad :dizzy:

Hi, girls -- I am just catching up.

Neither test sounds like much fun, actually. Are they ever, though, any of them? Keep us informed about how you're doing, okay?

We were busy working outside all weekend, then I did more Monday. Tuesday saw me tearing apart the living room and cleaning it, the kitchen and bathroom; a new friend I made through Freecycle came over for lunch Wednesday afternoon (thus my mad scramble to clean Tuesday!). Today I've pretty much vegged, really pooped. The dining room is next on my hit list for cleaning. Somehow the bedroom is always last...Maybe that's why it's not been really well-cleaned in, well, let's just not say how long.

Saturday we're having a garden party for some friends Howie's made at work. We're SO happy to have that fence down in time for that! The next-door neighbor's SIL will drop off his flatbed trailer tomorrow morning, early, and we'll load it up Saturday morning. The plan is, we'll follow him out to his farm and help unload it on his burn pile. We're thankful they offered to let us burn it all; they didn't want us to be stuck with a junk hauling bill after doing all that work on their fence's removal.

Not sure what we're doing Sunday, but Monday we'll have another cookout. Our best friends are coming over with their three kids. Hope we can keep 'em from picking the flowers. LOL

We had a couple of pizza nights this week, but other than that, we've been mindful of our eating. Being busy has helped a lot, as has working hard enough I am really thirsty; I've had a good bit of water every day that I've worked outside. Need to drink some today, though...Unless all my coffee counts. LOL

Good morning ladies!

Looks like lots of folks are doing cookouts! We're going to a pool party on Sunday, and will probably just grill out with our housemates on Monday. I'm looking forward to getting some rest this weekend. Obviously not the whole weekend, because we are going ballroom dancing Saturday night. At least that's the plan--I won't be going anywhere unless my cramps get better!

Kimberley, a garden party sounds so quaint!! Will you be serving tea and finger sandwiches? ;)

No tea -- basically it's a cookout. We'll have grilled chicken and a veggie tray, and others are bringing stuff like twice-baked potatoes and other sides. We're calling it a garden party for lack of another name; since the people are all into gardening, that became the name. We're expecting nice weather, sunny with a few scattered clouds and a high of 83. They're not coming until 6:00pm, so it will be really nice by then.

I lost 2 pounds this week! :)

Great job Kimberley! It feels good to be in control doesnt it?

Yes, it does. I'm still not totally in control, but I'm much more in control than I was 2 weeks ago, and that's a good start.

Congrats Kimberley ! :)

I am still eating strawberries thanks to buying a bunch of them the other day, I'm determined for them NOT to go bad! I have the day off today, yay! So I'm going to go for a long walk, even if it's raining!!

Have a good day gals!

-Aimee

Good morning, chicas! Hope everyone had a good, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Jeff and I went to a park yesterday. We went walking on a path through the woods for about 40 minutes (20 in, 20 out) with a stop in between to feed the ducks. I also packed us a lunch to eat there, so we camped out on a bench near the lake for that. It was hot, but the path was mostly shaded by the trees. I managed to get a tiny bit of sunburn on the left side of my neck/shoulder--who knows how that happened, since we spent the same amount of time walking in each direction, yet my right side is still completely white :dizzy:

After the park, we headed to a giant mall (Potomac Mills). I wanted new clothes for work--I have put off buying clothes "until I lose some weight," but I need some grown up clothes NOW since I'm more frequently interacting with directors, VPs, and people from other companies. Well, after hours of shopping, all I ended up with was a t-shirt and skirt from Walmart. Frustrating, but I guess it's better than nothing. Oh, and I'm not even wearing my new skirt today cuz I was too lazy to shave my legs this morning :p

I was up late last night chatting with a couple people I've met online. Both are girls about my age--one I met through CraigsList who lives in MD, and the other lives in the same town as me, and I met her on here. Both seem really nice, so hopefully I'll get to meet up with them. I seem to have a lot in common with both of them as far as attitude about things and stuff, so here's hoping I'll soon know someone other than just Jeff around here :cool:

I'm ready to roll with healthy choices today. I took the highway this morning and plan to do the same this afternoon--that route avoids the McDonald's I pass on my other route. I have 2 sandwiches and a frozen meal to eat at work today, plus I already had a good breakfast and have 2 liters of water to drink. Oh, and I actually remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer for dinner tonight--too often, I end up with something less healthy because I forgot to defrost the meat :devil: And I am going for a walk when I get home from work. It's supposed to be 95 and humid, so it likely won't be a long one, but I know I at least won't feel like snacking after walking in such weather! If anything, I'll probably return frommy walk and just crash on the couch for a nap--at least naps are calorie-free! ;)

Hey ladies!

I know I'm a late entry, but I couldnt get here before now! Working the day after a holiday really sucks! It's like two days worth of work crammed into one day. Very frustrating! But, I've only got 30 minutes to go!

Jill, you have a great plan! That seems to always be the most successful for me when I plan out the day. And good luck with the potential new friends!

My period kept me sidelined most of the weekend. We went to a couple of parties this weekend, but definitely felt out of it! Today is Day 6, and it is finally showing signs of stopping.

Oh, me...I'm so behind here. But I did start a new thread!
Please join me there! :D